Mesopotamia vocab #2 Flashcards
a set of 282 laws inscribed in stone by the Babylonian king Hammurabi
Hammurabi’s code
the watering of land to make it ready for agriculture
irrigation
tiny particles left as sediment from water - fertile land for growing crops
silt
Between Western Asia and North Africa
Fertile cresent (location)
“wedge-shaped” form of writing used in the Babylonian empire
cuneiform
Rulers from the same family
dynasty
an independent city — and sometimes its surrounding land — which has its own government, completely separate from nearby countries
city-state
belief in more than one God
poltytheism
a place where civilization emerged
cradle of civilization
a tool used to mark the passing of time
Calendar
a mythological hybrid, a protective deity known to “turn back an evil person,” that is composed of the head of a human, the body of a bull, and the wings of a bird.
Lamassu
a stepped temple tower in the shape of a pyramid, with each higher level smaller than the one below it.
Ziggurat
the first empire in history, and it existed from about 2350 to 2000 BC
Akkadian Empire
a kingdom centered in Babylon, on the Euphrates River
Babylonian empire
a group of territories ruled by one single ruler or state
Empire
an ancient Mesopotamian ruler
Sargon of Akkad
Lord of the Winds
Enlil
an ancient king of Babylon almost four thousand years ago
Hammurabi
a legendary Sumerian king and hero of the Gilgamesh Epic
Gilgamesh
a legendary hero originally appearing in Sumerian literary compositions, which were incorporated, with alterations, in the Akkadian epic of Gilgamesh
Enkidu
a primordial goddess in ancient Mesopotamian mythology. She was viewed as the mother of the many gods of the Mesopotamian pantheon. Tiamat was believed to symbolize saltwater, the oceans, and the seas
tiamat
a circular frame or disk arranged to revolve on an axis, as on or in vehicles or machinery
wheel
a worker who practices a trade or handicraft
Artisan
