Social Studies

100 Terms
 100 Terms
General Terminology

1. The behaviors, beliefs, customs, and attitudes of a group of people are called
culture.

2. A complex society with a stable food supply, specialization of labor, a government,

social levels, and a highly developed culture that includes art, architecture,
religion, music, and laws is called a civilization.

3. B.C.E. stands for Before Common Era and represents the time Before Christ
(B.C.). C.E. stands for Common Era and represents Anno Domini (A.D. or the Year
of our Lord) the time after the birth of Christ. Our calendar was changed in 500
A.D. to reflect the birth of Jesus Christ.

Geography

4. Early civilizations developed near river systems which provided food, water,
transportation, trade, and irrigation.

5. The world is divided into northern, southern, eastern, and western hemispheres.

Early Humans

6. Artifacts are human-made objects (tools, jewelry, toys, coins) that teach about the
customs and beliefs of people of the past.

7. Prehistory is history that took place before the development of writing.

8. Oral tradition is stories, myths, and legends that are passed on by word of mouth
from generation to generation.

9. Archaeology is the recovery and study of artifacts, ruins, bones, and fossils
remaining from the past.

10. The process of digging up remains of the past is called excavation.

11. Groups of early humans were called hunter-gatherers because they hunted for wild
animals and gathered wild plants for food.

12. The development of tools and use of fire were key factors in the survival of early
humans.

13. As early humans settled, they began to control both the growth and behavior of
plants and animals; this process is called domestication.

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Mesopotamia (5300 B.C. - 539 B.C.)

14. A city-state is an independent, self governing unit made up of a city and its
surrounding villages and farmlands.

15. Barter is a system of trade in which people exchange goods/services but do not
exchange money.

16. A person skilled at making a particular product by hand (pottery, jewelry, tools) is
called an artisan.

17. Mesopotamia means the land between the rivers and is located in the fertile valley
between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

18. The Sumerians were the first to create an irrigation system with dams, gates, and
canals.

19. Polytheism is the belief in many gods.

20. In Mesopotamia, religion and government were combined and controlled by the
priest class.

21. Pictograph is picture writing where a picture stands for a word or idea.

22. Cuneiform is a wedge-shaped, Mesopotamian writing made with a reed stylus.

23. A scribe is a professional writer or record keeper.

24. An empire is the city-states and nations it has conquered under one ruler.

25. Sargon of Akkad changed Mesopotamia's government of separate rulers for each
city-state by creating the world's first empire.

26. Hammurabi's Code was an organized set of laws that established a way of life with
law and order (rules and punishments) for the ancient Mesopotamians.

27. The Sumerians invented the wheel and sailboat to move trade items to and from
Sumer.

Egypt (4000 B.C. - A.D. 350)

28. Egypt is located in northeastern Africa along the Nile River, the 'lifeblood' of Egypt
because of food and trade.

29. Papyrus is a long, thin reed growing along the banks of the Nile, used by the
Egyptians to make writing material.

30. Hieroglyphics are symbols used to stand for words or sounds in Egypt.

31. Egyptians believed their kings were both humans and gods.

32. Sumerians, Egyptians, Hindus, Greeks, and Romans all followed polytheistic
religions.

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33. Homes and buildings in Egypt were made of mud brick; more important buildings
(pyramids, temples, tombs) were made of stone (limestone, granite) using simple
tools and no wheels.

34. Egyptians spent much of their lives planning to live for eternity because they
believed in an afterlife.

35. Hatshepsut was the first recorded woman ruler of a nation; she reigned in a time of
peace and wealth.

36. The three seasons (flooding, planting, and harvesting) in Egypt were based on
inundation, or the annual flooding of the Nile River.

37. Natural borders of seas, desert, and mountains isolated and protected Egypt from
invaders.

38. Ramses II ruled Egypt more than 80 years leaving monuments, statues, and
memorials in his own honor.

Kush (2000 B.C. - A.D. 350)

39. Kush, located south of Egypt, was a source of great riches for the Egyptian empire.

Ancient Hebrews (1900 B.C. - A.D. 135)

40. Judaism was one of the first religions based on monotheism, the belief in one god.

41. The laws of the ancient Hebrews were called the Ten Commandments.

42. The "law giver" of the ancient Hebrews was Moses.

43. Abraham was considered the first person to worship the god of the Hebrews.

44. The Torah, made up of the first five books of the Bible, contains the basic laws of
Judaism and traces the history of the Israelites through 1200s B. C.

45. King David was believed to have written the Psalms.

46. The Exodus, led by Moses, was when the Hebrews left slavery in Egypt for the
promised land of Canaan.

47. The Temple was the most important building in Jerusalem.

48. The Hebrews were exiled to Babylon when their country was conquered by the
Babylonian Empire.

49. The capital of the Hebrew lands was Jerusalem.

50. The two kingdoms of the Ancient Hebrews were Israel and Judah.

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51. The Roman empire conquered all the lands in Asia Minor and ended up ruling over
the Hebrews.

52. A gentile is a person who does not follow the Jewish belief system.

Ancient India (2500 B.C. - A.D. 467)

53. Many historians believe the Aryans, semi-nomadic invaders from Europe, conquered
the native people of India pushing them south.

54. Many historians believe the Aryans’ belief in daily lives are described in the Vedas,
collections of sacred hymns, poems, and prayers.

55. The Indian culture was divided into four social classes: priests, rajas and warriors,
merchants and peasants, and servants.

56. As Indian people learned new skills, they developed subgroups called castes into
which people were born, and worked their entire lives.

57. Buddha, or "The Enlightened One," was a Hindu prince named Siddhartha Gautama.

58. Buddhism is a religion in which people follow The Four Noble Truths, and the
Eightfold Path to reach enlightenment.

59. Buddhists believe in moderation, not too much or not too little of anything. This in-
between path is called the Middle Way.

60. King Asoka (Ashoka) was the Mauryan king who unified India, renounced violence,
and established Buddhism as the official religion.

61. A major religion of India, Hinduism, includes the concepts of reincarnation, many
gods, a caste system, and the four stages in life.

Ancient China (2200 B.C. - A.D. 220)

62. China’s natural borders, the Gobi Desert and mountains, made governance and
movement difficult, and isolated China from the rest of the world.

63. Confucius, a Chinese philosopher of the Zhou Dynasty, developed a code of

behavior based on personal and governmental morality, correctness of social
relationships, justice and sincerity.

64. To justify their conquest over the Shang, the Zhou's claimed to have been given the
Mandate of Heaven.

65. Taoism (Daoism), is a Chinese philosophy in which people live a simple life in
harmony with nature.

66. Qin Shi Huangdi, emperor of the Qin Dynasty unified all of China under one ruler,
and created the Great Wall to protect it.

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67. The Qin Dynasty set one standard for language, money, and measurement
throughout China.

68. The emperors of the Han Dynasty ruled during a time of peace, prosperity,
expansion, and great achievements.

69. Trade and cultural interchange grew between India, Rome, and China with the use
of the Silk Road trade route.

Ancient Greece (2500 B.C. - 323 B.C.)

70. Aristocracy is a hereditary form of government, where rule is by those who have
the most status, money or influence.

71. A monarchy is rule by a king.

72. A system of government in which a few people rule over a larger group is called
oligarchy.

73. A tyrant is a ruler who seizes power by force and shares it with no one.

74. A democracy is government by the people.

75. Only males over the age of 18 were considered citizens in Athens having reached the
Age of Majority.

76. Athenians emphasized education and culture; Spartans emphasized military and
discipline.

77. The Olympics began in Greece in 776 B.C., and were originally held to honor the
father of the Greek gods, Zeus.

78. Sparta and Athens joined together to defeat the Persians in the Persian Wars.

79. Athenian democracy was a direct democracy in which each citizen participated in
government.

80. The agora was an open-air marketplace in the center of Athens where the public
could buy and sell goods.

81. During the Golden Age, three goals of Pericles were strengthening democracy in,
protection of, and beautification of the city-state of Athens.

82. The Peloponnesian War was fought between Sparta and Athens because Athens
would not give up some of the control gained after the Persian Wars.

83. Socrates, a Greek philosopher and well-known teacher, used a questioning

technique to search for the truth and the meaning of life.

84. Plato, Socrates' student, was a writer and philosopher.

85. Alexander the Great, king at age 20, spread Greek culture and beliefs throughout
Persia, India, and Egypt; this time is known as the Hellenistic period.

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86. Western culture is influenced by Greek forms of literature, the arts, architecture,
mathematical discoveries, science, and democracy.

87. Homer wrote the Odyssey and the Iliad, two epic poems about the adventures of
Odysseus.

88. Aristotle taught Alexander the Great and was the father of the scientific method.

89. Aesop was a Greek slave who taught moral lessons in the form of fables.

Rome (753 B.C. - A.D. 476)

90. Julius Caesar was a dictator in Rome, a general, and an author.

91. Patricians were the small class of wealthy families in Rome, and plebeians were
members of a large class of ordinary citizens.

92. A republic is a representative democracy in which political power lies with the
citizens who elect leaders and representatives to run their government.

93. The three wars between Carthage and Rome are called the Punic Wars.

94. An aqueduct is a bridge-like structure built to carry water from a distant source.

95. The Roman senate is made up of citizens elected by popular vote.

96. A dictator, in Rome, was an appointed ruler who took absolute power for a period
of six months.

97. The Roman empire stretched from modern day Britain to modern day Iran.

98. Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, developed an empire to control
the areas conquered by Roman armies.

99. St. Paul preached that Jews not only had to obey God’s laws, but they also needed
to accept that Jesus was the messiah.

100. After years of persecution, Christians spread their beliefs throughout the Roman
Empire when Emperor Constantine (312 –337 A.D.) promoted Christianity, allowed
Romans the freedom to follow any religion, and strengthened the power of the
church within the state.

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