Ancient Egypt & Ancient Mesopotamia Study Guide

Monotheism - believing in one god - Uncommon in Egypt and Mesopotamia, Mainly the Hebrews and one Pharoah.

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Polytheism - believing in many gods - Common in Egypt & Mesopotamia

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Cultural Diversity - a variety of cultural or ethnic groups within a society - there were many different cultural or ethnic groups in Israel because many people believed they had the right to be on that land

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Cultural Diffusion - the movement of cultural traits and ideas from one society or ethnic group to another - multiple Kings or groups shared their culture / ideas with the Sumerians

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Cuneiform - ancient writing systems for mesopotamia written on clay tablets - mesopotamia

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Mummification - practice of preserving the bodies of the dead - an egyptian practice

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Hammurabi’s Code - a strict law that united a community - used in mesopotamia

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Hieroglyphics - a form of picture writing developed by the ancient egyptians

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Pharaoh - a title of the rulers of ancient egypt - example: King Tutankhamun

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Sumerians - the oldest civilization in ancient mesopotamia - between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

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Hebrews - the followers of judaism - founded by Abraham

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Phoenicians - sailors who lived on the coast where the land was fertile - created the alphabet that we still use today - mesopotamia

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Judaism - the monotheistic religion of the jews - also known as the Hebrews

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Ziggurat - pyramid-temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of an ancient

Vizier - chief minister who supervised the business of government - in ancient egypt

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Scribe - in ancient civilizations, specially trained people who knew how to read and write and kept records - mesopotamia & egypt

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Irrigation - the supply of water to land or crops to help growth - helped control water during floods and droughts

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Papyrus - plant that grows along the banks of the nile - used by the ancient egyptians to make a paperlike material - also used in mesopotamia

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Barter - exchange for other goods or services

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Swape/Shadouf - it was an irrigation tool used in ancient Egypt - used to take water from canals and spill it onto crops

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Levee - built to prevent the overflow of a river - used in Mesopotamia

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Dynasty - ruling family - family of the person in charge

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Silt - rich soil carried by flooding rivers - lots in between tigris and euphrates river - perfect for growing crops