Global Developments - AP World History: Modern

Despite the connotation of the word "roads," exchange along the Silk Roads took place by both land and sea. These passageways greatly facilitated—rather than inhibited—the exchange of goods and ideas to and from China. The Silk Roads were established well before the fourteenth century CE.

The Phoencian people were seafaring traders who established trading outposts all over the Mediterranean from approximatley 1200 BCE to 500 BCE. Their importance in human history is twofold: they helped connect the peoples and cultues of Mediterranean Europe, and their alphabet developed into the Greek and Latin alphabets.

The Silk Road is the name given to a series of trading routes that ran from Han China to the Mediterranean. First established in the second century CE, the Silk Road connected the East to the West via trade for the first time in human history. This would facilitate the spread of ideas, religions, resources, as well as disease and economic catastrophes.

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the earliest known systems of law that we know about from the ancient world. Hammurabi was a Babylonian king in the 1700s B.C.E.

When you see dates written, it is traditionally in the format of B.C. (Before the birth of Jesus Christ) and A.D. (After the birth of Jesus Christ); however, in recent years, it has become more common practice to use B.C.E. (Before Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era). So this year is 2015 A.D. and 2015 C.E.; the year 432 B.C. is also the year 432 B.C.E. The years begin in the distant B.C.E., countdown to zero (Christ’s birth) and then count back up in the Common Era. So the year that is the furthest in the past is 1212 B.C.E.

The Edict of Milan was issued by Roman Emperor Constantine in 313 C.E. It formally ended persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.

Siddhartha Gautama is often credited with founding modern Buddhism. He promoted the idea of a Middle Way - that encouraged a middle ground between sensory indulgence and complete asceticism that was popular in the India of his time.

The Code of Hammurabi is one of the earliest known systems of law that we know about from the ancient world. Hammurabi was a Babylonian king in the 1700s B.C.E.

When you see dates written, it is traditionally in the format of B.C. (Before the birth of Jesus Christ) and A.D. (After the birth of Jesus Christ); however, in recent years, it has become more common practice to use B.C.E. (Before Common Era) and C.E. (Common Era). So this year is 2015 A.D. and 2015 C.E.; the year 432 B.C. is also the year 432 B.C.E. The years begin in the distant B.C.E., countdown to zero (Christ’s birth) and then count back up in the Common Era. So the year that is the furthest in the past is 1212 B.C.E.

The Edict of Milan was issued by Roman Emperor Constantine in 313 C.E. It formally ended persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire.

Siddhartha Gautama is often credited with founding modern Buddhism. He promoted the idea of a Middle Way - that encouraged a middle ground between sensory indulgence and complete asceticism that was popular in the India of his time.

Despite the connotation of the word "roads," exchange along the Silk Roads took place by both land and sea. These passageways greatly facilitated—rather than inhibited—the exchange of goods and ideas to and from China. The Silk Roads were established well before the fourteenth century CE.

The Phoencian people were seafaring traders who established trading outposts all over the Mediterranean from approximatley 1200 BCE to 500 BCE. Their importance in human history is twofold: they helped connect the peoples and cultues of Mediterranean Europe, and their alphabet developed into the Greek and Latin alphabets.

The Silk Road is the name given to a series of trading routes that ran from Han China to the Mediterranean. First established in the second century CE, the Silk Road connected the East to the West via trade for the first time in human history. This would facilitate the spread of ideas, religions, resources, as well as disease and economic catastrophes.

Classical Indian texts were almost exclusively written in either “Vedic” or “Classical” Sanskrit. Many notable early works of Indian philosophy, Hindu spiritualism, Indian mathematics, and Buddhist practice are written in Classical Sanskrit. Its influence continues today and it remains one of the official languages of India. Urdu is an Arabic written language used primarily in Northern India, Pakistan and other parts of the Eastern Middle East. Hindi is the majority language of India and Bengali is a language spoken by people in Eastern India and Bangladesh.

The Phoenician empire is an ancient and classical-era civilization that emerged around 1200 BCE along the Mediterranean Coast of the “Fertile Crescent." It was primarily a maritime and economic empire, and its culture spread throughout Mediterranean Europe, the Near East, and North Africa. The Phoenicians are credited with inventing one of the earliest known writing systems, and almost certainly the world’s oldest alphabets. Because of Phoenicia’s expansive trading habits, their alphabet spread to many parts of the world. It was the direct ancestor of the Greek (and subsequently, Latin) alphabets, as well as the modern Arabic and Hebrew scripts.

Cuneiform is one of the earliest known examples of writing in human history. It emerged in Sumeria approximately six thousand years ago. It spread throughout much of the known world before eventually being replaced by the simpler Phoenician alphabet in the first millennium BCE.

The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the tale of the possibly mythological Sumerian conqueror Gilgamesh. It is famous because it is the earliest known work of literature. It dates from approximately 2000 BCE.

The Bantu people are one of the earliest organized civilizations in African History. They originated in West Africa and, over a period of several thousand years, migrated South and East. The Bantu Migration is used to explain the similarities between languages and culture across Western, Southern, and Eastern Africa. It is estimated that the Bantu Migration (also called the Bantu Expansion) ended in South Africa as recently as 300 C.E., although historians have largely been unable to confirm this due to the dearth of archaeological evidence.

The earliest settlers of North America arrived from Asia. The people would have crossed the Bering Straight (between modern day Russia and Alaska) during an ice age and migrated south throughout the whole continent searching for food and shelter.