Test 1- Chapters 2,3,5

New Kingdom:

Egyptian Era also known as Empire. Started after defeat of the Hyksos invaders, Egypt tried to conquer Mesopotamian neighbors.

City-states:

Places of independent government, ritual prayer, and trade. Surrounded by villages of farmers.

Covenant:

Sacred contract between Yahweh and the Hebrews. In return for faithful worship, they would be granted victory over their enemies.

Cuneiform:

Wedge-shaped writing on clay tablets used in Mesopotamia.

Diaspora:

The scattering of the Jewish population of Palestine to all corners of the world; subsequently applied to other instances of involuntary exile.

Epic of Gilgamesh:

First epic poem in world literature; Mesopotamian creation myth.

Ethics:

The study of good and evil, determining what is right and wrong in human life and conduct.

Exodus:

Hebrew flight from Egypt led by Moses

Fertile Crescent:

A wide belt of rich farmland reaching from Mesopotamia to Egypt.

Hammurabi's Law Code:

One of the earliest known complete systems of law. An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.

Hieroglyphics:

Pictograph writing used by the Egyptians.

Mesopotamia:

"Land between the rivers," the Greek name for the settled, agricultural valleys between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Messiah:

A king/savior who the Jews believed would appear to restore Israel to greatness.

Middle Kingdom:

Egyptian Era between First and Second Intermediate Periods. Trade networks were extended but peasant life gradually worsened.

Monotheism:

Worship of one god.

Mount Sinai:

Site where tradition holds that Moses received Ten Commandments from Yahweh.

Old Kingdom:

Egyptian Era during which pyramids were built, government, religious and cultural traditions were established. Ends at First Intermediate Period.

Patriarchy:

Society dominated by males, both socially and politically.

Pharaoh:

God-king of Egypt.

Phonetic alphabet:

System of written letters corresponding to specific sounds of an oral language; first developed by the Phoenicians.

Polytheism:

Worship of more than one god.

Semitic:

Adjective describing a person or language belonging to one of the most widespread of the western Asian groups including Hebrew and Arabic.

Tanakh

The Hebrew Bible, or Old Testament, as it is known to Christians.

Theocracy:

Society ruled by gods or their priests.

Younger Dryas Event:

Glacial water burst into the Atlantic Gulf Stream, triggering a thousand-year cooling and drier conditions, ending abundant food sources of hunter-gatherers.

Zealots:

Fanatical Jewish leaders who caused tension between the Jewish nation and Romans, leading to the second Diaspora.

Ziggurats:

Mesopotamian religious temples consisting of stepped pyramids.

Abraham:

Hebrew patriarch that led the Jews to Canaan and was promised dominion in the Holy Land by God.

Akhnaton:

Egyptian pharaoh who attempted to introduce monotheism with the worship of the sun god, renamed Aton.

Amun-Ra:

Egyptian gods of the sun. Came to represent the embodiment of all the gods.

Cyrus the Great:

Founder and first emperor of the Persian Empire.

David:

King of the Hebrews that defeated the Philistines and established the Hebrew capital at Jerusalem.

Horus:

Egypt's god that symbolized the forces of order, of whom all pharaohs became a reincarnation.

Moses:

Traditional leader of Hebrew Exodus from Egypt.

Osiris:

Egyptian god who judged the soul in the afterlife.

Solomon:

Most renowned king of the Hebrews, he was the builder of Jerusalem's Temple.

Tigleth-Pileser:

Assyrian king who killed thousands in the pursuit of conquest.

Tutankhamen:

His burial tomb was discovered almost intact giving our only view of all the treasure and artifacts in a pharaohs tomb since most other tombs were looted.

Yahweh:

Jehovah; name of the Hebrew God, signifying "I am."

Assyrians:

Group of Semitic nomads who brutally conquered most of Mesopotamia and were known as the most hated conquerors in ancient history.

Hebrews:

Group of Semitic, monotheistic people who settled in Canaan. More commonly known as the Jews. Ultimately removed from their homeland by the Romans.

Natufians:

Group of hunter-gatherers of the Near and Middle East.

Persians:

Group of pastoralist nomads that settled in modern day Iran and created the strongest empire in the world during its time. Allowed conquered peoples to keep their customs.

Phoenicians:

Group of successful merchants, sailors and colonizers of the Mediterranean. Extensive trade spread their alphabet.

Sumerians:

First urban Mesopotamian civilization of competing city-states. Credited with inventing cuneiform, the wheel, war chariots, the plow and more.

Rosetta Stone:

Used to break the code of hieroglyphics. It had a message that was written on it in three different languages including hieroglyphics.

Nile:

The benevolent river of Egypt. It brings a gentle flood of water and fertile silt each summer creating Egypt's agricultural abundance.

History:

A systematic study of evidence of the human past.

Archaeology:

The study of cultures and civilizations through examination of their artifacts.

Anthropology:

Study of humans as a particular life-species.