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Choose a Chapter | Purchase the eBook | Online Reader | Glossary

1 Becoming Human
2 Rivers, Cities and the Rise of Complex Societies, c. 4000-2000 BCE
3 Nomads, Territorial States, and Micro-Societies, 2000-1200 BCE
4 First Empires and Common Cultures, 1200–350 bce
5 Worlds Turned Inside Out, 1000–350 bce
6 Shrinking the Afro-Eurasian World, 350 bce–250 ce
7 Han China and The Roman Empire, 300 BCE –300CE
8 The Rise of Universal Religions, 300–600 CE
9 New Empires, and Common Cultures, 600-900 CE
10 The World Becomes “The World,” 1000-1300 CE
11 Crises and Recovery in Afro-Eurasia, 1300-1500
12 Contact, Commerce, and Colonization, 1450-1600
13 Worlds Entangled, 1600-1750
14 Cultures of Splendor and Power, 1600-1780
15 Reordering the World, 1750–1850
16 Alternative Visions of the Nineteenth Century
17 Nations and Empires, 1850–1914
18 An Unsettled World, 1890–1914
19 Of Masses and Visions of the Modern, 1910-1930
20 The Three-World Order, 1940–1975
21 Worlds Together, Worlds Apart: Globalization 1975-1999
22 Epilogue, 2000–2007

Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, 2 e.

Glossary

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Glossary Terms for letter: N

Neanderthals Members of an early wave of hominids from Africa who settled in western Afro-Eurasia, in an area reaching from present-day Uzbekistan and Iraq to Spain, approximately 150,000 years ago.

Needle compass A crucial instrument made available to navigators after 1000 CE that helped guide sailors on the high seas. It was a Chinese invention.

Negritos Hunter-gatherer inhabitants of the East Asian coastal islands who migrated there around 28,000 BCE but by 2000 BCE had been replaced by new migrants.

Nehemiah A Jewish eunuch of the Persian court who was given permission to rebuild the fortification walls around the city of Jerusalem from 440 to 437 BCE.

Neo-Assyrian empire In around 950 BCE, the Neo-Assyrians came to dominate. They were Afro-Eurasia's empire, extending their control over resources and people beyond their own borders. The empire lasted for three centuries.

Nestorian Christians A denomination of Christians whose beliefs about Christ differed from those of the official Byzantine church. Named after Nestorius, former bishop of Constantinople, they emphasized the human aspects of Jesus.

Nirvana Literally, nonexistence; nirvana is the state of complete liberation from the concerns of worldly life, as in Buddhist thought.

Noble Eightfold Path Buddhist concept of a way of life by which people may rid themselves of individual desire to achieve Nirvana. The path consists of wisdom, ethical behavior, and mental discipline.

Nok culture Spectacular culture that arose in what is today Nigeria, in the sixth century BCE. Iron smelting occurred there around 600 BCE. Thus the Nok people made the transition from stone to iron materials.

Nomads People who move across vast distances without settling permanently in a particular place. Often pastoralists, nomads and transhumant herders introduced new forms of chariot-based warfare that transformed the Afro-Eurasian world.

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