| A | B |
|---|
| civilization | advanced form of culture that developed in cities |
| city-state | political unit made up of a city and its surrounding lands |
| pictographs | pictures or drawings that represent a word or an idea |
| cuneiform | first known writing system, which used wedge-shaped symbols |
| scribes | people who specialized in writing and record keeping |
| surplus | more than they needed for themselves |
| Mesopotamia | land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers |
| floodplain | flat land bordering the banks of a river |
| silt | fine, fertile soil carried by rivers and deposited on nearby lands |
| arid | climate type marked by hot summers and limited rainfall |
| drought | long period of little or no rainfall when it is difficult to grow crops |
| irrigation | watering dry land by using ditches, pipes, or streams |
| agriculture | cultivation of soil to produce crops (farming) |
| fertile | good for plants to grow in |
| nomads | members of a group of people who have no set home but move from place to place |
| domesticate | to adapt or breed plants or animals for human use |
