Select a tabLessonsVocabularyStatisticsLessonsVocabularyStatisticsClick on a lesson below to start learningWe recommend you to start with lesson 1, as lessons build on one another.1 Understanding the Past1.1 Developing a Global Perspective1.1.1 World History as Preparation for Life after College1.1.2 World History and Global Citizenship1.1.3 Features of This Textbook1.2 Primary Sources1.2.1 Learning to Evaluate Documents and Images1.2.2 Documentary Sources: Competing Narratives1.2.3 Textual Sources: The Importance of Language1.2.4 Hidden in History1.3 Causation and Interpretation in History1.3.1 Levels of Causation1.3.2 Interpretation in History1.4 Review Questions2 Early Humans2.1 Early Human Evolution and Migration2.1.1 Human Evolution2.1.2 Why Did Humans Move and Where Did They Go?2.1.3 Early Human Technologies2.2 People in the Paleolithic Age2.2.1 Ice, Ice, and More Ice2.2.2 Life in the Paleolithic Age2.2.3 Diverse Paleolithic Peoples2.3 The Neolithic Revolution2.3.1 The Development of Agriculture2.3.2 How Farming Changed the Human Experience2.3.3 Neolithic Peoples2.4 Review Questions3 Early Civilizations and Urban Societies3.1 Early Civilizations3.1.1 Attributes of Early Civilizations3.1.2 The First Urban Societies3.2 Ancient Mesopotamia3.2.1 The Rise and Eclipse of Sumer3.2.2 The Rise of the World’s First Empire3.2.3 Later Empires in Mesopotamia3.2.4 Society and Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia3.3 Ancient Egypt3.3.1 The Origins of Ancient Egypt3.3.2 The Age of Pyramid Building3.3.3 A Second Age of Egyptian Greatness3.4 The Indus Valley Civilization3.4.1 The Origins of the Indus Valley Civilization3.4.2 Trade, Writing, and Religion3.4.3 The Era of Decline3.5 Review Questions4 The Near East4.1 From Old Babylon to the Medes4.1.1 Power Politics in the Near East4.1.2 Foreign Affairs and Trade4.1.3 Daily Life and the Family in the Near East4.2 Egypt’s New Kingdom4.2.1 The Hyksos in Egypt4.2.2 The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom4.2.3 Egypt’s Foreign Policy4.3 The Persian Empire4.3.1 The Rise of Persia4.3.2 Darius I and the Reorganization of the Empire4.3.3 Persian Culture and Daily Life4.4 The Hebrews4.4.1 The History of the Hebrews4.4.2 The Culture of the Hebrews4.5 Review Questions5 Asia in Ancient Times5.1 Ancient China5.1.1 Prehistoric China5.1.2 Early Dynastic China5.1.3 The Zhou Dynasty5.1.4 The Warring States Era and Qin Unification5.2 The Steppes5.2.1 The Nomadic Culture of the Steppes5.2.2 Tribes, Confederations, and Settled Neighbors5.3 Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia5.3.1 Ancient Korea5.3.2 Ancient Japan5.4 Vedic India to the Fall of the Maurya Empire5.4.1 Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro5.4.2 The Aryans and Brahmanism5.4.3 Buddhism5.4.4 The Mauryan Empire5.4.5 The Gupta Dynasty5.5 Review Questions6 Mediterranean Peoples6.1 Early Mediterranean Peoples6.1.1 The Late Bronze Age World6.1.2 Phoenicians, Greeks, and Etruscans6.2 Ancient Greece6.2.1 Archaic Greece6.2.2 Sparta and Athens6.2.3 Classical Greece6.3 The Hellenistic Era6.3.1 The Kingdom of Macedon6.3.2 Hellenistic Culture6.4 The Roman Republic6.4.1 The Foundation and Function of the Roman Republic6.4.2 The Expansion of the Roman Republic6.5 The Age of Augustus6.5.1 The First Triumvirate6.5.2 From Republic to Principate6.6 Review Questions7 Experiencing the Roman Empire7.1 The Daily Life of a Roman Family7.1.1 The Structure of Roman Families7.1.2 A Day in the Life of a Roman Family7.1.3 What Family Meant in Rome7.2 Slavery in the Roman Empire7.2.1 The Structures of Roman Slavery7.2.2 Life under Slavery7.2.3 Gladiators7.3 The Roman Economy: Trade, Taxes, and Conquest7.3.1 Trade7.3.2 Taxes7.3.3 Conquest7.4 Religion in the Roman Empire7.4.1 The Emperor and the Virgins7.4.2 Religions of the Empire7.4.3 Christianity7.5 The Regions of Rome7.5.1 The Culture of the Roman Empire7.5.2 The People of the Empire7.6 Review Questions8 The Americas in Ancient Times8.1 Populating and Settling the Americas8.1.1 Populating the Americas8.1.2 The Neolithic Revolution in the Americas8.2 Early Cultures and Civilizations in the Americas8.2.1 Complex Civilizations in Mesoamerica8.2.2 Early Cultures and Civilizations in South America8.2.3 North America in the Formative Period8.3 The Age of Empires in the Americas8.3.1 The Aztec Empire8.3.2 The Inca Empire8.3.3 Complex Societies in North America8.4 Review Questions9 Africa in Ancient Times9.1 Africa’s Geography and Climate9.1.1 Geographic Diversity on the African Continent9.1.2 Types of Ancient African Societies9.2 The Emergence of Farming and the Bantu Migrations9.2.1 The Emergence of Farming9.2.2 The Bantu Migrations9.3 The Kingdom of Kush9.3.1 The Origin and Rise of the Kingdom of Kush9.3.2 The Meroitic Period in Nubia9.4 North Africa’s Mediterranean and Trans-Saharan Connections9.4.1 North Africa and Egypt9.4.2 North African and Trans-Saharan Trade9.5 Review Questions10 Empires of Faith10.1 The Eastward Shift10.1.1 Constantinople and the Roman East10.1.2 The Rule of Roman Christianity10.1.3 The Fall of the Roman West10.2 The Byzantine Empire and Persia10.2.1 Late Antique Rome10.2.2 From Parthian to Sasanian Persia10.2.3 The Last Great Empires of Antiquity10.3 The Kingdoms of Aksum and Himyar10.3.1 The Kingdom of Aksum10.3.2 The Kingdom of Himyar10.3.3 Religious Influence at the End of Antiquity10.4 The Margins of Empire10.4.1 The Kushan Empire10.4.2 Palmyra as Rival to the Roman Empire10.4.3 The Arab Tribes10.5 Review Questions11 The Rise of Islam and the Caliphates11.1 The Rise and Message of Islam11.1.1 Arabia on the Eve of Islam11.1.2 The Religious Tradition of Islam11.1.3 The Islamic Prophet Muhammad11.1.4 Muhammad’s Community11.2 The Arab-Islamic Conquests and the First Islamic States11.2.1 The Arab-Islamic Conquest Movement11.2.2 Conquering Persia and the Byzantine Empire11.2.3 The Conquerors and the Conquered11.2.4 Islam’s First Dynasty11.3 Islamization and Religious Rule under Islam11.3.1 The Abbasid Caliphate11.3.2 The Abbasid Translation Movement11.3.3 Sect Formation in the Middle East11.3.4 Islamization before the Crusades11.4 Review Questions12 India, the Indian Ocean Basin, and East Asia12.1 The Indian Ocean World in the Early Middle Ages12.1.1 South Asia in the Early Middle Ages12.1.2 A Multicultural South Asia12.1.3 Sui and Tang China12.2 East-West Interactions in the Early Middle Ages12.2.1 Travel and Exchange along the Silk Roads12.2.2 Religion and Trade in South and Southeast Asia12.2.3 East Africa and the Indian Ocean Trade12.3 Border States: Sogdiana, Korea, and Japan12.3.1 Sogdiana and Silk Road Trade12.3.2 Early Korea12.3.3 Early Japan12.4 Review Questions13 The Post-Roman West and the Crusading Movement13.1 The Post-Roman West in the Early Middle Ages13.1.1 Europe after the Roman Empire13.1.2 Religion and Society in Medieval Europe13.1.3 The Iberian Peninsula and the World of Al-Andalus13.2 The Seljuk Migration and the Call from the East13.2.1 The Breakdown of Abbasid Authority and the Turkic Migration13.2.2 The Fatimid Caliphate and the Seljuk Sultanate13.2.3 The Battle of Manzikert and the Call from the East13.3 Patriarch and Papacy: The Church and the Call to Crusade13.3.1 The East-West Schism13.3.2 Pope Urban II and the Council of Claremont13.3.3 The Rhetoric of Holy War13.4 The Crusading Movement13.4.1 Jerusalem and the Holy Land13.4.2 The First, Second, and Third Crusades13.4.3 Experiencing the Crusades13.4.4 Later Crusading13.5 Review Questions14 Pax Mongolica: The Steppe Empire of the Mongols14.1 Song China and the Steppe Peoples14.1.1 Song China to the Thirteenth Century14.1.2 The Inner Asian Steppe and Chinese Dynastic Struggles14.1.3 The Rise of Chinggis Khan and Mongol Unification14.2 Chinggis Khan and the Early Mongol Empire14.2.1 The Yassa and Mongol Life14.2.2 The Conquest Movement of Chinggis Khan14.2.3 Ogedei Khan’s Great Mongol Nation14.2.4 The Last Gasp of Mongol Expansion14.3 The Mongol Empire Fragments14.3.1 Islam and the Mongols14.3.2 Yuan China14.4 Christianity and Islam outside Central Asia14.4.1 The Christian Pope and the Papal States14.4.2 The Later Crusades and the Limits of Mongol Rule14.5 Review Questions15 States and Societies in Sub-Saharan Africa15.1 Culture and Society in Medieval Africa15.1.1 African Geography, Migrations, and Settlement15.1.2 The Expansion of Christianity in Africa15.1.3 The Expansion of Islam in Africa15.2 Medieval Sub-Saharan Africa15.2.1 The Ghana Empire15.2.2 The Mali Empire15.2.3 The Zimbabwean Plateau15.3 The People of the Sahel15.3.1 The Gao Dynasty and Early Songhai15.3.2 Cross-Cultural Interaction in the Sahel15.4 Review Questions16 Climate Change and Plague in the Fourteenth Century16.1 Asia, North Africa, and Europe in the Early Fourteenth Century16.1.1 China in the Early Fourteenth Century16.1.2 The Middle East and North Africa in the Early Fourteenth Century16.1.3 Europe in the Early Fourteenth Century16.2 Famine, Climate Change, and Migration16.2.1 The Effects of Climate Change in the Fourteenth Century16.2.2 Mobility and Human Society16.3 The Black Death from East to West16.3.1 The Origins and Spread of the Bubonic Plague16.3.2 The Black Death in Asia and North Africa16.3.3 The Black Death in Europe16.4 The Long-Term Effects of Global Transformation16.4.1 Economic and Social Changes in Europe16.4.2 Religious Changes16.5 Review Questions17 The Ottomans, the Mamluks, and the Ming17.1 The Ottomans and the Mongols17.1.1 Ottoman Growth17.1.2 The Timurids and the Aftermath of the Battle of Ankara17.1.3 The Ottoman Conquest of the Byzantine Empire17.1.4 The Renaissance17.2 From the Mamluks to Ming China17.2.1 The Slave Soldier System17.2.2 The Mamluk Sultanate17.2.3 Ming China and Its Neighbors17.3 Gunpowder and Nomads in a Transitional Age17.3.1 Social Change and the Adoption of Gunpowder17.3.2 The Age of the Nomad17.4 Review Questions