Flashcards

Ancient Mesopotamia & Egypt

Essance Murphy English 31 cards

Cards in this deck (31)

1MesopotamiaThe land between two rivers ; where the first human civilization began
2Fertile Crescentthe region in the middle east which curves , like a quarter moon shape ; Known as the Cradle of Civilization
3polythesic (aka polytheism)belief in MANY god ; Ancient Sumerians believed in over 3,000 gods
4zigguratthe massive platform that the Sumerians built their religious temples on
5theocracymeans "rules by god" : describes a govt. where the ruler is thought to be a God
Ex . Ancient Egypt
6cuneiform!st writing system developed by the Sumerians; "wedge shaped writing
7Hammurabi's Law Code 33!st written laws ; given to the people of Ancient Babylon by King Hammurabi ; very strict laws based on principle of an eye for an eye , a tooth for tooth
8patriarchaldescribes a society dominated by men
9Nile Riverthe longest river in the world; Egypt 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 Menes (36)King who united Lower & Upper Egypt around 3100 B.C
13dynastymean "great house of" ; family rulers
14pharoahname for Egyptian King
15"ka"ancient Egyptians thought that when someone died the Ka , or the life force , left the physical body of the mummy or the small statues that were left 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. The 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 to 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 Khufu (aka Cheops (KEE-ops)earned everlasting fame for being the pharaoh responsible for the Great Pyramid at Giza which he built to serve as his tomb
21King 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
22Great Sphinxone of the largest and oldest statues in the world. Archaeologist believe that it was carved around 2500 BC and that the head is meant to be the likeness of the Pharaoh Khafra
23hieroglyphicsEgyptian picture writing
24The Rosetta Stonea stone with writing on it in two languages (Egyptian Greek) , using three scripts (hieroglyphic , demotic and Greek)
25Hyksosinvaded Egypt ; and ruled for 200 years; introduced the horse drawn chariot
26Hatshepsutfirst great woman ruler in history; she ruled Egypt as king not queen. Sculptures and masks show her with false beard
27Akhenaten (aka Amenhotep)rejected the traditional religion in favor of worshiping the Aten , or sun disc, after whom renamed himself . He closed all the temples to the old gods and obliterated their names from monuments
28King Tut17 year old boy pharaoh whose tomb survived untouched by grave robbers; more than 3000 artifacts discovered in his tomb
29Ramses IIRamses the reigned 67 years ; fathered over 100 children ; defeated the Hittites, the other superpower of ancient times; he declared himself a living god
30Papyrusreed like plant that grows on the Nile Rivers Ancient Egyptians used to write on
31Cultural Diffusionthe spreading of ideas from one culture to another