Periods of History
B.C.
B.C.E.
C.E.
A.D.
Broad periods
Prehistory
Ancient history
Middle Ages
Modern history
Get out your
study guide for
the exam.
Broad periods of history
Prehistory
time before written language
Ancient history
roughly 4000 years between written
language and the fall of Roman Empire
Middle Ages
500 AD – 1500
Modern history
1500 to present
Paleolithic age
Neolithic age
Cultural elements:
What is present in every culture
Shelter
Food/Clothing
Economics
Government
Religion
Art
Family / society
Characteristics of the
Paleolithic / Old Stone Age
Yes or No?
fire
spoken language
written language
clothing
Life in Paleolithic times:
How did they get their food?
Hunting and gathering
Nomadic people
What started the Neolithic Age?
Neolithic revolution:
Farming and domestication of animals
People settled in villages.
Effects of Neolithic
Revolution
Permanent homes
Villages
Agricultural surplus
Trade
Specialization
of labor
Cultural
civilization
Shelter
cities
Food
agricultural surplus
Government
organized government
Religion
complex religion
Economics
writing
specialization of labor
Art
monumental architecture
Family, society
social classes
What is significant about the river valleys?
Floods > fertile soil
Water for irrigation > agricultural surplus
Means of transportation > trade
Opportunities for jobs > specialization of labor
Significance of agricultural surplus:
Bigger population
More time
Ability to stay in one place
Why did governments first develop?
Protect food supplies
Food to people in cities
Organize workers for big projects
Mesopotamia
How did geography affect civilization?
Tigris and Euphrates
Unpredictable floods
open plains; not many mountains
Fertile Crescent
Cuneiform
first form written language
used to keep records
Hammurabi’s code
Characteristics
written down
reflect what was right and wrong
spells out crime and punishment
judges could not change the laws
different punishments for different
classes of people
Mesopotamia
religion/architecture
legacies
wheel, plow, language
sailboat, written law codes
Egypt
Gift of the Nile? (24)
How did Nile protect and make
civilization in Egypt possible? (25)
How did geography make civilization
possible? (31)
Papyrus
Pyramids
Mummification
why was embalming beneficial?
China
Who? What? Why?
King Tut
Hatshepsut
Rosetta Stone
Indus Valley
Also known as
Harrapan
Monsoons
Seasonal winds – helped farming
Add to the list of key terms:
primary source – object/person from a specific time
period
secondary source – source of info based on primary
sources
irrigation – to bring water to crops
Artisan – skilled worker; skilled with hands
Hereditary – given from one generation to another
Scribe – someone who reads and writes
Artifact – an object that provides information
Specialization – very skilled in one job or trade
Polytheistic – belief in many gods
Monotheistic – belief in one god
Surplus – more than enough
Ancient China
How did geography positively affect the Chinese
civilization?
Mountains kept out invaders – stable, isolated
Negative effect –
limited farmland; terraces necessary
Of four social classes, which is poorest?
farmers
Of four social classes, which is least respected?
merchants
What did govt workers need to know during the
Han dynasty? Why?
What was the Silk Road?
Mandate of Heaven
Confucianism
Daoism
Legalism
Civil service exams
Filial piety
Silk Road
Great Wall
Terra Cotta Soldiers
Ancient Greece
How did geography affect the civilization of
Greece
isolated city states; not a central gov’t
conflicts over farmland
trade by sea; expand with colonies
Why did Greece not develop a strong central
govt?
Polis – the Greek word for city
Dark Age – no culture, literature, agri surplus, trade
Political involvement:
who was a citizen?
who had political rights? (vote)
Famous Greeks
Socrates – socratic method/questions
Hippocrates – “father of medicine”
Pythagorus, Euclid – math concepts
Aristotle – great teacher; classified knowledge
What are differences among
monarachy
oligarchy
tyranny
democracy
Difference between direct democracy and
representative democracy?
Pelopponesian War between
Athens and Sparta
Alexander the Great?
Macedonian king; conquered huge empire
Pelopponesian war weakened Greece so
Alexander could take Greece
Roman civilization
2 social classes? Characteristics?
Patricians – upper class/wealthy
Plebeians – common people
Both had the right to
vote, pay taxes
Plebeians could not
hold office
marry patricians
12 Tables
Law written on 12 plaques
All could read
Applied to all
Basis for American law
Tripartite Govt
consuls, senate, assembly
Consuls - lead govt, lead army
Senate –make laws, decisions on money
Assembly – watch out for rights of commoners
Punic wars – Rome vs. ____________
Result – domination of western Mediterranean
Julius Caesar = great consul
reforms to help the poor
Octavian = Augustus Caesar = first emperor
Romans were builders.
practical problem solvers
Inventions –
aqueduct
vault
dome
concrete
Reasons for the rise of the empire
Reasons for the fall
Last emperor thrown off throne – 476 A.D.