| A | B |
|---|
| scribe | a professional writer |
| Fertile Crescent | a region in Southwest Asia; site of the first civilizations |
| city-state | a city that is also a seperate, independent state |
| polytheism | the belief in many gods |
| myth | a traditional story; in some cultures, a legend that explains people's beliefs |
| empire | many territories and peoples controlled by one government |
| Babylon | the capital of Babylonia; a city of great wealth and luxury |
| caravan | a group of travelers journeying together |
| bazaar | a market selling different kinds of goods |
| zoroastrianism | a religion that developed in ancient Persia |
| code | an organized list of laws and rules |
| Hammurabi | the king of Babylon from about 1792 to 1750 B.C., creator of the Babylonian Empire |
| cuneiform | groups of wedges and lines used to write several languages of Fertile Crescent |
| alphabet | a set of symbols that represent the sounds of language |
| monotheism | the velief in one god |
| famine | a time when there is so little food that many people starve |
| exile | to force someone to live in another country |
| covenant | a binding agreeement |
| Moses | an Israelite leader whome the Torah credits with leading the Israelites from Egypt to Canaan |
| prophet | a religious teacher who is regarded as someone who speaks for God or for a god |
| diaspora | the scattering of people who have a common background or beliefs |
