MidTerm HIST 115
Mesopotamia
"land between the two rivers"
Inanna/Ishtar
- the most important female deity in ancient Mesopotamia -goddess of love and warfare -main temple in Uruk -major character in the Epic of Gilgamesh
Enheduanna
daughter of Sargon, first female writer in history
Akkadian Empire
first ancient empire of Mesopotamia, centered in the city of Akkad.
dominance vs hegemony
force; going to have a war vs. consent
Memphis
The capital of Old Kingdom Egypt, near the head of the Nile Delta. Early rulers were interred in the nearby pyramids.
Babylon
The largest and most important city in Mesopotamia
Uruk
The largest city of ancient Mesopotamia
Sumer
The name of the civilization that existed in Southern Mesopotamia and consisted of city states; home to the first urban revolution.
Early Dynastic Period
The period that follows the Uruk period, during which southern Mesopotamia was home to a series of city states
Abydos
The site of the royal cemetery of Egypt during the First and Second Dynasties.
Mesopotamian inventions
Wheel, irrigation, cuneiform writing, farming, calendar (to know when the floods would come and when to plant and harvest crops), plow
Great Pyramid
largest pyramid built by Khufu.
Nanna
most important female deity in ancient Mesopotamia
Tomb 100
oldest known painted tomb
White Nile
one of the two rivers that merge to create the Nile; flows north out of Lake Victoria
Blue Nile
one of two rivers which merge to form the Nile; flows northeast out of Lake Tana
hieroglyphs
pictures and other written symbols that stand for ideas, things, or sounds
Cuneiform
A form of writing developed by the Sumerians using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets.
Natron
A type of salt used to dry out the body
Thebes
Capital city of Egypt and home of the ruling dynasties during the Middle and New Kingdoms. Amon, patron deity of Thebes, became one of the chief gods of Egypt. Monarchs were buried across the river in the Valley of the Kings.
Akkad
Capital of the Akkadian Empire
Neithhotep
First dynasty queen who was once thought to be a male ruler because she had an outstandingly large mastaba
Khasekhemwy
He united the two kingdoms of Egypt after a period of civil war and became the first pharaoh of the prosperous Third Dynasty. His adopted name means "The Two Powerful Ones Appear."
Palermo Stone
Monumental stone of the Old Kingdom recording list of years and major events in kings' reigns up until Dynasty 5 (ca 2400 BC)
Unification of Egypt
3100 BCE
Bent pyramid
3rd pyramid, built by Seneferu, first attempt at classic shape but made too steep and had to be sloped
Marduk
A Mesopotamian deity, chief god of the city of Babylon
Ziggurat
A Mesopotamian stepped pyramid. Unlike an Egyptian pyramid, a ziggurat was a solid structure of baked brick, an artificial hill at the summit of which stood a temple.
Nubia
A civilization to the south of Egypt in the Nile Valley, noted for development of an alphabetic writing system and a major iron working industry by 500 BCE
Code of Hammurabi
A collection of 282 laws. One of the first (but not THE first) examples of written law in the ancient world.
Coffin texts
A collection of ancient Egyptian funerary spells written on coffins
Pyramid Texts
A collection of ancient Egyptian religious texts, possibly the oldest religious texts in the world
Mummy
A dead body preserved in lifelike condition
Hierakonpolis
Along with Abydos, one of the two centers of Egypt during the late Predynastic period and the First Dynasty
Hammurabi
Amorite ruler of Babylon (r. 1792-1750 B.C.E.). He conquered many city-states in southern and northern Mesopotamia and is best known for a code of laws, inscribed on a black stone pillar, illustrating the principles to be used in legal cases.
Narmer Palette
An artifact discovered at the site of Hierakonpolis; its two sides show the unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under King Narmer
Epic of Gilgamesh
An epic poem from Mesopotamia, and among the earliest known works of literary writing.
Karnak Temple
Cult Temple dedicated to the Gods begun by Senusret I, finished by Ramses II. Worked on by 30 Pharaohs.
Osiris
Egyptian god of the underworld and judge of the dead
Djoser
Egyptian king; hires Imhotep to build him a tomb
papyrus
Egyptian paper
Manetho
Egyptian priest and advisor who began keeping records of the ancient Egyptian kings
Ptah
God of creation
Anu
God of the sky
Shamash
God of the sun
Naram-Sin
Grandson of Sargon. Known for expanding the Akkad empire to its greatest extent.
basin irrigation
In Egypt, a system by which water and silt were controlled by embankments and time-released to irrigate farmlands
Mortuary Temple
In Egyptian architecture, a temple erected for the worship of a deceased pharaoh.
Canopic jars
Jars in which the ancient Egyptians preserved the internal organs of a deceased person usually for burial with the mummy.
Khafre
Khufu's son; builds the Sphinx and the second largest pyramid
Narmer
King who united upper and lower Egypt
ZImri-Lim
Last king of Mari, defeated by Hammurabi
Imhotep
Name of the architect who designed the Step Pyramid
Ankhtifi
Nomarch of Hierakonpolis, supporter of Pharaoh Herakleopolis
Horus
One of ancient Egypt's best known gods, as well as one of its oldest.
prehistory vs history
Prehistory - no written documents; History: written proof of history
Tigris River
River that flows across a low, flat plain in Mesopotamia and joins the Euphrates River
Euphrates River
River that flows across a low, flat plain in Mesopotamia and joins the Tigris River
nomarch
Ruler of a Nome, under the pharaoh
Buhen
Settlement to the north of 2nd cataract, fortress constructed during rule of Senusret III, lost to Nubians at the end of 5th dynasty
Khufu
Sneferu's son; builds the biggest pyramid on earth.
Enuma Elish
The Babylonian Creation Myth where the universe is created out of the carcass of a murdered god
Step Pyramid
Tomb built by Imhotep for Djoser.
Ur
Ur was a city in the region of Sumer, southern Mesopotamia
Scorpion Mace Head
Very first pharaoh known in Egypt; showing how important irrigation was.
nilometer
a an ancient device used to measure the height of the Nile water and help predict flooding
Rosetta Stone
a huge stone slab inscribed with hieroglyphics, Greek, and a later form of Egyptian that allowed historians to understand Egyptian writing.
Old Kingdom
a period in Egyptian history that lasted from about 2700 BC to 2200 BC
Obelisk
a tall, pointed, four-sided pillar in ancient Egypt
Byblos
an ancient Mediterranean seaport that was a thriving city state in Phoenicia during the second millenium BC
Sphinx
built by Khafre; egyptian statue that had the body of a lion and the head of a human; featured resembled Khafre
Vizier
chief minister who supervised the business of government in ancient Egypt
Merneith
consort and regent (wife of reigning king) in Ancient Egypt during the 1st Dynasty; only queen buried at Umm el-Qaab in Abydos
Sargon
ruler from the Akkad empire. He was known for his conquests among the Sumer city states.
Pu-abi
she was a queen of Ur whose tomb has not been looted.
Heliopolis
the Egyptian city that was the center of sun worship
Maat
the Egyptian concept of truth, justice, and cosmic order, represented by a goddess, often portrayed with a feather upon her head
mastaba
the first real tomb built that was rectangular and made out of mud brick; rich ppl were buried here
Sneferu
the greatest of the pyramid builders; built the collapsed pyramid, bent pyramid, and the red pyramid.
Red pyramid
the very first true pyramid built by Sneferu
Cuneiform
the world's first system of writing