| A | B |
|---|
| plateau | a high, flat area of land |
| alluvial plain | land formed from fine soils deposited by a river |
| city-state | a city and its surrounding farmlands, with its own leaders and government |
| Gilgamesh | legendary king described as 1/3 man and 2/3 god |
| polytheism | belief in more than one god or goddess |
| pictograph | picture-writing; a picture that stands for a word or idea |
| cuneiform | wedge-shaped characters made with a reed stylus and used in writing several ancient languages |
| scribe | a professional who wrote things for others |
| irrigation | the use of connected ditches, canals, dams, and dikes to move water to dry areas |
| Fertile Crescent | an area of land between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea, shaped like a crescent moon |
| Sargon | warrior who founded the first empire in the Fertile Crescent |
| Hammurabi | King of city-state of Babylon, compiled first set of written laws |
| Tigris | northern river in the Fertile Crescent, empties into the Persian Gulf |
| Euphrates | southern river in the Fertile Crescent, empties into the Persian Gulf |
| silt | nutrient-rich mixture of bits of rock and soil |
| technology | the skills and knowledge to make products or meet goals; make life easier (spears, boats, canals...) |
| civilization | a centralized society with developed forms of religion, ways of governing, and learning, has a stable food supply and division of labor |
| ziggurat | a huge mud-brick temple |
| merchant | a person who buys and sells goods to make a living |
| surplus | an extra supply |
| social class | a group that has a particular amount of importance in a society (merchants, priests, slaves...) |
| innovations | new ways of doing things |
| empire | a conquered land of many people governed by one ruler |
| conquer | take over by force |
| emperor | ruler of an empire |
| taxation | when people are required to pay to support the government |
| equal justice | fair treatment under the law |
| government | a system used to make laws and decisions |
| monarchy | a system of government in which a king or queen rules |
| authority | the right to command or influence |
| drought | a long time with little or no rain |
