Chapter 11: Cities, Pyramids, and Palaces Flashcards
Mesopotamia
a region along the course of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers centred in modern Iraq
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
two large rivers that were the focus for the development of Mesopotamian civilization
Uruk period
between 4000 b.c. and 3200 b.c. during which the first cities in Mesopotamia were developed
Early Dynastic Period
follows the Uruk period during which southern Mesopotamia was home to a series of city-states
Uruk
- oldest known city in the world in southern Iraq
- emerged on edge of marshlands in Euphrates valley
Marshlands
- swampland with fertile soils
- between Tigris and Euphrates rivers, and built extensive irrigation canals allowing more lands to be cultivated and populations to increase
Ziggurat
a stepped pyramid found in many Mesopotamian temple areas
Anu Temple Precinct
at Uruk is dedicated to the sky god An, who is often depicted as a star overseeing a king
Eanana Temple Precinct
at Uruk is dedicated to a female winged deity Innana often associated with love, sex, war, justice or power
3 Sources of Authority in Mesopotamian Society
temple, palace, and city council
The Code of Hammurabi
the most extensive of a series of early Mesopotamian legal documents
Bevel-rim Bowls
styrofoam cups in Uruk
Royal Tombs at Ur
during Early Dynastic period include a wealth of burial offerings along with the skeletons for burial rituals
Cuneiform
a writing system in which signs were impressed in wet clay to write the languages Sumerian and Akkadian
Akkadian
- the language of Mesopotamia using cuneiform script
- documents found in Egypt written on clay tablets in Akkadian
- during the New Kingdom cuneiform was used as the medium for diplomatic communication
- unclear info from letters of Kings geological location
King Tutankhamun
- mother and father were siblings
- had malaria
- died bc of Köhler disease II
Cylinder Seals
developed by Mesopotamian scribes to mark ownership
Bullae
- earliest written documents
- the number on the bulla is the number of tokens that are inside
Habuba Kebira
an Uruk colony located on the upper reaches of the Euphrates River in northern Syria
Nile Valley
a swath of lush vegetation descending from the highlands of Ethiopia and standing in sharp contrast to the surrounding desert
Upper Egypt
the southern Egyptian Nile River Valley ending in a series of cataracts, or rapids, in the area around the modern border between Egypt and Sudan
Lower Egypt
the northern part of the Egyptian Nile River Valley, including the Nile Delta
Predynastic Period
when Egypt started to shift towards a state society
Narmer Palette
- an artifact discovered at the site of Hierakonpolis
- its two sides show the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under King Narmer
First Dynasty
based in Hierakonpolis and Abydos in Upper Egypt
Hierakonpolis
one of the two centres of Egypt during the late Predynastic period and the First Dynasty
Abydos
the site of the royal cemetery of Egypt during the First and Second Dynasties
Ma’at
- concept that combines the virtues of balance and justice
- central importance to Egyptian society
Saqqara
- the location of the stepped pyramid
- the first pyramid in Egypt
- used as a sacred burial area
King Djoser
the Third Dynasty Egyptian king who constructed the first pyramid in Saqqara
Cheops
a Fourth Dynasty Egyptian king who constructed the first and largest pyramid ever built at Giza
Cepheren
- a Fourth Dynasty Egyptian king who constructed a pyramid at Giza smaller than Cheops’s
- the Great Sphinx is located alongside the Cepheren valley temple
Mycerinus
- the last Fourth Dynasty Egyptian king to build a pyramid at Giza
- smallest pyramid and least polished
Giza
the site of the pyramids of Cheops, Cepheren, and Mycerinus—monuments representing the apex of pyramid construction in Old Kingdom Egypt
Gilgamesh
- King of Uruk
- the hero in world’s first work of literature called “The Epic of Gilgamesh” about a king’s mythical search for eternal life and his descent into the underworld
Kuduru Texts
- writing on fired-clay cuneiform tablets
- used for economic transactions, list names of kings and the places they ruled, events and classification of things
Amarna
- a city built by the heretic king Akhenaten and abandoned after his reign
- excavation of this city has provided a unique horizontal exposure of an Egyptian urban centre
- where cunieform tablets were found at Amarna written in Akkadian record trade with Middle East and the Aegean worlds
Axum
- Ethiopia
- famous for its standing stones carved in the shape of multi-story buildings
- tall monuments carved from a single block of stone
Benin
- Nigeria
- brass plaques
Jenne-Jeno
- urban centre in Mali, West Africa, that pre-dates extensive external contact
- important trade centre for caravans coming from Timbuktu to the north
Knossos
a site excavated by Arthur Evans that is the largest Minoan settlement
