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Key Terms
Agricultural Revolutions: The change from food gathering to food production that occurred
between ca. 8000 and 2000 B.C.E. (Also known as the Neolithic revolution)
amulet: A small charm meant to protect the bearer from evil. Found frequently in
Mesopotamia and Egypt, the amulets reflect the religous practices of the common people.
Babylon: The largest and most important city in Mesopotamia. It achieved particular
eminence as the capital of the Amorite kind Hammurabi in the eighteenth century B.C.E. and
the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century B.C.E.
city-state: An independent state consisting of a city and its surrounding lands.
civilization: a society that has a high level of culture and social organization including
organized government, job specialization, and a organized belief system.
culture: The shared beliefs, customs, practices, and social behavior of a particular nation or
people
cuneiform: One of the earliest forms of writing. It consisted of wedge shaped symbols usually
imprinted in clay. Used throughout ancient Mesopotamia.
foragers: People who support themsleves be hunting wild animals and gathering wild edible
plants and insects.
Hammurabi: Oldest written system of laws. They were created by King Hammurabi of
Babylonia in the mid 18th century BCE and placed on stones tablets for all to see.
Harappa:Site of one of the great cities of the Indus Valley civilization of the third millenium
B.C.E. It was located one the northwest frontier zone of cultivation (in modern Pakistan), and
may have been a center for the acuisition of raw materials, such as metals and precious
stone, from Afghanistan and Iran.
hieroglyphics: A system of writing which uses pictures for concepts and ideas.
history: The study of past events and changes in the development, transmission, and
transformation of cultural practices.
Holocene: The geological era since the end of the Great Ice age about 11,000 years ago.
ma'at: The Egyptian term for the concept of divinely created and maintained order in the
universe. Reflecting the ancient Egyptians' belief in an essentially beneficient world, the divine
ruler was the earthly generator of this order.
megaliths: Structures and complexes of very large stones constructed for ceremonial and
religious purposes in Neolithic times.
Memphis: The Capital city of Old Kingdom Egypt, near the head of the Nile delta. Early rulers
were interred in the nearby pyramids.
Mohenjo-Daro: Largest of the cities of the Indus Valley civilization. It was centrally located in
the extensive floodplain of the Indus River in contemporary Pakistan. Little is known about the
political institutions of the Indus Valley, but large-scale construction, standardized building
materials, and orderly grid streets are signs of central planning.
mummy: The process of preserving a corpse by removing the moisture from it before burial.
This process was practiced by many different cultures.
Neolithic: (10,000 BCE - 5000 BCE) New Stone Age. A period of time in human history
characterized by the development of agriculture and permanent settlements.
Paleolithic: (750,000 BCE - 10,000 B.C.E.) Old Stone Age. A period of time in human history
characterized by the use of stone tools and the use of hunting and gathering as a food source.
papyrus: Paper like material made from the reeds of the papyrus plant. It was used by the
Egyptians for the writing and storing of documents.
pharaoh: In ancient Egypt, title given to the ruler who was considered both king and god.
pyramid: A triangular shaped building.
scribe: a professional position reserved for men who had undergone the lengthy training
required to read and write using cuneiforms, hieroglyphics, or other early, cumbersome
writing systems
Semitic: a subfamily of Afro-asiatic languages that includes Acadian, Arabic, Aramaic,
Ethiopic, Hebrew, and Phoenician.
Sumerians: the people who dominated southern Mesopotamia thought the end of the third
millennium B.C.E. They were responsible for fundamentals of Mesopotamian culture such as
irrigation technology, cuneiform, and religious conceptions that were taken over by their
Semitic successors.
Stone Age: the period in the history of humankind, preceding the Bronze Age and the Iron
Age, and marked by the use of stone implements and weapons: subdivided into the
Paleolithic, Mesolithic, and Neolithic periods.
Thebes: Capital city of Egypt and home of the ruling dynasty during the Middle and New
Kingdoms. Amon, patron deity of Thebes, became one of the chief gods of Egypt.
ziggurat: a massive pyramidal stepped tower made of mudbricks. It is associated with
religious complexes in ancient Mesopotamian cities, but its function is unknown.