Mesopotamia Vocabulary Flashcards
Fertile Crescent
A large region of rich farmland near the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea
Silt
A mixture of small rocks and soil
Civilization
The society, culture, and way of life in a particular region
Irrigation
The method of supplying water to an area of land or crops
Canals
Waterways made by humans
Surplus
More than what is needed
Division of Labor
An arrangement in which workers specialize in a particular task
Rural
an area of countryside, rather than a town or city
Urban
An area referring to a town or city
City-state
A political unit with a city and the surrounding area
Gilgamesh
King of Uruk and prtagonist from the Epic of Gilgamesh
Sargon
Akkadian leader who established the world’s first empire
Empire
Territories and groups of people under a single rule
Polytheism
Worship of many gods
Social Hierarchy
Division of society by rank or class
Cuneiform
world’s first system of writing
Pictographs
Picture symbols
Epics
Long poems that tell stories of heroes
Scribe
writer
Architecture
The practice of designing and constructing buildings
Ziggurat
Pyramid-shaped temple tower
Hammurabi
Babylonian king responsible for the Code of Hammurabi, a famous law code
Monarch
A ruler of a kingdom or empire
Hammurabi’s Code
Famous collection of 282 written laws that govered Babylonian society
Chariot
wheeled, horse-drawn cart used in battle
Calvary
A group of soldiers who ride horses
Alphabet
Set of letters that can be combined to form words
Cyrus the Great
Persian leader who conquered large amount of territory to form the world’s largest empire at that time
Darius I
Persian leader who improved society with political organization, art, road construction, and more
Persian Wars
A series of wars between Persia and Greece
