History Unit 1 Test - Mesopotamia (Chapter 2)

Alphabet

cuneiform - denoting or relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets.

Bronze

In world history, bronze is an alloy of copper and tin, and the Bronze Age is the period when this metal was the primary material for making tools and weapons.

City-state

A Mesopotamian city-state was an independent, self-governing city that, along with its surrounding territory, acted like its own sovereign nation.

Cuneiform

denoting or relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets.

Empire

In Mesopotamia, "empire" refers to a large territory with multiple city-states or nations, all ruled by a single, powerful authority, such as a king or emperor.

Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh is an ancient Mesopotamian poem about the legendary king of Uruk, whose historical basis is the fifth king of the first dynasty of Uruk from around 2700–2500 BCE. It is one of the earliest known works of literary fiction, exploring universal themes such as the quest for immortality, friendship, mortality, and the meaning of life.

Euphrates River

The Euphrates River is one of two major rivers, along with the Tigris, that defined ancient Mesopotamia, which translates to "land between the rivers".

Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East, known as the "cradle of civilization," where some of the earliest human civilizations arose.

Hammurabi’s Code

Hammurabi's Code was a set of 282 laws created by the Babylonian King Hammurabi around 1750 BCE. It is one of the oldest known decipherable writings and covers various aspects of life, including family law, property rights, and criminal justice. The laws are famous for the principle of lex talionis, or "an eye for an eye," but the code also features distinctions based on social class and gender, as well as specific economic regulations and construction laws. 

Hebrews, Israelites, & Jews

The terms Hebrew, Israelite, and Jew are related to ancient peoples who originated in the Mesopotamian region, but have evolved over time. Hebrews refers to the earliest ancestors, named after Abraham who, according to tradition, came from the city of Ur in Mesopotamia. Israelites are the descendants of Abraham's grandson, Jacob, who was also called "Israel". The term Jew comes from the name of the kingdom of Judah and its dominant tribe, and is the modern term for the descendants of these groups. 

Hittites

The Hittites were an ancient Indo-European people who formed a powerful empire in Anatolia (modern-day Turkey) that, at its peak, included Upper Mesopotamia. They are defined by their strong military, mastery of iron-working, and adoption of the Mesopotamian cuneiform writing system. The Hittite Empire rivaled major powers like Egypt and Assyria, and after its collapse around 1180 BCE, it splintered into smaller Neo-Hittite city-states. 

Indo-Europeans

"Indo-European" can refer to two main groups: a prehistoric people of the Yamnaya culture who are believed to be the ancestors of speakers of Indo-European languages, and any modern or historical group of people who speak a language from that family, such as those in Europe, India, or Iran.

Irrigation

Mesopotamians developed large-scale irrigation systems using a network of canals, ditches, and basins to bring water from the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to their fields.

Monotheism

the doctrine or belief that there is only one God.

Pastoral Nomads

In the context of Mesopotamia, pastoral nomads were groups of people who specialized in the breeding and herding of domesticated livestock (primarily sheep, goats, and camels) and practiced regular seasonal migration to find fresh pastures and water sources in the arid and semi-arid regions surrounding the fertile river valleys. 

Phoenicians

The Phoenicians were a Semitic people who inhabited the coastal region of the Levant in the ancient Mediterranean, with major city-states like Tyre and Sidon.

Polytheism

the belief in or worship of more than one god.

Tigris River

The Tigris River is one of the two major rivers that define Mesopotamia, a region that means "land between the rivers".

Yahweh

Yahweh was an ancient Semitic deity of weather and war, eventually adopted as the national god of ancient Israel and Judah.

Ziggurat

(in ancient Mesopotamia) a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple. Ziggurats are first attested in the late 3rd millennium BC and probably inspired the biblical story of the Tower of Babel