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Agriculture

The cultivation of crops and raising of animals for food and other products.

Urbanization

The growth of towns and cities and the increasing concentration of people in urban settlements.

Food surplus

Food produced beyond the amount immediately needed by a community.

Job specialization

The division of work among people who perform different occupations or tasks.

Social hierarchy

The arrangement of people or groups into different levels of status, authority, or importance.

Social stratification

The division of society into social groups based on factors such as wealth, occupation, power, and family background.

Economic activities

Activities involving the production, distribution, exchange, or use of goods and services.

Taxes

Contributions collected by the government to support its operations and responsibilities.

Trade networks

Connections through which goods, knowledge, and cultural influences move between communities.

Military

Organized forces responsible for defense and other military operations.

Kingdom

A territory governed by a king or queen.

Fertile Crescent

A region of the ancient Near East associated with early agriculture and urban civilizations.

Mesopotamia

A historical region associated with the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Sumer

An ancient Mesopotamian civilization known for city-states and early writing.

City-state

An independent city and its surrounding territory, organized under its own political authority.

Lugal

A Sumerian title for a ruler, commonly translated as "big man."

Polytheism

Belief in or worship of many gods.

Ziggurat

A stepped temple structure that served as a religious center in Mesopotamia.

Cuneiform

A wedge-shaped writing system developed by the Sumerians.

Sargon

The ruler associated with the establishment of the Akkadian Empire.

Akkadian Empire

An early territorial empire established by Sargon of Akkad.

Hammurabi

A Babylonian ruler associated with a famous collection of laws.

Code of Hammurabi

A collection of laws intended to regulate different aspects of Babylonian society.

Patriarchal society

A society in which men generally hold greater authority in family and public life.

Irrigation

The artificial supply of water to agricultural land.