The Sumerians - Vocabulary Flashcards

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering key terms, historical figures, and concepts from the Sumerian civilization lecture notes.

Rural

Having to do with countryside areas.

Urban

Having to do with city areas.

City-state

A political unit consisting of a city and all the countryside around it.

Empire

Land with different territories and peoples under a single ruler.

Polytheism

The worship of many gods.

Priests

People who performed religious ceremonies and held great status in Sumerian society.

Social hierarchy

The division of society by rank or class.

Cuneiform

The world's first system of writing, developed by the Sumerians using sharp tools to make wedge-shaped symbols on clay tablets.

Stylus

A sharp tool used by Sumerians to make wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.

Pictographs

Picture symbols used in early writing where each symbol represented a physical object.

Scribe

A writer hired to keep records, document business transactions, and track taxes.

Epics

Long poems that tell the stories of heroes.

Architecture

The science or art of building.

Ziggurat

A pyramid-shaped temple tower that rose above each Sumerian city.

Sargon

An Akkadian emperor who established the world's first empire and was the first ruler to have a permanent army.

Gilgamesh

A legendary king of Uruk who became a famous figure in Sumerian epic literature.

Enheduanna

The daughter of Sargon, a priestess, and the first known female writer in history.

Enlil

The Sumerian god considered the lord of the air.

Inanna

The Sumerian goddess of love and war.

Enki

The Sumerian god considered the lord of wisdom and the god of fresh water.

Mari

An important trade center located on the Euphrates River.

Akkad

A capital city built by Sargon on the Euphrates River near present-day Baghdad.

Bronze Age

A period when humans began making tools out of metal rather than stone.

Potter's wheel

A Sumerian invention that enabled craftspeople to shape clay into bowls.