| A | B |
|---|
| cataract | waterfall or swift moving rapids |
| delta | the area near a river's mouth where the water deposits fine soil |
| silt | fine soil deposited by a river |
| fertile | good for growing crops |
| linen | a type of fabric woven from flax plants |
| scribe | a person whose job was to write and keep records |
| hieroglyph | Egyptian writing system where a picture stood for a word or letter |
| papyrus | a paperlike material made from the papyrus plant |
| embalm | to perserve a body after death |
| mummy | a body that has been dried so it won't decay |
| dynasty | line of rulers form the same family |
| succession | the order in which members of a royal family inherit a throne |
| pharaoh | the title of a king in ancient Egypt |
| pyramid | structure with triangular sides that meet at a point |
| step pyramid | a pyramid with sides that rise in a series of steps |
| Khufu | pharaoh who built the Great Pyramid |
| Hatshepsut | Egyptian queen who declared herself pharaoh in 1472 B.C. and expanded trade |
| oblisk | a four-sided shaft with a pyramid-shaped top |
| Ramses II | Pharaoh who ruled Egypt and created a stable empire |
| Nubia | a region of Africa that covers parts of Egypt and Sudan |
| Kush | a powerful ancient kingdom of Nubia |
| Piankhi | a Kushite king who conquered Egypt |
| Meroe | the capital of Kush starting about 509 B.C. |
| smelting | heating mineral-bearing material to separate the elements |
| Aksum | a kingdom that rose to power in the fourth century A.D. in modern-day Ethiopia and Eritrea |
| Adulis | the main trading port of Aksum |
| Ezana | a powerful king of Aksum who helped the kingdom achieve greatness |
| terrace | a leveled-off area of land |
| griot | storyteller |
| Nok | an early culture of west Africa |
| Bantu | an early culture of west Africa that eventually migrated to other places |
| migration | moving from one region to another |
