Chapter 2 Flashcards
Civilization
Groups of people who have a complex and organized society within a culture
Fertile Crescent
A curved-shaped area of rich, fertile soil located between 2 rivers
Plain
Area of flat land
Mesopotamia
Area between two rivers
Plateau
Area of high flat land
Irrigation
Method for watering crops by digging ditches or trenches that brought water from rivers to foods
City-state
City that is an individual unit with its own form of government and traditions
Ziggurat
An impressive temple built of stacked rectangular platforms that formed a pyramid-type structure. It was believed to link the heavens and Earth.
Polytheism
Worship of many gods
Monotheism
The worship of only one God
Cunieform
Wedge-shaped writing invented by the Sumerians
Divine kingship
The belief that the right to rule was god-given
Conquered
Defeated
Dynasty
A ruling family
Code of Hammurabi
Set of 282 laws that tried to ensure justice, protect / control the people of Babylon. Punishments often fit the crime by demanding an eye for an eye.
Conquest
Defeat
Descendants
People who are born later into the same family.
artisan
a skilled craftsperson such as a potter or weaver
barter
exchange one kind of good or service for another
covenant
an agreement
empire
a large territory of many places under the control of a single ruler
region
area on earth with common physical features
scribe
professional writer
slavery
the practice of one person owning another person
society
an organized community with established rules and traditions
synogogue
a Jewish place of worship
Summerians
built ziggurats and walls around their cities, made mud-brick houses, developed writing, religion and technology, like the wheel
Assyrians
placed a high value on war and conquest; known as sometimes merciless warriors
