World History
cuneiform
Sumerian writing made by pressing a wedge-shaped tool into clay tablets
Nebuchadnezzar
A Babylonian king who conquered Jerusalem,and built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon
ziggurat
a large temple located in the centers of ancient Sumerian cities. dedicated to the God
Naram-Sin
(ca. 2,190 - 2,154 B.C.E.) grandson of Sargon, ruled Akkad
pontoon
(nautical) a floating structure (as a flat-bottomed boat) that serves as a dock or to support a bridge
Anatolia
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Mursalis
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Sumerian "Revival"
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capped ram
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Old Kingdom
2700 BC - 2200 BC. Upper and Lower Egypt kept separate kingdoms, but later built unified government. Developed basic features of its civilization. BUILT THE PYRAMIDS: an eternal resting place for their god-kings.
Ur
A city of ancient Sumer in southern Mesopotamia on a site in present-day southeast Iraq. One of the oldest cities in Mesopotamia, it was an important center of Sumerian culture after c. 3000 B.C. and the birthplace of Abraham.
code of Hammurabi
A collection of 282 laws which were enforced under Hammurabi's Rule. One of the first examples of written law in the ancient civilizations.
Royal Road
A road for the government use built by the ancient Persian ruler Darius which helped unite the empire
siege tower
A tower that was built higher than the enemies walls, and was wheeled on logs.
Hamurabi
Babylonian ruler, conquered Sumer and Akkad in Mesopotamia, made a law code of 282 laws, 1792 BCE=start of rule,
Persians
Conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. Cyrus captured Babylon Asia Minor to Western India 20 provinces Depended on military (Immortals) Zoroastrianism Fell in 330s B.C.
Cyrus the Great
Established massive Persian Empire by 550 B.C.E.; successor state to Mesopotamian empires., c. 530 B.C.E. A Persian ruler who captured Babylon. He was known for his mercy. He was tolerant of other religions and culture, and even incorporated different architectural styles into his buildings.
Hattusas
Hittite capital, founded by Hattusilis I in the 16th century
Hattusalis
Hittite religious reformer
Narmer
King of Upper Egypt who united Upper and Lower Egypt, King of Upper Egypt about 3000 BC. Conquered lower Egypt and set up first government that ruled all Egypt. Built captial at Memphis. First Egyptian dynasty.
Menes
King who united upper and lower Egypt, Legendary Egyptian ruler, he unified The kingdoms of Upper and Lower Egypt and built the new capital city of Memphis
Nile
Longest river, flows north, fertile land around it due to flooding in Egypt
Ahura-Mazda
Main god of Zoroastrianism who represented truth and goodness and was perceived to be in an eternal struggle with the malign spirit Angra Mainyu.
Semites
Nomadic people speaking the same language mostly from the middle east, like the Arabs, Aramaeans, Assyrians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Sabaeans, and Hebrews, etc.
scribe
One of the professional record keepers in early civilizations
Indo-European
People from around the the Black Sea and the Caspian sea; Between 2500 and 2000 BC, they migrated all over Eurasia; known as Hittites or Aryans, became ancestors of Romans and Greeks
Djoser
Pharoh who had the first pyramid built for him
Gudea of Lagash
Southern Mesopotamian ruler of Lagash who built many temples. He was famous for receiving an assignment from the gods to build a temple and was given the plans how to do it.
Enki
Sumerian god; "lord of Earth." he ruled the groundwater beneath the soil. Also god of wisdom and magic, instructing humankind in arts and crafts.
Inanna
Summeria goddess of heaven, love and war; with Dumuzi, she is the other half of the Mesopotamian cycle-of-nature myth.
Mithras
The Persian god embodying the ancient spirit of light of Mithraism, a Persian religion popular in the Roman Empire that exalted fraternity and loyalty, appealing to soldiers.
Sumeria (Sumer)
The first civilization in Mesopotamia, introduced city-states. First to use cuneiform, and advanced the general knowledge of mankind. 3000BC to 2331BC
Darius
The great king of Persia. He was able to become a king after a year of a civil war following the death of someone. He is responsible for the expansion of Persia. He made a province in western India and expanded Persia as far north as Macedonia
Hittites
The group of people who toppled the Babylonian empire and were responsible for two technological innovations--the war chariots and refinement of iron metallurgy.
Babylon
The largest and most important city in Mesopotamia. It achieved particular eminence as the capital of the Amorite king Hammurabi in the eighteenth century B.C.E. and the Neo-Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century B.C.E. (p. 29)
Marduk
The main state god of the Babylonians during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. It was to his temple in the city of Babylon that the Temple furnishings and vessels from the Temple of Solomon were carried following the destruction of the Temple and Jerusalem in 587 B.C.
Epic of Gilgamesh
The most famous piece of Mesopotamian literature. Sumerian in origin but written in Akkadian, it is the story of the Uruk King Gilgamesh and Enkidu, their adventures, and the search for everlasting life.
Chaldeans
The new Babylonians, their king was king Nebuchadnezzar, they burned Nineveh and were a combined army with the Medes
Amorites
The old Babylonians, they were a people the ended the Sumerian Civilization and created a new empire.
Mesopotamia
The region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; birthplace of the Sumerian and Babylonian Civilizations.
Zoroaster
a Persian prophet, lived around 600 B.C. taught that the earth is a battleground where a great struggle if fought between the spirit of good and the spirit of evil, founder of Zoroasterianism
Medes
a Southwest Asian people who helped to destroy the Assyrian empire
city-state
a city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit
Akkad
a city-state in northern Mesopotamia, the ruler of which conquered all the city-states of Mesopotamia and formed the world's first empire of Sargon
Pankus
a general assembly
Assyria
a major ancient near Eastern empire, located in Mesopotamia, which dominated Israel and the entire region from the ninth through the seventh centuries B.C.
Ashur
an ancient Assyrian city on the Tigris and traditional capital of Assyria;chief god of the Assyrians EX. god of military prowess and empire; identified with Babylonian Anshar
Uruk
an ancient Sumerian city in Southern Iraq, near the Euphrates, important before 2000 b.c. : exclusive archaeological excavations, notably of a ziggurat and of tablets with very early Sumerian script. home of Gilgams
Ur
an ancient city of Sumer located on a former channel of the Euphrates River
Egypt
an ancient empire west of Israel
sapping
digging a hole under a castle's curtain wall to sneak in
Ten Thousand Immortals
group of elite persian soldiers who helped darius take throne in 522 B.C.
Sennacherib
king of Assyria who invaded Judea twice and defeated Babylon and rebuilt Nineveh after it had been destroyed by Babylonians (died in 681 BC)
Sargon
leader of the Akkadians, overran the sumerian city-states and set up the first empire in world history
scale mail
metal scales (like fish scales) attached to a garment for protection
satrap
official who ruled a state in the Persian Empire under Darius
Enlil
one of the most important gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon; supreme lord; in the Mesopotamian flood myths, it is he who wishes to destroy humanity
Xerxes
son of Darius; became Persian king. He vowed revenge on the Athenians. He invaded Greece with 180,000 troops in 480 B.C.
irrigation
supplying land with water through a network of canals
Ishtar
the daughter of Anu, who offers herself to Gilgamesh after he kills Humbaba and is rejected, to get revenge she begs her father to unleash the Bull of Heaven to destroy Gilgamesh and Uruk. Godness of love , fertility and war
Imhotep
the greatest administrative offical
Saqqara
the location of the stepped pyramid, the earliest pyramid constructed in Egypt. USed later as a sacred burial area.
tigris
the north-eastern of the two Mesopotamian rivers
Euphrates
the south-western of the two Mesopotamian rivers
Ahriman
the spirit of evil in Zoroastrianism
