Ch. 2 Vocabulary Ancient Mesopotamia & Egypt

Name means "land between rivers"; were the 1st civilizations began; present day Iraq & Syria.

The region in the Middle East which curves, like a quarter-moon shape; Known as the Cradle of Civilization.

Belief in MANY gods; Ancient Sumerians believed in over 3,000 gods.

The massive platform that the Sumerians built their religious temples on.

Means "rule by god"; describes a govt. where the ruler is thought to be a God ex. Ancient Egypt.

1st writing system developed by the Sumerians; "wedge-shape writing."

1st written laws; given to people of Ancient Babylon by King Hammurabi; very strict laws based on principle of an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth.

Describes a society dominated by men.

The longest river in the world; Egypt is often called "the gist of the Nile River; Egyptians depend on the Nile for everything.

The annual flooding of the Nile River. The flood river leave behind rich fertile mud.

Rich black mud left behind from the flooding of the Nile River

King who united Lower & Upper Egypt around 3100 BC.

Means "great house of"; a family of rulers

Name for Egyptian King

Ancient Egyptians thought that when someone died the Ka, or the life force, left the physical body; The Ka could drink and eat, but was stuck in the tomb in the body of the mummy or the small statues that were left in the tomb.

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.

It 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.

Containers 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 4 sons of hours.

A 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.

Earned everlasting fame for being the pharaoh responsible for the Great Pyramid at Giza which he built to serve as his tomb.

Largest of the 3 pyramids at Giza; built by King khufu; the only monument of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World to survive.

Discovered 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.

One of the largest and oldest statues in the world. Archeologists believe that it was carved around 2500 BC and that the head meant to be the likeness of the Pharaoh Khafra.

Egyptian picture writing.

A stone with writing on it in two languages (Egyptian and Greek, using three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic and Greek).

Invaded Egypt; and ruler for 200 years; introduced the horse drawn chariot.

First great woman ruler in history; she ruled Egypt as King not queen. Sculptures and masks now show her with a false beard.

Rejected the traditional religion in favor of worshiping the Aten, or sun disc, after whom he renamed himself. He closed all the temples to the old gods and obliterated their names from monuments.

17 year old boy pharaoh whose tomb survived untouched by grave robbers; more than 3,000 artifacts discovered in his tomb.

Ramses the Great reigned 67 years; fathered over 100 children; defeated the Hittites, the other superpower of ancient times; he declared himself a living god.

Reed like plant that grows on the Nile River Ancient Egyptians used to write on.

The spreading of ideas from one culture to another culture.