| A | B |
|---|
| Ziggurats | Mud brick temples to the various gods in Mesopotamia |
| Hammurabi | A king of ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia who codified a very strict code of laws |
| Hammurabi's Code of Law | A system of law in Mesopotamia that punished harshly and gave justice to those hurt through no fault of their own |
| Mesopotamia | Another name for "Land Between the River"--the Tigris and Euphrates |
| The Tigris and Euphrates | Two rivers draining an area that was known as the Fertile Crescent--the home of the first civilization as we know it |
| Cuneiform | The ancient writing system of Mesopotamia, developed for business purposes |
| "Necessity is the mother of invention" | The idea that things are invented because there is a need for them |
| Judaism | A religion worshipping one God; Abraham was its founder |
| Islam | A religion based on a belief in one God; Mohammed was its founder |
| Mohammed | The founder of the Moslem religion; also the most common name in the world |
| Allah | The name given to the one true God by the Moslems |
| Muezzin | The person who calls faithful Moslems to prayer 5 times a day |
| Jerusalem | The holiest of cities to all three major religions--Islam, Judaism, Christianity |
| Dome of the Rock | The place in Jerusalem from which Mohammed ascended into Heaven |
| Mosque | A Moslem house of worship |
| Minaret | The towers on a mosque from which a muezzin calls people to prayer |
| Kurds | An ethnic group of Muslims who live throughout Southwest Asia |
| Palestine | An area on the eastern edge of the Mediterranean once known as Canaan; the promised land for the Jews |
| Holocaust | The systematic killing of some 6 million Jews during WWII |
| Israel | The country created from Palestine by the United Nations after WWII |
| Palestinian Liberation Organization | A group that wants a Palestinian nation for the Arabs in and around what is today the Jewish state of Israel |
| Yasser Arafat | The leader of the Palestinian Liberation Organization |
| President Clinton | Hosted a meeting between the Prime Minister of Israel and Arafat and got them to sign a peace agreement |
| Cyrillic | The name given to the Russian alphabet, from the saing Cyril |
| Steppes | vast treeless plains that stretch across Central Asia |
| Silk Road | The trade route that linked China and Europe |
| Samarkand in Uzbekistan | A trading center, and later a center of learning that grew up along the Silk Road |
| Genghiz Kahn | A Mongol man who managed to control much of Asia as part of the largest empire the world has ever known |
| Collective | Large mega-farms created by the Soviets from small farms that were combined |
| Almaty | The capital of Kazakstan |
| Bishek | The capital of Kyrgyzstan |
| Dushanbe | The capital of Tajikistan |
| Ashgabat | The capital of Turkmenistan |
| Tashkent | The capital of Uzbekistan |
| Negev Desert | A desert in Israel; the lowest point on earth |
| Brackish water | Salty water in Israel that makes it difficult to cultivate crops |
| Western Wall | Also known as the Wailing Wall; the last remaing wall of second temple built by the Israelites |
| Moshavim | a cooperative settlement in Israel whereby small farming villages combine income to buy equipment |
| Kibbutz | A cooperative settlement in Israel where people eat, live and work together; not necessary agricultural in nature; can be industrial |
| Ariel Sharon | The current prime minister of Israel |
| Golda Meier | A Wisconsin born woman who was the Prime Minister of Israel for many years |
| Mecca | The birthplace of Mohammed and a place revered as a place where Abraham is revered; Moslems make pilgramages there once in their life times |
| Hajj | The name given to the once in a life time visit to Mecca by faithful Moslems who are able to do so |
| Kabah | The holiest site of all in Mecca--perhaps a remnant of the Altar Abraham used to sacrifice his son |
| Monarchy | A government ruled by a King or Queen--Like Saudi Arabia |
| Riyadh | The capital of Saudi Arabia |
| Koran or Quran | The holy book of the Moslem faith |
| Homogeneous population | A population where there is not a great deal of variety in the ethnic makeup |
| Yurt | a round tent inhabited by Kazaks, made of felt |
| Baikonur | A place in Kazakstan from which many notable space flights took off |
| Aral Sea | A deep lake nearly destroyed when the Soviets diverted its water supply to grow cotton on bad land |
| Tengiz | One of the largest oil fields in the world |
