Mesopotamia Flashcards
Semetic
An adjective used to describe a group of who’s language has the same root
Stele
A monuments in style small or large that contained writing or pictures to comemorate or record something
Bronze-Age
Roughly from 3000-1200BCE when stone was replaced by bronze ore
Artisan
Someone who specializes crafting an object from raw materials
Civilization
When human society has advanced to share elements of government, architecture, government, etc. (ities, governments, religions, writing, arts, and social structure)
Paleolithic Era
The early part of the stone age when early human beings made chipped stone tools
(2,500,000BCE-10,000BCE)
Greek for old stone
Artifacts
Tools, pottery, paintings, weapons, buildings, and household items left behind by early peoples
Neolithic Revolution
The latest period of the stone age charactersised by the development of systematic agriculture and the use of polished stone tools and weapons
Ziggurat
A temple in Mesopotamia with a distinctive stepped shape and stored commodities given as offerings
People lived and worked there
Votive Statutes
Small devontial statues Sumerians left in Ziggurat to appease Gods
Systematic Agricultural
The keeping of animals and the growing of food on a regular basis
Usurp
To take over a position without legal right
Mesolithic Age
The middle age/period of the stone age, between paleolithic and neolithic
(10,000BCE-8000BCE)
Irrigation
Supplying water to agriculutural land by artificial means
Surplus
Food/goods produced that are not needed for survival and are available to barter/sell
This leads to specialization which leads to a barter economy
Theocracy
A government under control of religious leaders
Bas-relief
Sculpture in which the carving projects slightly from background
Empire
Several lands joined together under one ruler called and emperor
Anthropology
The study of human life and culture
Scribe
Someone who writes
Usually a revered position in ancient society
Royal Standard of Ur
An artifact fromt he Royal Graves of Ur
Contained pictures useful to scholars
Fossils
A remnant of an organism from a past geologic era that was preserved in the crust
Polytheism
The worship of many Gods
Radiocarbon Dating
A method of dating organic remains based off their content of c-14 (Carbon 14 isotope)
Hominid
Humans and other human like creatures that can/could walk upright
Australopithecus
The earliest human like creature that lived in Europe and Southern Africa 3 to 4 million years ago
Prehistory
The time before writing was developed
Monarch
A ruler who is king or queen
Hegemony
Dominance or control
When a powerful country has influence over aregion
Gilgamesh
An epic story of King Gilgamesh who searched for immortality
A Sumerian legend believed to be the first story
Dynasty
When rule of a country or empire passes down throught a family from one generation to another
Deify
To make someone a God
Cylinder Seals
Small decorated cylinder rolled onto damp clay to leave an impression to seal a deal
Equivalent to a signature
Cuneiform
Wedge shaped writing, “first writing” done with a stylus on a damp clay tablet preserved by the sun
Epic
Poems/stories that tell deed of great heroes
Archeaology
The study of past societes through an analysis of what they left behind
Homo sapiens sapiens
Wise, wise humans
Appeared in africa 150,000-200,000 years ago
The first anatomically modern humans
Out of Africa Theory
Also called “replacement” theory
Theory refers to when Homo sapiens sapiens appeared and began spreading out of Africa
About 100,000 years ago
They eventually replaced eralier hominid populations in Europe and Asia
City State
A city and possibly the surrounding agricultural area that is also an independent political unit
Iron Age
After 1,000BCE when iron in tools and weapons became common
Domestication
The adaptation for human use (usually of animals)
Lucy
Homo erectus, anatomically similar, hominid, australopithecus
