Topic 2 Vocab Review

Topic 2 - Ancient Middle East

Southernmost region of Mesopotamia (nearest to the Persian Gulf)

Sumer

Nickname for the region located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

The Fertile Crescent

Ancient Sumerian poem about a great flood that destroys the world

The Epic of Gilgamesh

Mesopotamian pyramid shaped temples with a shrine to the city's chief god/goddess on top

Ziggurat

Fine dirt and plant material that gets left behind after rivers flood, creating fertile soil

Silt

Mesopotamian writing system - wedge shaped marks made in clay tablets

Cuneiform

A system of managing gov't through a set of departments run by officials

Bureaucracy

A system in which people or groups are ranked one above the other by status or authority

Social Hierarchy

Conquered peoples are allowed to keep their own cultures & customs

Tolerance

Letter symbols that represent sounds, which are then grouped to form words

Alphabet

Territories settled and ruled by people from another land

Colonies

An economy where trade is conducted using currency/coins

Money Economy

Babylonian King who created the first codified legal system

Hammurabi

Akkadian King who first formed an empire in Sumer

Sargon I

Conquered the majority of the Persian Empire; extended tolerance to conquered peoples

Cyrus

Expanded Persia to its greatest extent; ruled through a bureaucracy; created a money economy

Darius I

A triangular area of marshland formed by silt deposits @ the mouth of a river

Delta

Another term for a waterfall

Cataract

Egyptian ruler; all-powerful; was viewed as a god

Pharoah

A line of rulers in one family

Dynasty

Egyptian Chief Minister; In charge of the bureaucracy and tax collection

Vizier

Egyptian chief god (sun god); Closely linked to the Pharaoh

Amon Re

Egyptian god of the dead, god of the Nile

Osiris

Egyptian goddess of magic & motherhood (wife of Osiris)

Isis

Egyptian written language; symbols and pictures represent objects, concepts or sounds

Hieroglyphics

Preserving dead bodies by embalming them & wrapping them in cloth

Mummification

Flat black stone with the same message carved in hieroglyphics, demotic & Greek. French scholar Jean Champollion used this to translate hieroglyphics.

Rosetta Stone

Egyptian paper-like writing material made from a river plant

Papyrus

Belief in only one god

Monotheism

An agreement or promise

Covenant

Most sacred text of the Jewish faith

Torah

Holy day for rest and worship

Sabbath

Person chosen by God to speak his messages

Prophet

Describes a society where men held greatest legal & moral authority

Patriarchal

The spreading out of the Jewish people throughout the world after the Babylonian Captivity

Diaspora

Moral standards of behavior

Ethics

Jewish patriarch who made the 1st covenant w/God - God promised to make his descendants as numerous as the stars, and he promised to follow God and move his family to Canaan

Abraham

Jewish patriarch who made the 2nd and 3rd covenants w/God (to free the Israelites from Egypt, and to accept the 10 commandments).

Moses

King of Israel who built the capital city of Jerusalem and fought to secure Israel's borders

David

King of Israel who was known for his wisdom, and built the Temple

Solomon