Worlds Together, Worlds Apart, 2 e.
Glossary
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Glossary Terms for letter: R
Radiocarbon isotope C14 All living things contain the radiocarbon isotope C14, which plants acquire directly from the atmosphere and animals acquire indirectly when they consume plants or other animals.When living things die, the C14 isotope they contain begins to decay into a stable nonradioactive element, C12. The rate of decay is regular and measurable, making it possible to ascertain the date of fossils that leave organic remains for ages of up to 40,000 years.
Raja "King" in the Kshatriya period in South Asia; could also refer to the head of a family, but indicated the person who had control of land and resources in South Asian city-states.
Rajanya Meaning "group of brilliant ones," a senior clan of a Vedic lineage.
Rebus Probably originating in Uruk, a rebus is a representation that transfers meaning from the name of a thing to the sound of that name. For example, a picture of a bee can represent the sound "b." Such pictures opened the door to writing: a technology of symbols that uses marks to represent specific discrete sounds.
Reconquista The Spanish reconquest of territories lost to the Islamic Empire, beginning with Toledo in 1061.
Red Turbans Diverse religious movement in China during the fourteenth century that spread the belief that the world was drawing to an end as Mongol rule was collapsing.
Renaissance Term meaning "rebirth" that historians use to characterize the expanded cultural production of European nations between 1430 and 1550. Emphasized a break from the church-centered medieval world and a new concept of humankind as the center of the world.
Res publica Literally "public thing"; this referred to the Roman republic, in which policy and rules of behavior were determined by the Senate and by popular assemblies of the citizens.
Rift Valley An area of northeastern Africa where some of the most important early human archaeological discoveries of fossils were found, especially one of an intact skull that is 1.8 million years old.
Riverine Denoting an area whose inhabitants depended on irrigation for their well-being and whose populations are settled near great rivers. Egypt was, in a sense, the most riverine of all these cultures, in that it had no hinterland of plains as did Mesopotamia and the Indus valley. Away from the banks of the Nile, there is only largely uninhabitable desert.
Roman army The Romans devised a military draft that could draw manpower from a huge population. In their encounter with Hannibal, they lost up to 80,000 men in three separate encounters and still won the war.
Roman law Under the Roman legal system, disputes were brought to the public courts, and decisions were made by judges and sometimes by large juries. Rome's legal system featured written law and institutions for settling legal disputes.
Royal Road A 1,600-mile road from Sardis in Anatolia to Susa in Iran; used by messengers, traders, the army, and those taking tribute to the king.
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