Ancient Civilizations
This early civilization developed cuneiform, the first known writing system.
What is Mesopotamia?
Known as the “Father of History,” he wrote about the Greco-Persian Wars.
Who is Herodotus?
The Egyptians created this 365-day system tied to agriculture.
What is the calendar?
Herodotus often began stories with this phrase to show he was reporting what he heard.
What is “This is what I was told”?
Fertile soil and irrigation systems helped this civilization thrive along two rivers.
What is Mesopotamia?
The Nile River was central to the rise of this civilization.
What is Ancient Egypt?
This Chinese historian wrote the Shiji, a foundational history of China.
Who is Sima Qian?
Mesopotamians invented this tool for farming that changed agriculture.
What is the plow?
Manetho’s work sometimes mixed myth with reality because he was writing for this group.
Who are the rulers (pharaohs)?
Egypt’s stability depended on the flooding cycle of this river.
What is the Nile?
Ancient Greece was made up of these independent political units.
What are city-states?
A Roman historian whose works are mostly lost but influenced Livy and Polybius.
Who is Quintus Fabius Pictor?
Ancient Greece made lasting contributions to philosophy, including this thinker who said, “I know that I know nothing.”
Who is Socrates?
Sima Qian preferred this type of source over oral traditions.
What are written documents?
The Silk Roads connected China to other regions mainly through this type of activity.
What is trade?
This dynasty in China saw the invention of paper and the Silk Roads.
What is the Han Dynasty?
An Egyptian priest whose Aegyptiaca blended history with myth.
Who is Manetho?
This Chinese invention allowed people to detect earthquakes.
What is the seismograph?
History often reflects this TOK concept, meaning that interpretation depends on the viewpoint of the historian.
What is perspective?
Ancient civilizations often fell due to a mix of external invasions and this internal factor.
What is political instability (or corruption)?
This Greek city-state was known for its military-focused oligarchic system.
What is Sparta?
Herodotus often portrayed Greeks as brave and Persians as arrogant, showing this TOK concept.
What is confirmation bias?
The Antikythera Mechanism from Greece is believed to have tracked this.
What are astronomical events (or planetary movements)?
This Roman historian’s works were only known through fragments passed on by others, showing how history can be shaped.
Who is Quintus Fabius Pictor?
The fall of the Roman Empire is an example of how civilizations decline due to combined pressures such as invasions, economic troubles, and this cultural factor.
What is loss of civic values (or decline of internal unity)?