Ancient Civilizations Vocabulary

Vocabulary flashcards covering the key terms, social structures, periods, and historical events of ancient civilizations as detailed in the lecture.

Bronze Age

the period from $3500$ to $1110\,BCE$ when bronze, an alloy of copper and tin, was the preferred material for manufacturing tools and weapons

Code of Hammurabi

a list of judicial decisions that the Babylonian king Hammurabi had inscribed on stone pillars throughout his kingdom

culture

all the ways in which members of a human society interact with one another and with their environment and pass these ways from generation to generation

Nomarchs

regional governors in ancient Egypt

papyrus

a type of paper Egyptians made from a common reed plant growing along the Nile

pharaoh

the title of the Egyptian ruler, translated as “big house”

Polytheists

people who worship multiple gods, usually associated with different aspects of the natural world

city-state

an independent political entity consisting of a city and surrounding territory that it controls

Cuneiform

a phonetic writing system based on the sounds of words and invented by the Sumerians in about $3000\,BCE$

Harappan

a term describing the ancient Indus valley civilization, named for one of its largest cities and the first to be discovered by archaeologists

hieratic

a simplified form of hieroglyphics employed by Egyptian scribes for recording everyday documents such as receipts and contracts

Hieroglyphics

a complex writing system developed around $3000\,BCE$ in which written symbols represented both sounds and ideas

Lugal

the Sumerians’ term for their ruler

monsoon

the seasonal pattern of wind and rainfall across South Asia

pastoralists

nomadic people who rely on herds of domesticated animals for subsistence

social stratification

the hierarchical order of society in which people sharing the same level of wealth and status make up a distinct class or strata

Iron Age

the period beginning around $1200\,BCE$ when iron became the preferred material for manufacturing tools and weapons

Specialization

a societal characteristic in which people perform specific tasks, such as farming (farmer) or producing tools and clothing (artisan), that contribute to the well-being of the community

ziggurat

an immense stepped tower with a flat top built of mud-brick that served as a temple in Sumerian cities

Babylonian exile

the deportation of Judeans to Babylon after the fall of Jerusalem

chattel slavery

a form of slavery in which one person is owned by another as a piece of property

Exodus

the mass migration of Hebrews out of Egypt under the leadership of Moses

Hebrew Bible

the holy book that, according to Jewish tradition, tells the history of the Hebrew people

Ramesside kings

the line of kings that ruled New Kingdom Egypt following the reign of Ramses I

satrapy

one of twenty governing districts in Persia administered by royal governors called satraps, who answered directly to the king

vassal state

a state or kingdom that is nominally independent in the running of its internal affairs but must submit to the demands of a dominating empire and usually provide tribute to it

Zoroastrianism

the religion of the ancient Persians, named for its founder Zarathustra, pronounced Zoroaster in Greek