World History Study Guide to 1648

List of study terms for World history course final exam.

Regular/non-honors study terms

Term	Definition
Abraham	Aprx. 2000 BC. Father of Jewish people; God made a covenant with him to make his descendants great in number. Arabs claim descendance from Abraham's son Ishmael.
Acropolis	Portion of a town or city that is built on a hilltop for easy defense. Best known Acropolis is at Athens, where the democratic assembly met. Most Greek city-states had an Acropolis.
Aesop	Ethiopian slave in 600s BC in Greece. Famous for "Aesop's Fables," such as "the fox and the grapes" and "the wolf in sheep's clothing."
Alexander the Great	356 BC - 323 BC. Born to Philip II of Macedon and tutored by Aristotle. Conquered Greece, Egypt, Persia, and more, but turned back at India. Alexander's conquests spread Greek culture and language and helped the future spread of Christianity.
Ancient world	Civilized world before the fall of the Roman Empire in AD 476.
Archimedes	287 BC – 212 BC. Greek mathematician and engineer. Discovered Archimedes' Principle, invented "Archimedes' screw," and built defenses against the Romans for his city of Syracuse; killed by the Romans.
Aristocracy	"Rule by the best": aristocrats generally wealthy and privileged. European feudal government resembled aristocracy, and some governments in ancient Greece were aristocracies.
Aristotle	384 to 322 BC. Greek philosopher, student of Plato and tutor to Alexander the Great. Focused on experience with the physical world; studied biology and founded a school, the Lyceum, resembling a university with specimens and a library.
Assyrian Empire	1400-605 BC. First dependent on Babylonia, then became an independent state, and finally an empire. Known for cruelty, especially to the Hebrews. Captured northern Kingdom of Israel in 722, but destroyed by Medians in the 600s.
Athens	Greek city-state. Democracy begun by Pericles in 5th century BC. Previously ruled by aristocrats. First democracy in the world and a great naval power. Rival with Persia but united to defeat invading Persians.
Attila the Hun	Last and greatest ruler of the Huns. Fought against the eastern Roman Empire and then fought the western Roman Empire throughout the mid AD 400s. Almost defeated, but then almost sacked Rome; turned away by Pope Leo I.
Augustus Caesar	63 B.C. - A.D. 14. Succeeded Julius Caesar and became first Roman Emperor. Ruler during the birth of Christ. Defeared Mark Antony for rule of Rome.
Babylon	The major Mespotamian city in the ancient Middle East. Greatest ruler was Hammurabi. Developed Cuneiform, used base-60 numbers, and defeated ancient Sumer about 2000 BC. Later cruel to Hebrews.
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