| A | B |
| scribe | professional writers |
| city-state | each city with its own god, government and king |
| polytheism | belief in many gods |
| myth | stories about gods that explain people's beliefs |
| empire | an area with lots of people controlled by one government |
| caravan | groups of travelers |
| bazaar | market areas |
| code | an organized list |
| cuneiform | combining symbols to make groups of wedges and lines |
| alphabet | a set of symbols that represented the sounds of language |
| monotheism | belief in one God |
| famine | a time when there is little or no food |
| exile | to force people to live in another country |
| covenant | a binding agreement |
| prophet | religious leaders |
| diaspora | scattering of people |