Period 2: 600 BCE to 600 CE Vocabulary

Zoroastrianism one of the world's oldest monotheistic religions. It was founded Prophet Zoroaster in ancient Iran approximately 3500 years ago.

Judaism ancient monotheistic religion, with the Torah as its foundational text. Followers are called Hebrews.

Islam a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion. Qur'an is the holy book. Followers are called Muslims

Christianity world's largest monotheistic religion. Holy Bible is the holy text.

Hinduism a major religious and cultural tradition of South Asia, developed from Vedic religion

Buddhism A religion/ philosophy that encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and spiritual practices largely based on teachings attributed to Gautama Buddha, 

Daoism philosophical, ethical or religious tradition of Chinese origin, or faith of Chinese exemplification, that emphasizes living in harmony with the Tao

Shintoism the ethnic religion of the people of Japan. It is defined as an action-centered religion, focused on ritual practices such as offerings of food to gods and nature.

Animism A belief that seeks to place attributes of a soul to plants, inanimate objects, and natural phenomena.

Sikhism a religion that originated in South Asia during the 15th century, based on the spiritual revelations and preaching’s of Nanak. .

Qin Dynasty the first unified, multi-national and power- centralized state in the Chinese history. It lasted from 221 BC to 207 BC.

Qin Shi Huangdi the King of the state of Qin who conquered all other Warring States and united China in 221 BC

Han Dynasty The second imperial Chinese dynasty. Established what is commonly thought of as Chinese culture.

Confucius a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

Mauryan Empire historical power in ancient India, ruled by the Mauryan dynasty from 322–185 BCE

Ashoka an Indian emperor of the Mauryan Dynasty who ruled almost all of the Indian subcontinent from ca. 269 BC to 232 BC.

Gupta Empire an ancient Indian empire, founded by Maharaja Sri Gupta, which existed at its zenith from approximately 320 to 550 CE and covered much of the Indian Subcontinent.

Pericles the most prominent and influential Greek statesman, orator and general of Athens during the Golden Age— specifically the time between the Persian and Peloponnesian wars.

Hellenistic Culture the spread of Greek culture as well as the influence of other culture on the Greeks

Polis A Greek city-state

Constantine a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. Stops the persecution of the Christians.

Direct Democracy is a form of democracy in which people decide policy initiatives directly. Each person has an equal vote.

Byzantine Empire Eastern Roman Empire, was the predominantly Greek-speaking continuation of the eastern part of the Roman Empire during Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages

Kingdom of Axum was a trading nation in the area of northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, which existed from approximately 100–940 AD

Mayan Mesoamerican civilization noted for an hieroglyphic script, the only known fully developed writing system of the pre- Columbian Americas

Inca was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. Located in the Andean region of South America.