| A | B |
|---|
| Egypt | founded in North Africa - very advanced civilization - located on the Nile River. |
| Nile River | longest river in the world - from central Africa to the MediterraneanSea - Victoria Lake is the source of the Nile. |
| Gift of the Nile | Nile River flooded same time every year - nature’s way of fertilizing the soil (flood would leave good top soil). |
| Sirius | a star that marked the beginning of the flood season - the Egyptian calendar revolved around the flood season. |
| Old kingdom | (2,700 b.c. to 2,200 b.c.) - first unification of Egypt as a country. |
| King Menes | he united upper and lower Egypt into one country. |
| Memphis | capital city of ancient Egypt (old kingdom). |
| Dynasty | a ruling family. |
| Pyramid | a large structure built as tombs for their rulers - made of limestone and sandstone. |
| Monarchy | when a country is ruled by a king or queen - the king’s or queen’s power is hereditary. |
| Anarchy | no government, chaos. |
| Middle kingdom | (2,200 b.c. to 1,800 b.c.) - at this time culture grew in Egypt - Egypt was not militarily strong at this time. |
| Golden age of Egypt | a period of prosperity and cultural advancement - Egypt was wealthy - trade began at this time. |
| Thebes | capital city of Egypt during the middle kingdom. |
| Hyksos | tribe invaded & conquered Egypt ending middle kingdom- ruled Egypt for 100 years- time jewish people came to Egypt. |
| Chariot | first tank used by hyksos - small wagon with two wheels pulled by 4 horses. |
| New kingdom (1,600 b.c. to 945 b.c.) | began when Egyptians overthrew the hyksos. |
| Empire | when a country conquers other lands and rules it as a part of that country. |
| Theocracy | when the religious leader of a country is also the government leader. |
| Pharaoh | government leader or king who also was considered the high priest (religious leader) . |
| Polytheism | the belief in many gods. |
| Amon-ra | head god of the Egyptians - sun god. |
| Akhenation | pharaoh who believed Egyptians worshipped too many gods- he believed Egyptians should only worship one god (amon-ra). |
| Hieroglyphics | Egyptian picture writing to express words and ideas. |
| Papyrus | Egyptian paper made out of crushed reeds. |
| Mummification | preservation of dead bodies (internal organs were taken out of the dead body & body was filled w/herbs & spices (Egyptians learned about the body this way). |
| Class system | a social order where people are ranked according to birth, job or wealth. |
| Mesopotamia | good farmland located between the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers- the “cradle of civilization” it was where civilization began . |
| Tigris & Euphrates Rivers | Mesopotamia was located between these two rivers. |
| Fertile Crescent | area of very good farmland - runs from the Mediterranean Sea through north syria to the persian gulf. |
| Sumerians | 1st civilization in Mesopotamia dating back to 3,500 b.c.- advanced society- the wagon wheel, potter’s wheel, 12 month calendar, bronze, & a new way to make arches stronger was invented at this time. |
| City-State | a city that was also a country in itself - it governed itself and was independent. |
| Ur | one of the earliest city states built in Mesopotamia located on the euphrates river. |
| Ziggurat | a religious temple built in the middle of the city - each city had its own god. |
| Cuneiform | Sumerian form of writing based on wedge shaped figures. |
| Stylus | writing instrument of the Sumerians. |
| Tablet | clay tablet used by Sumerians to write on. |
| Gilgamesh | epic poem - oldest recorded epic poem in history. |
| An | head god of the Sumerians - known as the “god of the seasons”. |
| Sargon i | king of the akkadians who built the first kingdom in Mesopotamia in 2,300b.c. |
| Akkadians | group of people from arabian peninsula- showed up in Mesopotamia in 5,000 b.c.- akkad was the name of their kingdom. |
| Amorites | a group of people who invaded Mesopotamia from western syria . |
| Babylon | the capital city of the empire Babylonia. |
| Hammurabi | the king of bablyonia- first king to write down laws- there were 282 laws in his kingdom. |
| Hittites | group of people who conquered Babylon in 1,600 b.c- from asia minor (turkey)- first to use iron in their weapons. |
| Iron | used by the Hittites in making their weapons. |
| Indus river | center of civilization in India, nw on Indian subcontinent- it drains into the Arabian Sea- 2,500 b.c. earliest people along Indus river in a civilized society. |
| Subcontinent | a triangular shape of land sticking into the Indian ocean and surrounded by mountains. |
| Himalayas | the highest mountains in the world located northeast of the Indian subcontinent. |
| Hindu kush | the mountains located northwest of the Indian subcontinent - these mountains protected India from being invaded. |
| Ganges river | river located in northeastern part of India. |
| Brahmaputra river | river in northeast of India. |
| Monsoons | winter monsoon winds blow from northeast through the mountains ( air is dry ) & summer monsoon winds blow from the southwest through the oceans ( very wet ) - India is very dependent upon the monsoons. |
| Harappa | one of the earliest cities in India on the Indus river. |
| Citadel | a fortress that overlooks a city - protects the people. |
| Pictograms | symbols (closely related to the cuneiform) used for writing - there was no translation. |
| Zhong guo | the middle kingdom where Chinese culture began. |
| Gobi desert | this desert protected china from being invaded from the north. |
| Huang he river (yellow | early Chinese civilization began here in 5,000 b.c. |
| Chang jiang river (yangtze | a river in northern Chinese plain. |
| Xi jiang river | a river in the northern Chinese plain. |
| Loess | the yellow soil that enriched the yellow river valley after floods. |
| Yu the great | a Chinese engineer who was a mythical figure - he found china’s first dynasty around 2,000 b.c. |
| Shang dynasty (1,700 b.c. to 1,000 b.c.) | the first recorded dynasty of china. |
| Oracle bones | animal bones that Chinese priest and emperors used to foretell specific questions - the way the bones broke gave an answer to a question. |
| Script | a form of writing used by the Chinese - used symbols to describe sounds, ideas and objects. |
| Anyang | - the ancient Chinese capital (one of 7 capitals founded in the northern plain of china). |
| Wu | he overthrew the shang dynasty and founded the zhou dynasty. |
| Mandate | the authority to rule (mandate from heaven - god allowed the emperors to rule). |
| What did most ancient civilizations have in common? | 1built near rivers 2were ruled by kings 3believed in many gods 4farmers 5symbols for writing 6strict laws. |
