| A | B |
|---|
| canal | man-made waterway |
| chariot | wheeled cart pulled by horses |
| city-state | an independent city with its own government |
| contract | a legal written agreement |
| cuneiform | wedge-shaped form of writing |
| dike | a wall built to hold back water |
| irrigate | to bring water to dry lands |
| merchant | a person who buys and sells goods |
| scribe | a person who writes out copies of contracts and other manuscripts |
| swamp | an area of low, wet land |
| tablet | small, flat piece of clay used for writing |
| temple | a building for the worship of a god or gods |
| ziggurat | a huge, towerlike temple |
| desert | dry, sandy land with little or no plant life |
| hieroglyphics | a system of writing using pictures and symbols |
| mummy | a dead body kept from rotting by being treated with chemicals and wrapped in cloth |
| papyrus | a writing paper the Egyptians made from water plants |
| pharoah | a king of ancient Egypt; word means "great house" |
| pyramid | huge stone structure where Egyptian rulers were buried |
| tax | money paid to support a government |
| tomb | a grave, usually one enclosed in stone or cement |
| King Menes | united Lower and Upper Egypt; the first pharoah |
| capital | a city or town where the government of a nation or state is located |
| colonies | groups of people who settle in far-off land but are still under the rule of the land they came from |
| commandment | a law or order, as in the Ten Commandments from the Bible |
| conquer | to get control by using force |
| empire | a group of lands all ruled by the same government or ruler |
| navigate | to plan the course of a ship; to sail or steer |
| nomads | people who move from place to place looking for food for their animal herds |
| siege | the surrounding of a city by soldiers who are trying to capture it so that food, water, and other supplies cannot get in or out |
| treaty | an agreement having to do with peace or trade |
| tribe | a group of people living together under a leader |
| tribute | a payment or gift demanded by rulers of ancient kingdoms |
| Hittites | learned to make weapons and tools out of iron |
| Hebrews | gave us the Jewish religion |
| Phoenicians | invented an alphabet |
| Hammurabi | created a system of laws |
| Assyrians | had the best trained army of the ancient world; invented siege machines |
| Mediterranean Sea | ancient civilizations developed around this body of water |
| ancestors | people from whom one is descended, such as great-grandparents |
| castes | the social classes into which the people of India are divided |
| classes | groupings of people according to social rank |
| dynasty | a series of rulers who belong to the same family |
| enlightened | knowing the truth |
| isolated | set apart from others; alone |
| maize | Indian corn |
| reincarnation | a belief that living souls are reborn in a new body |
| shrine | a place of worship believed to be holy or sacred |
| Olmecs | probably built the first real city in the Americas |
| "Aryan" | nobleman or owner of land |
| The Yellow River | became known as "China's sorrow" |
| rajas | ruled kingdoms in India and lived in fine palaces |
| Buddist religion | known as the "gentle" religion |
| Ur | a Sumerian city |
| upstream | in the direction against the flow of the river |
| Nile River | river that runs through Egypt |
| the color purple | stands for power,wealth, and royalty |
| Canaan | the "promised land" of the Hebrews |
| Hanging Gardens of Babylon | wonder of the world found in Egypt |
| Hebrews | first to believe in one god |
