World History - Ancient Middle East And Egypt Test

Fertile Crescent

Also known as Mesopotamia
Has Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

Negatives/Positives of Rivers

Positive:
Reliable Water Source - good for irrigation
Flooding - leaves behind silt - extremely fertile soil

Negative:
Unpredictable Flooding - not seasonal, destroyed crops, homes, lives

Epic of Gilgamesh

Ancient Sumerian poem about a great flood that destroys the world

Sumer

Southern region of Mesopotamia
First known civilization

Ziggurats

Large pyramid shaped temples with a shrine to the city’s chief god/goddess to top

Rulers responsible for:

Maintaining the city walls & irrigation
Leading the armies in war & enforcing laws
Religious duties

Rulers employed scribes to keep records & collect taxes

Hierarchy

A system of ranking groups

Roles of women:
Goddesses were highly revered in Sumer
Women never had legal rights equal to men

Codify

To write down a law system

Cuneiform

Wedge chapped marks made in clay tablets (based on pictographs)
Originally used for keeping trade records
Used for stories, prayers, laws, contracts, etc.

Tolerance

To conquered people
Allowed to keep their cultures/religions as long as they follow the conquerors laws

Bureaucracy

A system of managing governments through a set of departments run by officials

Money Economy

Economy based in coins rather than trading goods/barter economy
Established a currency

Colonies

Territories settled and ruled by people from another land

Alphabet

Letter symbols that represent sounds which are grouped to form words

Sargon I

First emperor of Mesopotamia
Conquered Sumer & Northern Mesopotamia

Hammurabi

Babylonian Empire, King of Babylon
Code of Hammurabi - First attempt by a ruler to codify a law system
“An eye for an eye”
Both criminal and civil laws

Cyrus II

“The Great”
Conquered the majority of the Persian Empire
Had tolerance to his conquered people

Darius I

Expanded Persian borders
Great administrator - established a bureaucracy
Money economy

Cataract

A waterfall

Delta

A triangular area of marshland formed by silt deposits

Dynasty

Line of rulers in one family

Pharaoh

Egyptian Ruler

Vizier

Chief Minister

Amon-Re

Chief God (Sun God)
Closely linked to the Pharaoh

Osiris

God of the dead, God of the Nile

Isis

Goddess of magic and motherhood (Wife of Osiris)

Book of the Dead

spells, charms and formulas meant to help the dead in the afterlife

Mummification

Preserving dead bodies by embalming them & wrapping them in cloth

Society Class Structure

Top:
Pharohs
Viziers/priests
Scribes
Craftsmen and artists
Peasants
Slaves and servants
Bottom:

Hieroglyphics

Writing system
Symbols and pictures represent objects, concepts, or sounds

Papyrus

A paper-like writing material made from a river plant
Used with reed pens and dink for informal records

Rosetta Stone

Flat black stone with the same message carved in hieroglyphics, demotic (simpler Egyptian script) & Greek

Monotheistic

The belief in one god

Torah

Most sacred text of the Jewish faith / The Christian Old Testament - Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

Covenant

Agreement or promise (w/ god)

Patriarch

The founder of ruler of a tribe, family, or people

Sabbath

Holy day for rest and worship
Sunset Friday to sunset Saturday
“Shabbat”

Prophet

A person who speaks for God

Ethics

Moral standards of behavior

Diaspora

The spreading out of the Jewish people throughout the world

Abraham

Made 1st covenant w/ god

Abraham will:
Accept monotheism, agree to move to Canaan (promised land)

God will:
Make Abraham’s descendants “as numerous as the stars”
Protect & provide a “promised land” for his people

Had a son named Isaac who had a son named Jacob or Israel

Moses

Made the 2nd covenant w/ god

God will:
Free the Israelites out of bondage back into the “promised land” (Canaan)

Moses will:
Reject his Egyptian royal family
Demand that Pharoah let the Israelites go (10 plagues)

3rd covenant w/ god

Hebrews will:
Accept the 10 commandments as God’s law

God will:
Provide for the Hebrews always as God’s “Chosen People”

David

King David
Built the capital city of Jerusalem and fought to secure Israel’s borders

Solomon

King David’s son, King Solomon
Built the Temple
Known for his wisdom
Worked to increase Israel’s influence in Mesopotamia

Talmud

Collection of oral teachings and commentaries about the Hebrew Bible and Jewish law

Rabbi

Jewish word for teacher