TERMS:
A1 - Paleontology - A study concentrating on prehistoric
or geologic times, represented by fossils of plants, animals, and other
organisms.
B1 - Archaeology - The systematic study of past human life
and
civilizations using and examining recovered artifacts and material
evidence
such as: graves, buildings, tools, and pottery.
C1 - Anthropology - The scientific study of the origin,
behavior,
and the physical, social, and cultural development of humans.
B4 - Alluvium - A sediment deposited by flowing water like a
riverbed,
flood plain, or delta.
D4 - Anarchy - Political disorder and absence of any politcal
authority.
<>A2 - Carbon 14: Radio-active
carbon in our body that begins to decay when we die: helps detect how
long something has been dead. Frank Libby discovered that it
could be used to prove that dinosaurs existed millions of years ago,
revolutionizing our concept of the age of the universe.
B2 - Artifact: object made or used by a culture for a specific purpose, it usually tells us something about the way they lived.
A5- Theology - The study of God and religious truth with
rational
inquiries into religious questions.
B5 - Myth - A traditional, typically ancient story dealing with
supernatural beings, ancestors, or heroes that serves as fundamental
type
in the worldview of a people, as by explaining aspects of the natural
world
or delineating the psychology, customs, or ideals of society.
B5 - Eponymous - Of, relating to, or constituting an eponym
(a
person who's name is the source of something, such as Romulus is the
root
of Rome, Italy). Many Mesopotamian cultures had an eponymous
scribe (a person who wrote the events of a year and then had the year
named for them) and many others have had eponymous rulers ("In the 13th
year of King George...") instead of other types of dating systems (e.g.
2003 AD)
C5 - Scribe - A professional copyist of manuscripts,
documents,
and other written works, or one who writes what is dictated to them.
D5 - Shaman - A member of certain tribal societies who acts
as
a medium between the visible world and an invisible spirit world and
who
practices magic or sorcery for purposes of healing, divination, and
control
over natural events.
<>A6 - Artisan - A skilled manual worker; a craftsperson.
B6 - Dynasty - A family or group that maintains power for
several
generations.
<>
C6 - Empire - A political unit having an extensive territory
or
comprising a number of territories, peoples, cultures, or nations and
ruled by a single supreme
authority.
D6 - Infantry - The branch of an army made up of units
trained
to fight on foot.
D6 - Cavalry - Troops trained to fight on a mode of
transportation
(most commonly horseback).
EGYPT:
A7 - Cataracts: waterfalls
along the Nile river that are steep and often contain rapids; there are
6 sets between the mountain lands and Lower Egypt. They helped
serve as a barrier to invasion from the South. B7- Nubia -
the region south of Egypt, from which Egyptians took many slaves. The people were known for their very dark skin color.
D8 - Slate Palette: a decorative stone slab that usually told a pictorial story on one side, and was used for mixing make-up paint on the other.
A8- Papyrus: plant that grows along the banks of Nile; used by Egyptions to make paperlike material
<>A12- Zozer - A King of the 3rd Egyptian Dynasty from
2780-2720
B.C. He built the step pyramid in Saqqara in ancient Memphis.
B12- Snefru - The last king of the 3rd Egyptian Dynasty.
He created commerce across the sea with Phoenicia for the cedar logs
from
Lebanon. His tomb was the largest of his time, and is considered
the first "true" pyramid.
B14- Manetho - Egyptian historian and priest at Heliopolis
under
Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II. He covered Egyptian history during the
legendary times of 323 B.C. It was written in Greek and known to
us only through the later works of Josephus, Sextus Julius Africanus,
and
Eusebius. Manetho's work is still used as a reference
today. It was virtually the only source of reliable information
about ancient Egypt until the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb.
D11- Pharaoh: Title of the rulers of ancient Egypt, which signified their god-like status.
MESOPOTAMIA:
C16 - Amorites - People of Canaan. There is evidence of
them in Babylonia where in 19th century B.C. they established the 1st
Babylonian
dynasty. The most powerful King of the dynasty, Hammurabi, put an
end to Amorite domination and issued his famous code, similar to
Israelite
code. At the time of Joshua, Amorites inhabited areas both east
and west
of the Dead Sea.
D16 - Babylon:
D19 - Holy Days of the Hebrews -
Hannukah - An eight-day festival beginning on the
25th day
of Kislev, commemorating the victory in 165 B.C. of the Maccabees over
Antiochus
Epiphanes (c. 215-164 B.C.) and the rededication of the Temple at
Jerusalem.
Purim - The 14th of Adar, observed in celebration of
the
deliverance
of the Jews from massacre by Haman.
Passover - A holiday beginning on the 14th of Nisan and
traditionally
continuing for eight days, commemorating the exodus of the Hebrews from
Egypt. Also called Pesach.
Yom Kippur - A holy day observed on the tenth day of
Tishri
and marked
by fasting and prayer for the atonement of sins. Also called the Day of
Atonement.
Rosh Hashana - The Jewish New Year, observed on the
first
day or
the first and second days of Tishri and marked by solemnity as well as
festivity.
A20 - Assyria - The Assyrians developed the first of the new
empires
in Mesopotamia in the Middle East. Along with the Chaldeans and
Persians,
for 400 years they made vast improvements in techniques of warfare,
government
administrators, and promoted trade throughout the region. By 750
BC, they established an empire over all of Mesopotamia and moved west
and
conquered Syria in the kingdom of Israel. The Assyrians had the
most
powerful and efficient military force in the Middle East, and
introduced the use of iron in weaponry.
B20 - Chaldeans - They are the successors of the Assyrians as
the dominant empire in the Fertile Crescent. They are sometimes
called the
New Babylonians as most of the Chaldeans were decendents of Hammurabi's
empire during the 1700's BC. The rulers, however, were Aramean in
origin. One of the greatest Chaldean rulers was King
Nebuchadnezzar
during 604-561 BC who extended their boundries to Syria and Canaan and
rebuilt Babylon as one of the largest and most beautiful cities in the
ancient world. They were very interested in astrology and
believed
that changes in the heavens revealed the plans of the gods and
goddesses.
***C15 - Semite:
***A18 - Torah:
INDIA:
C21-Monsoon - A wind from the southwest or south that brings
heavy rainfall to southern Asia and India in the summer.
D21- Harappa - A city in what was probably the very first
Indian civilization. This lasted from 2500-1700 BC.
Harappa was laid out on a street grid (or uniform network).
Straight
streets and cross streets that were almost at perfect right angles
existed
in Harappa. The people of Harappa developed a written language
based
on pictograms, and built houses on stilts to escape seasonal rains and
flooding.
B25- Asceticism - The principles and practices of an ascetic
(extreme self-denial and austerity) and the doctrine that the ascetic
life
releases the soul from bondage to the body and permits union with the
divine.
***D24 - Avatar:
CHINA: A26 - Agglutinative - A word used to refer to languages such as
Chinese, in which characters are combined to create complete ideas.
B26 - Calligraphy: Art of writing; Chinese characters developed from simple picture images, to ideographs, somewhat like Egyptian hieroglyphics.
D25- Loess - fine windblown yellow soil common to northern China
A27 - Shang - Developed the first recorded Chinese dynasty in
1500 BC. Shang leaders were political leaders and were also high
priests. The people worshipped spirits of nature and honored
their
departed ancestors. They believed that Shang kings had special
powers
to communicate with their royal ancestors and with spirits on behalf of
the people. The Shang built China's first cities with the most
important,
Anyang the capital. Artists developed several skills and crafts
during
the Shang dynasty. They made cloth from silk, carved ivory and
jade
figurines and used kaolin, a fine white clay, to make pottery.
At first the Shang occupied a small area and they developed a powerful
army by using chariots and weapons of bronze, expanding their empire
to control most of the Huang He Valley, but later the dynasty weakened
due to poor leadership.
B27 - Qin - The Qin had a strong, disciplined army in China with
their cavalry, which was armed with bows and arrows (new weapons to the
Chinese).
Led by a young warrior, Ch'ing, the Qin had conquered all of the
Chinese
states. Ch'ing named himself Shih Huang Ti (First Emperor) as he
became the absolute ruler. Thus the first true Chinese empire was
born, the Qin.