River Valley Civilizations of the Middle East Vocab

1. Pastoralism- the practice of raising livestock 2. Bronze Metallurgy- the study of the chemicals of the metal Bronze 3. Iron Metallurgy- the study of the chemicals of the metal Iron 4. Nile- gives people fresh water and is a major source for Egypt. The yearly activity is that it floods the river valley and moist fertile land is left behind. The resource the Nile has is the floodplain full of fertile land 5. Cataract- an unnavigable stretch of rapids and waterfalls 6. Delta- at one of the ends of rivers where the river spreads into many different streams 7.Silt- fine sand or clay that is easily carried by water 8. Papyrus- another type of paper that early civilizations used to write impotant info. It is thicker than paper 9. Irrigation- a process of saturating the land to be able to grow crops on it 10. Amun-Re- god of state and to whom common people turn to for adversity 11. Osiris- god of the underworld; his brother killed him and spread his body parts everywhere. His wife recover ed them and gave him a proper burial. The gods were impressed and brought back to life Osiris, but as a spirit, or god of the underworld 12.Seth- god of chaos; brother of Osiris who killed Osiris 13. Horus- son of Osiris; associated with the pharaohs and the Sun 14. Ptah- the chief god of the ancient city of Memphis; he is a creator god and god of architecture and crafts 15. Isis- wife of Osiris; goddess that dealt with speaking to the dead, bring n]back the dead to life, curing the sick, and magic 16. Hathor- Cow- goddess of love and music 17. Ma’at- goddess of physical and moral law of Egypt, order and truth 18. Aten- god of the sun as in a solar disk that had rays coming towards earth which represented human hands reaching for ankh the pharaoh 19.Upper Egypt- up river or up the Nile river that reached the cataracts to Memphis 20. Lower Egypt- from Memphis to the delta part of the Nile River 21. Menes- king of Memphis in Lower Egypt 22. Theocracy- a type of government where the priest rules the name of God or a god 23. Pharaoh- an emperor that ruled Egypt 24. Vizier- a high official 25. Bureaucracy- a type of government where important decisions are decided by state officials rather than elected representatives 26. Hieroglyphics- Egypt’s writing that showed events that happened 27.Nubia- Country below Egypt that competed and fought with Egypt for land and who is more powerful 28. Old Kingdom- the first kingdom of Egypt were the Pharaohs forced workers to build huge pyramids 29. Middle Kingdom- Pharaohs became less powerful and they mostly were concerned about foreign affairs and they lived during a time of great prosperity or surplus 30. Intermediary Periods- the first intermediate period was between Egypt and Nubia. They both fought over land and about politics and they had five wars. The second one was the fight between Egypt and the Hyksos, or horse riding nomads.The Hyksos had bronze weapons that they obtained from Hittites and the Mesopota mians. Once again, they fought over land but in the end, Egypt obtained bronze weapons and pushed the hyksos out of Egypt. 31. New Kingdom- the Pharaohs in this era had lesser power than their ancestors, but they did build palaces, temples, and monumental statues to show off their power. They did work to extend the land occupancy of Egypt beyond the Nile delta. 32. Hyksos- horse-riding nomads who had bronze weapons obtained from the Hittites and the Mesopotamians.They dominated Egypt for a while, but Egypt finally obtained bronze weapons also and pushed the Hyksos out of Egypt. 33. Hatshepsut- First woman pharaoh who forced workers to build a statue of her 34. Fertile Crescent- the Middle East; the area where the land was very fertile to farm 35. Mesopotamia- the land between the rivers, or the land in-between the Tigris river and the Euphrates river 36. Tigris and Euphrates rivers- the significance of these rivers were that Mesopotamia had very little rainfall, but these rivers sup plied a great amount of fresh water.The resources the rivers supplied were the ability to grow wheat, barley, and peas. 37. City-State- the early people had to control internal and external problems so they created a city-state. Within the city they controlled order and authority and prevented problems with urban citizens causing civil disorder. Externally from the city, you need a government to control foreign affairs such as agriculture in surrounding regions and authority in neighboring territories 38. Ur- a Sumerian city-state that dominated (with others) public affairs 39.Ziggurat- distinctive stepped pyramids that housed temples and altars to the principal local deity 40. Cuneiform- a form of writing used in Mesopotamia, Persia and Ugarit that involved wedged shapes on clay tablets 41. Sargon of Akkad- a talented administrator and a brilliant warrior who conquered all the cities of Sumeria. His life span was from 2370-2315 b. c. e 42. Epic of Gilgamesh- the story of a hero, wh o killed an evil monster, rescued Uruk from a ravaging bull and matched his wits to the gods. Enkidu, a cherished friend of Gilgamesh, offended the gods and he was sentenced to death.He wanted to cheat death and have a eternal life so he found a magical plant that granted that, but a serpent stole it and this made Gilgamesh realized the death is the ultimate fate for all human-beings 43. Hammurabi’s Code- if a person is an offender, or someone who does something morally wrong, he/she shall face a fierce punishment such as death, or cutting your hands off. 44. Sumeria- first civilization of Mesopotamia which prospered with its many different cities 45. Babylonia- dominated Mesopotamia because of its great culture.The king was Nebuchadnezzar who built famous buildings. Babylonia was great until the Assyrian empire took over 46. Assyria- they were interested in enforcing laws and expansion. After they took Babylonia, they expanded much of southwest Asia. They conquered Syria, Pa lestine, most of Anatolia, and most of Egypt. They believed in Hammurabi’s laws. King Assurbanipal had a library that saved great literature that survived to present day. 47. Neo Babylonia/Chaldean- a Babylon soldier named Nabopolassar wanted to overthrow Assyrian rule, but Egypt supported the Assyrians.There were many battles and Babylonia was starting to win and they captured the capital of Assyria. Meanwhile, Babylonia captured Jerusalem and there were peace treaties between the Cilician and the Syennesis leaders. In the end Babylonia dominated over Assyria 48. Hittites- they migrated to Anatolia where they imposed their languages and ruled the people there. They built a power kingdom which had close relations with Mesopotamia. They traded with Babylonia and Assyria and they adopted cuneiform writing. Later the Hittites conquered eastern Anatolia, northern Mesopotamia, and Syria all the down to Phoenicia. 9. Patriarchal- a type of government in which the eldest male has al l the power and male descendants will get the power eventually. 50. Hebrew- a language and a religion that people from early times to present day practice 51. Phoenicians- an early Greek society. They did not have a monarchy, but rather different city-states with local kings. They interest in state building and their military. They deeply influenced other civilizations because of their industry and trade networks. They traded overland and they traded goods such as raw materials, or textiles, decorative items, pottery, etc.They also created their own alphabet which indicated their interest in literature, religion, and historical writings. 52. Indo-European- Common languages were Old Persian, Greek, and Latin in Europe because indo-Europeans migrated all over Eurasia. The origin of Indo-European was in present day Ukraine and southern Russia. They built their society in 4500 to 2500 b. e. c. They raised cattle, sheep, goats, and they domesticated horses. They used horses for wagons, c arts, and chariots for travel. The Indo-Europeans migrated south, east, and west distributing their language.