Ancient Civilizations: Mesopotamia, Indus Valley, and Egypt

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, places, individuals, and concepts from ancient Mesopotamian, Indus Valley, and Egyptian civilizations.

Fertile Crescent

A region stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.

Mesopotamia

A low plain located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Ziggurat

A Sumerian terraced temple.

City-state

A city and its surrounding land that governed itself.

Theocracy

A government in which the same person is both political and religious leader.

Cuneiform

A Sumerian system of writing using hundreds of wedge-shaped markings pressed into wet clay tablets.

eDubbas

Special schools attended by Sumerians who studied cuneiform to become scribes.

Epic of Gilgamesh

An epic poem that may be the oldest story in the world.

Polytheism

The practice or belief in the worship of many deities (gods).

Bronze

An alloy of copper and tin created by the Sumerians.

Sargon

The Akkadian leader who assumed power around 2300 B.C. and united the city-states of Mesopotamia into an empire.

Akkadians

People who adopted Sumerian religious and farming practices but spoke a Semitic language.

Hammurabi

A ruler of Babylon whose code contained 282 sections dealing with daily life and justice.

Subcontinent

A large, triangular-shaped landmass that juts into the Indian Ocean.

Himalayas

Mountain range forming part of the northern border of the subcontinent.

Monsoons

Seasonal winds that affect the climate and shape the pattern of life on the subcontinent, including dry Northeast monsoons and rain-bearing Southwest monsoons.

Harappan Civilization

Also known as the Indus Valley civilization, featuring major cities such as Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro.

Urban Planning

The arrangement of ancient Indus Valley cities using a grid pattern of straight streets crossing at right angles.

Pictograms

Inscriptions made by Harappans on stone seals placed on packages of goods.

Monarchy

A government ruled by a king.

Dynasty

A line of rulers from one family.

Bureaucracy

A group of government officials.

Pharaoh

An Egyptian title meaning "great house of the king".

Empire

A group of territories or peoples ruled by one government.

Hieroglyphics

Egyptian picture writing.