Dar al-Islam
This is the Arabic word for God, the single deity at the center of Islamic belief.
Allah
Philosopher, born in 551 B.C., taught that social order could be restored through five basic relationships and respect for authority.
Confucius
Covering more than 40 percent of Africa's landmass, this vegetation zone of tall grasses and scattered trees supported grain agriculture and was home to most of the continent's population.
savanna
land bridge that connected Asia to North America during the Ice Age, allowing the first humans to migrate into the Americas.
Beringia
This Germanic people, led by Clovis and later Charlemagne, became the most powerful kingdom in Western Europe after the fall of Rome.
the Franks
Muhammad's migration from Mecca to Medina in 622 CE is known by this name.
Founded by Liu Bang in 202 B.C., this dynasty ruled China for more than 400 years and gave its name to the ethnic identity most Chinese still claim today.
The Han Dynasty
Located on a rugged Red Sea plateau in what are now Eritrea and Ethiopia, this kingdom conquered the Kushites in 350 A.D. and became a major Indian Ocean trading power.
Aksum
green or black volcanic glass, found in the Valley of Mexico, was Teotihuacán's most valuable trade item and was used to make razor-sharp weapons.
obsidian
the authority of kings or nobles to appoint church officials — a practice that Pope Gregory VII banned in 1075, triggering a major clash with Emperor Henry IV.
lay investiture
This body of Islamic law drawn from the Qur'an and Sunna governs family life, moral conduct, and business for Muslims, and also required Muslim leaders to extend religious tolerance to Christians and Jews.
shari'a
This vast network of caravan routes linked China to western Asia and Rome, carrying silk, spices, and ideas across thousands of miles.
the Silk Road(s)
Historians use this term for a permanent move from one country or region to another, distinguishing it from temporary or seasonal movement.
migration
The Zapotec built this city atop a mountain at the center of the Oaxaca Valley around 500 B.C., making it the first true urban center in the Americas.
Monte Albán
On the manor, peasants owed this payment — equal to one-tenth of their income — to the village priest.
tithe
When the Umayyads were overthrown in 750 CE, one surviving prince named Abd al-Rahman escaped the slaughter and fled west, eventually establishing an independent version of this dynasty's caliphate in southern Spain.
al-Andalus
Invented during the Song Dynasty around 1040, this printing technology allowed individual characters to be arranged in frames and reused, spreading literacy and education across China and eventually East Asia.
movable type
West Africa's earliest known culture, these people of what is now Nigeria were the first in the region to smelt iron, producing tools and weapons between 500 B.C. and A.D. 200; their distinctive terra cotta sculptures feature elongated heads with bulging eyes.
The Nok
Incan labor tax required all able-bodied citizens to work for the state a certain number of days per year, laboring on farms, producing crafts, or completing public works projects.
mita
Under this system, a lord granted land in exchange for military service and loyalty; the person receiving the land held this specific title.
vassal
This branch of Islam, whose name means "party of Ali," emerged after the murder of the caliph Uthman in 656 CE and the subsequent assassination of Ali himself in 661 CE, arguing that only Muhammad's bloodline could legitimately lead the faithful.
Shi'a
The only woman ever to assume the title of emperor in Chinese history, she held real power during the Tang Dynasty from around 660 and formally took the throne at age 65 in 690.
Wu Zhao
This Aksumite king ruled between A.D. 325 and 360, conquered the Kushites, burned Meroë, converted to Christianity and declared it Aksum's official religion, and minted coins inscribed with the phrase "May the country be satisfied."
Ezana
Maya Highland creation story, written down after the arrival of the Spanish, opens with the line "Before the world was created, Calm and Silence were the great kings that ruled."
Popol Vuh
network of religious communities became Europe's most educated institutions during the early Middle Ages — monks there opened schools, copied manuscripts, and preserved Rome's intellectual heritage.
monastery