Term
| What development made possible the formation of cities? |
|
Definition
| Agriculture- the people didn't have to move for hunting and gathering |
|
|
Term
| what are the six characterisics of a civilization |
|
Definition
| * cities * System of Government * social classes separated by wealth and occupation * rise of manufacturing and trade, brought on by production of goods * written communication * shared system of religious belief |
|
|
Term
| what is the meaning of the discovery that the Neanderthal people buried their dead careful with funerary offerings? |
|
Definition
| it's the earliest indication of religious belief |
|
|
Term
| what was the major beakthrough in history that is seen in Lascaux and Altamira, and the Venus of Willendorf |
|
Definition
| the need for self-expression resulted in the invention of visual art. Lascaux- the hall of the bulls in France... Venus of Willendorf was fertility symbol |
|
|
Term
| why is this early art considered sophisticated? |
|
Definition
| because of the high level of naturalistic observation and abstraction |
|
|
Term
| what does the choice of subjects tell us about the Paleolithic worldview? |
|
Definition
| they painted animals and hunting- a vital role in life. all known statuettes are of women, with the sexual features enlarged- they worshiped female creative power |
|
|
Term
| once agruculture was invented in the Neolithic age... what else became popular as a result of {mainly} the stores of grain |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| Other achievements followed, like the invention of pottery, and metal started to replace stone for the making of weapons. What name is given to this age |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| what structures started to appear at the beginning of the Bronze Age? |
|
Definition
| large scale architecture- enabling these gatherings of people to truly be called a civilization |
|
|
Term
| what two civilizations developed over the same general time span? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| why is it harder to generalize about the Mesopotamians vs. the Egyptians |
|
Definition
| the Egyptians had one unified culture, whereas in Mesopotamia there was a succession of peeoples with their own culture- producing a wide variety of achievements |
|
|
Term
| what are the two divisions of Mesopotamian history? |
|
Definition
| Sumerian, and Semitic (which included Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Phoenicians, and Jews) |
|
|
Term
| what caused the unity of the earliest Sumerian communities? |
|
Definition
| the realization that they had to undergo large construction projects to transport the water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to their towns. |
|
|
Term
| the sumerians developed the first system of writing, what was it? where was it developed? |
|
Definition
| cuneiform- a series of simplified picture signs. Developed at Uruk (now Warka), one of the first Mesopotamian settlements. |
|
|
Term
| what was the central focus of sumerian cities? |
|
Definition
| the temple, the dwelling place of the particular God that watched over the town |
|
|
Term
| what was the governing power in sumerian cities |
|
Definition
| the priests- the most famous was Gilgamesh, who ruled Uruk |
|
|
Term
| what was the first great work of Mesopotamia? |
|
Definition
| The Epic of Gilgamesh- who seekse the meaning of life/immortality |
|
|
Term
| what period comes after the sumerian period? |
|
Definition
| the semitic period (akkadian and babylonian to be exact) |
|
|
Term
| what did the temples (continued construction from the Sumerian period) became known as? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| what period/people came next? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| who was the most famous Babylonian king, and what did he do? |
|
Definition
| Hammurabi- who made a law code, known as 'The Law Code of Hammurabi' |
|
|
Term
|
Definition
| the assyrians, the last grerat culture of anient Mesopotamia. they were the culmination of all the culture of Mesopotamia. |
|
|
Term
| what was different about assyrian art? |
|
Definition
| often religious, but some subjects showed hunting... art developed vigor and freedom |
|
|
Term
| who conquered the assyrians? |
|
Definition
| the persians under Cyrus the Great... and finally alexander the great conquered the persians |
|
|
Term
| at the same time as the Mesopotamians... what other culture was developing? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| what were three reasons that the Nile River was important to the growth of egyptian civilization? |
|
Definition
| it helped grow food, was fresh water, and allowed transportation from one end of the civilization to the other |
|
|
Term
| historians develop egyptian history into 31 dynasties, put into four groups... what were they? |
|
Definition
| the Predynastic before all, then the Old Kingdom, the Middle Kingdom, the New Kingdom, and the Late Period. |
|
|
Term
| what is the most striking feature of egyptian culture? |
|
Definition
| its unity and consistency |
|
|
Term
| what was one of the ways in which egyptian gods were worshipped? |
|
Definition
| to give them visible form in works of art, and to provide temples and shrines to them |
|
|
Term
| what is the earliest evidence of egyptian architecture with stone? |
|
Definition
| Imhotep, the architect who constructed the earliest pyramid as a tomb for his master, Zoser |
|
|
Term
| who were the three great pyramids built for? |
|
Definition
| the three pharaohs, Cheops, Chefren (who built a sphinx to guard his tomb), and Mycerinus. they were built largely with slave labor |
|
|
Term
| who tried to change the religious views of Egypt? |
|
Definition
| the pharaoh Amenhotep, who tried to replace many dieties with just one god, atom. He even changed the art of the period... but he failed b/c after his death everything went back to normal |
|
|
Term
| when did Howard Carter open King Tut's tomb? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| what are the most collosal of Egyptian constructions? |
|
Definition
| the temples at Luxor, Karnak, and Abu Simbel- during the reign of Ramses 2 |
|
|
Term
| what other culture developed at the same time as both the egyptians and the mesopotamians? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| what were the two cultures of the ageans, who lived in the area around the Aegean Sea |
|
Definition
| the Minoans of Crete and the Myceneans of mainland Greece |
|
|
Term
| in the early stages of Agean culture, there was a culture on a group of islands in the Agean Sea... what were they? |
|
Definition
|
|
Term
| what is the most famous art form of the Cycladic people |
|
Definition
| the marble statues, or idols, that were mass produced and buried with the dead. most are female. |
|
|
Term
| the idols were also produced on the island of crete. but crete is more famous for something else.... what is it? |
|
Definition
| the home of the legendary king Minos, who ruled ar Knossos. According to myth, there was a Labyrinth that housed the Minotaur. |
|
|
Term
| who discovered the ancient city of Knossos? |
|
Definition
| Arthur Evams- who called the civilization 'Minoan' after the great king |
|
|
Term
| what is the most famous Minoan god? |
|
Definition
| the Snake Goddess, the guardian of the home |
|
|
