Flashcards
Ch. 2 Ancient Mesopotamia & Egypt vocab.
Cards in this deck (25)
- 1Mesopotamianame means "land between the rivers" where the first civilizations began; present day Iraq & Syria
- 2Fertile Crescentthe region in the Middle East which curves, like a quarter-moon shape; Known as the Cradle of Civilization
- 3Polytheisticbelief in MANY gods; Ancient Sumerians believed in over 3,000 gods
- 4Zigguratthe massive platform that the Sumerians built their religious temples on
- 5Theocracymeans "rule by god"; describes a govt. where the ruler is thought to be a God ex. Ancient Egypt
- 6CuneiformFirst writing system developed the Sumerians
- 7Hammurabi's Law Codefirst written laws; given to people of Ancient Babylon by King Hammurabi; very strict laws based on principle of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
- 8Patriarchaldescribes a society dominated by men
- 9Nile Riverthe longest river in the world; Egytp is often called "the gift of the Nile River"; Egyptians depended on the Nile for everything
- 10Inundationthe annual flooding of the Nile River. The flood river leave behind rich fertile mud
- 11Siltrich black mud left behind from the flooding of the Nile River
- 12King Menesking who united Lower & Upper Egypt around 3100 BC
- 13Dynastymeans "Great House of"; a family of rulers
- 14Pharaohname for Egyptian KIng
- 15"Ka"ancient Egyptians thought that when someone died the Ka, or life of force, left the physical body; the Ka could drink and eat, but it was stuck in the tomb in the body of the mummy of the small statues that were in the tomb.
- 16"Ba"The Ba was the part of the soul that embarked on a journey to follow the gods; the symbol of the Ba is often shown as a bird with a human head and wings
- 17MummificationIt was very important to ancient Egyptian religious beliefs that the human body was preserved. Their method of preserving the body was called mummification. This process lasted up to 70 days.
- 18Canopic Jarscontainers used to hold the internal organs (lungs, stomach, intestines, liver) of the deceased that was going to be mummified; the jars had lids shaped as the heads of the four sons of Horus.
- 19Sarcophagusa sarcophagus formed the outer layer of protection for a royal mummy, with several layers of coffins nested within, and was often carved out of alabaster.
- 20KIng Khufuearned everlasting fame for being the pharaoh responsible for the Great Pryamid at Giza which he built to serve as his tomb
- 21the Great Pyramidlargest of the 3 pyramids at Giza; built by King Khufu; the only monument of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World to survive.
- 22King Khufu's Boatdiscovered in 1952 buried under the Great Pyramid; it would be needed to ferry King Khufu's spirit across the sky to be with Ra, the sun god
- 23Great Sphinxone of the largest and oldest statues around the world. Archeologists believe that it was carved around 2500 BC and that the head is meant to be the likeness of the Pharaoh Khafra.
- 24HieroglyphicsEgyptian picture writing
- 25The Rosetta Stonea stone with writing on it in 2 languages (Egyptian and Greek)
