Indo-Europeans
-group of nomadic people who came across the steppes
steppes
-dry grasslands that stretched North of Caucasus
migrations
- movements of people from one region to another
- happens over a long period of time
Hittites
- a group of IndoEuropean speakers
- occupied Anatolia
- known for iron technology
Anatolia
- peninsula in modern day Turkey
- just out in black and Mediterranean seas
- also known as Asia Minor
Aryans
- homeland was somewhere between Caspian and Aral Seas
- group of Info-European speakers
Vedas
- four collections of prayers, magical spells and instructions
- sacred literature
Brahmins
-priests
castes
- Portugal encountered this social system
- 4 major groups
- each group called a “caste”
Mahabarata
- reflects the struggles that took place in India
- one of the great epics of India
reincarnation
-rebirth of an individual soul or spirit
karma
-good or bad deeds
Jainism
- Believes every living object has a soul
- adopted from Hinduism
Siddhartha Guatama
- founder of Buddhism
- born into a nobel family that lived in Kapikavastu
- left his lifestyle to achieve enlightenment
enlightenment
-“wisdom”
nirvana
-buddha word for release from selfishness and pain
Minoans
- dominated trade in eastern Mediterranean
- powerful, seafaring people
Aegean Sea
-large island on the southern edge of the Aegean sea
Knossos
-Minoan capital city
King Minos
- King of Minoa aka Crete
- King who had a Minotaur into the labyrinth
- archaeologists named a civilization they found in Crete Minoa after King Minos
Phoenicians
-powerful traders along the Mediterranean after Crete declined
Palestine
- at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea
- Phoenicians live there
Canaan
-ancient home of the Hebrews, later called Jews, in this area
Torah
- first 5 books of the Hebrew Bible
- most sacred writings in Jewish traditions
