Ancient Middle East and Egypt

Question 1

define Sumer

Answer 1

region where the world’s first civilization arose around 3300 B.C.

Question 2

define Mesopotamia

Answer 2

an area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers where the civilization of Sumer arose

Question 3

define the Epic of Gilgamesh

Answer 3

a Sumerian narrative poem that includes a story about a flood that destroys the world

Question 4

define hierarchy

Answer 4

a system of social ranking

Question 5

define ziggurat

Answer 5

in ancient Mesopotamia, a large stepped platform thought to have been topped by a temple dedicated to a city’s chief god or goddess

Question 6

define cuneiform

Answer 6

the earliest known form of writing; used a series of wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets

Question 7

define Fertile Crescent

Answer 7

a region of the Middle East where civilization first arose

Question 8

define Sargon

Answer 8

ruler of Akkad; conquered Sumer in about 2300 B.C. and built the first empire

Question 9

define Hammurabi

Answer 9

king of Babylon in about 1790 B.C.; codified the laws in his empire

Question 10

define codify

Answer 10

to arrange or set down in writing

Question 11

define civil law

Answer 11

the branch of law that deals with private rights and matters such as business contracts, property, inheritance, and taxes

Question 12

define criminal law

Answer 12

the branch of law that deals with offenses against others, such as robbery, assault, or murder

Question 13

define Nebuchadnezzar

Answer 13

emperor of Babylon who rebuilt the city and its defenses

Question 14

define barter economy

Answer 14

system where people exchange one set of goods or services for another

Question 15

define money economy

Answer 15

system where people pay for goods or services through the exchange of some token of agreed-upon value, such as a coin

Question 16

define Zoroaster

Answer 16

Persian religious thinker; taught of a single wise god, Ahura Mazda, who struggled with evil, and of a judgement day for each person

Question 17

define colony

Answer 17

a territory settled and ruled by people from another land

Question 18

define alphabet

Answer 18

a writing system in which each symbol represents a single basic sound

Question 19

define cataract

Answer 19

a waterfall

Question 20

define delta

Answer 20

area of marsh land formed by silt deposited at the mouth of a river such as the Nile; Lower Egypt

Question 21

define dynasty

Answer 21

ruling family

Question 22

define pharaoh

Answer 22

Egyptian king who held absolute power

Question 23

define bureaucracy

Answer 23

system of government employing different departments and levels of authority

Question 24

define vizier

Answer 24

chief minister who supervised the business of government in ancient Egypt

Question 25

define Hatshepsut

Answer 25

Egypt’s first female ruler

Question 26

defineThutmose III

Answer 26

Hatshepsut’s stepson; pharaoh who expanded Egypt’s empire to its largest extent

Question 27

define Ramses II

Answer 27

pharaoh who ruled for 66 years and expanded Egypt northward into Syria

Question 28

define Amon-Re

Answer 28

the great lord of the Egyptian gods

Question 29

define Akhenaton

Answer 29

Pharaoh Amenhotep IV; sought unsuccessfully to establish Aton as chief god

Question 30

define Osiris

Answer 30

Egyptian god of the dead and judge of souls seeking admission to the afterlife

Question 31

define Isis

Answer 31

wife of Osiris; taught women to grind corn, spin flax, weave cloth, and care for children

Question 32

define mummification

Answer 32

the preservation of dead bodies by embalming and wrapping them in cloth

Question 33

define hieroglyphics

Answer 33

a writing system in which symbols or pictures represent objects, concepts, or sounds

Question 34

define papyrus

Answer 34

a plant used to make a paperlike writing material used by Egyptian scribes

Question 35

define decipher

Answer 35

figure out the meaning

Question 36

define Rosetta Stone

Answer 36

a stone that contained text in hieroglyphics, demotic script, and Greek, used by Jean Champollion to decipher hieroglyphics

Question 37

define monotheistic

Answer 37

believing in one god

Question 38

define Torah

Answer 38

the most sacred Jewish text; includes the first five books of the Hebrew Bible

Question 39

define Abraham

Answer 39

according to the Torah, man considered the father of the Israelite people

Question 40

define covenant

Answer 40

a promise and agreement

Question 41

define Moses

Answer 41

according to the Torah, the Israelite believed to have led the Israelites’ exodus from Egypt

Question 42

define David

Answer 42

the second king of Israel, who united the twelve tribes into a single nation

Question 43

define Solomon

Answer 43

son of David, a king known for his wisdom and judgement

Question 44

define patriarchal

Answer 44

relating to a society where men hold the greatest legal and moral authority

Question 45

define Sabbath

Answer 45

a holy day for rest and worship

Question 46

define prophet

Answer 46

a spiritual leader who interprets God’s will

Question 47

define ethics

Answer 47

moral standards of behavior

Question 48

define Diaspora

Answer 48

the spreading out to new regions of the Jewish people that began with the Babylonian Captivity