chapter6 Flashcards
Fertile Crescent
An arc of rich farmland in Southwest Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
rivers of the Fertile Crescent that frame the Mesopotamian Civilization
Mesopotamia
region of Fertile Crescent where the first civilization arose and first empire arose
City-state
A city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit.
Dynasty
A series of rulers from a single family
Cultural diffusion
The spreading of ideas or products from one culture to another.
Polytheism
A belief in many gods.
Empire
A political unit in which a number of peoples or countries are controlled by a single ruler.
Hammurabi
Babylonian emperor who created the first written set of laws
Babylon
city in Mesopotamia that became an important capital
delta
A marshy region formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of a river.
Narmer (Menes)
pharaoh given credit for uniting Upper and Lower Egypt
Pharaoh
A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader.
Theocracy
A government in which the ruler is views as a divine figure.
Pyramid
A massive structure with a rectangular base and four triangular sides, like those that were built in Egypt as burial places for Old Kingdom pharaohs.
Mummification
A process of embalming and drying corpses to prevent them from decaying.
Hieroglyphics
An ancient Egyptian writing system in which pictures were used to represent ideas and sounds.
Papyrus
A tall reed that grows in the Nile delta, used by the ancient Egyptians to make a paper-like material for writing on.
Nile River
river whose regular flood cycles helped build Egyptian civilization
Indus River
river of northwest India that helped give rise to the Harappan Indus Valley civilization
Subcontinent
A large landmass that forms a distinct part of a continent.
Monsoon
A wind that shifts in direction at certain times of each year.
Harappan civilization
Another name for the Indus Valley civilization that arose along the Indus River, possibly as early as 7000 B.C.; characterized by sophisticated city planning.
Huang He River (Yellow River)
northernmost river that helped give rise to the Chinese civilization
Yangtze River
southernmost river that helped give rise to the Chinese civilization
Loess
A fertile deposit of windblown soil.
Oracle bone
One of the animal bones or tortoise shells used by ancient Chinese priests to communicate with the gods.
Mandate of Heaven
In Chinese history, the divine approval thought to be the basis of royal authority.
Dynastic cycle
The historical pattern of the rise, decline, and replacement of dynasties.
Feudalism
A political system in which nobles are granted the use of lands that legally belong to their king, in exchange for their loyalty, military service, and protection of the people who live on the land.
