Indo-Europeans
These nomadic peoples are believed to have originated in the dry grasslands north of the Caucasus Mountains.
What are the Indo-Europeans?
This term describes the belief that the soul is reborn in a new body after death.
What is reincarnation?
This prince left his palace after seeing old age, sickness, death, and a holy man.
Who was Siddhartha Gautama (or the Buddha)?
These people lived on the island of Crete and built the palace city of Knossos.
Who were the Minoans?
This belief in only one God set the Hebrews apart from most other ancient peoples.
What is monotheism?
This Indo-European group settled in Anatolia and was the first in the region to work extensively with iron.
Who were the Hittites?
Good or bad deeds that influence a person’s future lives are known by this name.
What is karma?
These four teachings explain that life involves suffering caused by desire and that the way to end suffering is to follow a specific path.
What are the Four Noble Truths?
This colorful wall painting style is especially associated with Minoan art.
What are frescoes?
This leader is traditionally considered the father of the Hebrew people and made a covenant with God.
Who was Abraham?
These people crossed into the Indus River Valley; their sacred literature is called the Vedas.
Who were the Aryans?
Hinduism has no single founder; this fact helped allow the religion to change and develop over time.
What is the lack of a single founder (or “no single founder”)?
This path is called the Middle Way because it avoids the extremes of self-indulgence and severe asceticism.
What is the Eightfold Path?
These traders developed the first alphabet based on sounds and spread it across the Mediterranean.
Who were the Phoenicians?
This event describes the departure of the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt under Moses.
What is the Exodus?
The similarity of words such as “mother” in English, Sanskrit, and Spanish supports the idea that these languages share a common origin.
What is the Indo-European language family?
These three gods are often described as the creator, the protector, and the destroyer.
Who are Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva?
Buddhism appealed to many laborers and craftspeople in part because it rejected this social system.
What is the caste system?
This North African colony became one of the Phoenicians’ most important settlements.
What is Carthage?
These laws, received by Moses on Mount Sinai, form the basis of the Hebrew moral code.
What are the Ten Commandments?
This epic, which includes the Bhagavad Gita, reflects the struggles of Aryan kings in India.
What is the Mahabharata?
This is the ultimate goal in Hinduism—release from the cycle of rebirth.
What is moksha?
This term describes the state of perfect understanding and the end of the cycle of rebirth that the Buddha achieved.
What is nirvana (or enlightenment)?
This valuable purple dye was made by the Phoenicians from a type of sea snail.
What is Tyrian purple (or purple dye from sea snails)?
This king built the first Temple in Jerusalem.
Who was Solomon?