1. Period 2: 600 BCE to 600 CE
Vocabulary

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9. 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.

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

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

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

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

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

15. Confucius
a Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher

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

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

18. 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.

19. 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.

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

21. Polis
A Greek city-state

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

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

24. 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

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

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

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