| A | B |
|---|
| silt | rich soil carried by flooding rivers |
| cataract | waterfall |
| delta | triangular area of marshland formed by deposits of silt at the mouth of some rivers |
| dynasty | ruling family |
| pharaoh | title of the rulers of ancient Egypt |
| vizier | chief minister who supervised the business of government in ancient Egypt |
| mummification | practice of preserving the bodies of the dead |
| hieroglyphics | form of picture writing developed by the ancient Egyptians |
| demotic | system of ancient Egyptian writing, simpler than hieroglyphics, that was developed for everyday use |
| papyrus | plant that grows along the banks of the Nile; used by the ancient Egyptians to make a paperlike material |
| ziggurat | pyramid-temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of an ancient Sumerian city-state |
| hierarchy | system of ranks |
| cuneiform | wedge-shaped writing of the ancient Sumerians and other ancient peoples |
| civil law | body of law dealing with private rights of individuals |
| satrap | governor of a province in the Persian empire |
| barter economy | system in which one set of goods or services is exchanged for another |
| colony | terrirtory settled and ruled by people from another land |
| monotheistic | believing in one God |
| covenant | binding agreement |
| prophet | spiritual leader believed to be interpreting God's will |
| ethics | moral standards of behavior |
| diaspora | the scattering of the Jewish people from their homeland in Palestine |
