World History Vocab 2 - Mesopotamia

Sumeria

he earliest known civilization, based on city-states located in modern-day Iraq along with the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

Mesopotamia

"The land between two rivers"

City

A large, well defined urban area with a dense population that is sustained by the agricultural countryside subject to its rule

City-state

larger than a city; a political orginization based on the authority of a single, large city that controls the surrounding countryside

Irrigation

The supply of water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of man-made channels

Freeman

Largest social class comprised of people who did the bulk of the city's work and trade, owned and worked most of the outlying farmland, and had some political rights

Enslaved People

Those on the losing side of a war or who fell into debt with no rights

Canal

Manmade waterway that allows boats and ships to pass from one body of water to another

Lugal

Kinglike figures who combined religious and secular duties

Manuscript

Written by hand

Scribe

A person who writes or copies documents

Cunneiform

Wedge-shape marks made by stylus onto clay tablets as a form of writing developed by the Ancient Sumerians between 4,000-3,000 BC

Civilization

Complex societues; political, economic, social orginization of a society

Alliances

Formal agreements between two or more nations; promises each nation will support the other

Balance of Power

Power is distributed among various states to prevent any single one from becoming too powerful

Internal Rebellion

An uprising that resists and is organized against one's own government

Akkadians

Peoples of the Akkadian Empire, whose capital was Akkad; they conquered and united Sumerian city-states in 2300 BC for 150 years

Amorites

"Westerners" from desert regions outside Mesopotamia who conquered the 3rd Dynasty of Ur (a major Sumerian city-state) and established a Babylonian dynasty, which lead to the Babylonian Empire under King Hammurabi

Babylonians

Peoples of the Babylonian Empire; it began as a city-state until Hammurabi unified all Mesopotamia into a new empire

Hammurabi

The first king of the Babylonian Empire who created a written law code and centralized power by appointing local, elite, provinical governors

Hammurabi's Code

A system of law where punishment depended on social rank and equal punishment

Hammurabi's Code (definition written in different form)

Written edicits addressing crime and punishment in the Babylonian empire in attempt to protect the defenseless

Theocracy

Government ruled by priests in the name of the "gods"

Sacrifice

An act of giving up something of great value or worth for something of greater value or worth

Priest

One who builds a bridge (a mediator) between human beings and God (or "gods")

Ziggurat

A massive, stepped pyramid with a shrine to the "gods" at the top

Polytheism

The worship of many dieties ("gods" and "goddesses")

Commerce

Exchanging products, goods, and services for financial gain

Barbaric Nomads

Foreign invaders who assimilated into new lands