Evidence of Science and Technology During Ancient Times

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, inventions, and concepts from ancient Sumerian, Babylonian, Egyptian, and Minoan civilizations.

Sumer

The southernmost region of ancient Mesopotamia (modern day Iraq and Kuwait) established around 3600 BC, recognized as the cradle of the world's earliest civilization.

Cuneiform

The first writing system, developed around 3100 BC, consisting of word pictures depicted in symbols made of triangular marks based on pictograms.

Sumerian clay tablet

Artifacts containing Sumerian historical information and culture, which began as record keeping for trade and evolved into writing down laws and stories.

Potter's wheel

A heavy flat disk made of hardened clay invented shortly after 3500 BC that spun horizontally on an axis, which Sumerians later turned on its end to create the wheel for wagons.

Sexagesimal system

A system of counting in units of $60$ developed by the Sumerians that served as the basis for the $360^\circ$ circle and the $60$-minute hour.

Hammurabi

The first leader of the old Babylonian Empire who promulgated a famous law code that served as rules and standards to maintain regional stability and establish science and technology.

Nebuchadnezzar II

The Neo-Babylonian Emperor who ordered the construction of the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Ishtar Gate.

Hieroglyphics

The ancient Egyptian writing system consisting of pictorial symbols written with ink and brushes on paper made of papyrus reeds.

Imhotep

The individual early in the Old Kingdom who devised the first $365$-day calendar.

Sirius

The brightest star on the ancient Egyptian horizon whose appearance and disappearance coincided with the annual rise and fall of the Nile River, forming the basis for their early calendar.

Giza Necropolis

An iconic Egyptian site containing the Great Sphinx; it is the oldest of the ancient wonders of the world and the only one still in existence.

Cretan (Minoan) civilization

An Aegean Bronze Age civilization ruled by King Minos that arose on the Island of Crete and flourished from approximately 2600 to 1400 BC.

Arthur Evans

The British archaeologist who rediscovered the Minoan civilization at the beginning of the 20th century.

Knossos

The capital of Crete and the grandest site of Bronze Age palaces, built between 2100 and 1575 BC.

Mediterranean polyculture

The practice of growing more than one crop at a time, developed by the Minoans to maintain soil fertility and offer protection against low yields in any single crop.

Theran eruption

One of the largest volcanic eruptions in human history that blasted more than $10$ million tons of ash, gas, and rock $25\,\text{miles}$ into the atmosphere.