First Civilizations: Mesopotamia and Egypt Key Terms

Paleolithic Age

2,500,000- 10,000 BCE: people made stone tools (Stone Age)

Neolithic Revolution

The switch from nomadic lifestyles to a settled agricultural lifestyle is this revolution, took place in the Paleolithic Age, Neolithic means "New Stone", 10,000 BCE

Agricultural Revolution

The change from food gathering to food production, Also known as the Neolithic Revolution.

nomadic

wandering, moving about from place to place, they were following animal migrations and vegetation cycles

Bronze Age

a period in human history, from 3,000- 1,200 B.C., bronze is made of copper and tin

civilization

a complex culture in which large numbers of people share a number of common elements

Fertile Crescent

The land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

river valleys

fertile land near the Tigris and Euphrates river

Sumerians

creators of the first Mesopotamian society

city-state

A city with political and economic control over the surrounding countryside, basic units of Sumerian civilization

Ziggurat

A pyramid shaped temple tower

Theocracy

government by divine authority

Sargon

2340 B.C. leader of the Akkadians who overran the Sumerian city-state and set up the first empire

Hammurabi

Amorite ruler of Babylon (r. 1792-1750 B.C.E.). He conquered many city-states in southern and northern Mesopotamia, best known for Code of Hammurabi

Code of Hammurabi

A collection of 282 laws. One of the first (but not THE first) examples of written law in the ancient world, eye for an eye justice

Polytheistic

belief in more than one god

divination

(n.) the art or act of predicting the future or discovering hidden knowledge, used by the early peoples to predict their gods' actions

Cuneiform

A form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets.

Nile River

The world's longest river, which flows northward through East Africa into the Mediterranean Sea

Old Kingdom

(2575 BCE - 2125 BCE) Period in ancient Egyptian history, fourth- eighth dynasty of kings, prosperity characterized by the building of the Great Pyramids at Giza.

Menes

united the kingdoms of lower and upper Egypt and created first Egyptian dynasty, king

Pharaoh

A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader.

Ma'at

the Egyptian concept of truth, justice, and cosmic order, represented by a goddess

Bureaucracy

A system of managing government through departments run by appointed officials

pyramid

Huge, triangular shaped burial tombs of Egyptian pharaohs built during the Old Kingdom

Great Pyramid

It is the largest and grandest pyramid built for King Khufu and is still standing in Giza, 2540 BCE, 13 acres

Hieroglyphics

Egyptian writing that involved using pictures to represent words.

Egyptian Art

gives much info about their lives and beliefs, people done in profile and stiff poses

Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten

c. 1353- 1336 B.C.E. Pharaoh who introduced Aten (the sun god) as the sole god and began to focus more on religion then relations with other countries, changed his name to present his loyalty

Tutankhamen

Pharaoh of Egypt around 1332- 1322 BC, youngest pharoah, restored old gods, died at an early age

Ramesses II

19th century dynasty, 1279- 1213 BCE, regained Canaan through offensive, restored Egypt as an imperial power