Glencoe World History Chapter 2

A river in southwestern Asia that flows through the eastern part of the Fertile Crescent; parallel to the Euphrates River

A river in southwestern Asia that flows through the southern part of the Fertile Crescent; parallel to the Tigris River

the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers;birthplace of the Sumerian civilization

an arc of fertile farmland in Southwest Asia between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf

the creators of the first Mesopotamian civilization

worshipping or believing in more than one god

an independent city in Mesopotamia

the basic units of Sumerian civilization

a large, stepped platform topped by a temple dedicated to the city's chief god or goddess

government by divine authority

an ancient wedge-shaped script used in Mesopotamia by the Sumerians

"Semitic people" north of the Sumerian city-states

leader of the Akkadians, overran the sumerian city-states and set up the first empire in world history

a large political unit, usually under a single leader, that controls many peoples or territories

a city-state south of Akkad

Babylonian king who codified the laws of Sumer and Mesopotamia

Dominated by men.

the set of laws drawn up by Babylonian king Hammurabi dating to the 18th century BC, the earliest legal code known in its entirety

The world's longest river, which flows northward through East Africa into the Mediterranean Sea

the Nile Delta region in the northern section of Africa

the land upstream, to the south

According to legend it was this person who united Upper and Lower Egypt

a family of rulers whose right to rule is passed on within the family

the title of the ancient Egyptian kings

an administrative organization with officials and regular procedures

a high government official in ancient Egypt or in Muslim countries

a process of slowly drying a dead body to prevent it from rotting

an ancient Egyptian city; the site of the Great Pyramid

nomadic people from Asia who conquered and ruled ancient Egypt between 1650 and 1550 B.C

one of the first woman to become pharoh; built a great temple at Deir el-Bahri, near Thebes

early ruler of Egypt who rejected the old gods and replaced them with Aten, the sun god.

a 10 year old pharaoh who ruled for nine years and then died unexpectantly; restored the old gods

powerful pharoah who kept Egypt together during invasion; helped to regain control of Palestine

tried to reestablish Egypt's independence; her involvement with Rome led to her suicide and defeat

"priest-carvings" or "sacred writing"; a complex system of writing that used in ancient Egypt

simplified version of hieroglyphics used in ancient Egypt for business transactions, record keeping, and the general needs of daily life

a person who domesticates animals for food and clothing and moves along regular migratory routes to provide a steady source of nourishment for those animals

one of the most inportant nomadic people

created an empire in western Asian and threatened the power of the Egyptians; were the first Indo-Europeans to use iron

located on eastern Mediterranean coast; invented the alphabet which used sounds rather than symbols like cuneiform

semitic-speaking people that influenced other religions with theirs of Judaism

capital of Israel

son of King David, the King that expanded the government and army and encouraged trade

believing that there is only one god

Semitic-speaking people who exploited the use of iron weapons to establish an empire

rebuilt Babylon to the greatest city of the time

Indo-European who lived in now what is called Iran, created one of the largest empires of the world

Persian Empire's 1st emperor

came to throne in 521 B.C. He reorganized the government to make it work better. He divided the empire into 20 provinces. Each was ruled by an official with the title of satrap.

the 20 states into which Darius divided the Persian Empire

a governor of a province in ancient Persia

a road in the Persian Empire that Darius orgainized stretching over 1,600 miles from Lydia to Susa

best trained Persian soldiers; named Immortals because when any of them died, they were instantly replaced

rule by a king or queen

Persian prophet who founded Zoroastrianism (628-551 BC)