s\s meso SG Flashcards
(36 cards)
city-state
Cities that are politically independent with their own government, army, and king.
conquer
To take control of an area by force, usually with military power.
Ziggurat
The largest mud-brick building in the center of a city-state. Temples shaped like pyramids and dedicated to the chief god or goddess of the city.
Cuneiform
Form of writing based on making wedge-shaped impressions with reeds and soft clay tablets - 700 wedge-shaped symbols that made up the first written language.
Scribe
People who record things for others.
Patriarchy
A form of social organization in which the father is the supreme authority. As a result, the men hold the most power.
Empire
Vast lands and varied people brought under the control of one.
Irrigation
A system built to control water.
epic
A long poem is usually centered on a hero.
Civilization
A complex human society is usually made up of different cities, with specific characteristics of culture and technological development.
Polytheism
The belief in many gods.
Architecture
Unique building style or design.
Deity
A god who people believed could control nature.
Emperor
The single ruler of an empire.
Monarchy
A system where a king and a queen rules with absolute power
Silt
Small rocks and nutrients carried by rivers that fertilize land after floods
Theocracy
A form of governing in which God or deity is the supreme ruler which is where priests hold an authority role they believe this because they believe in God’s rule of the land and priests were the closest to gods.
Hammurabi’s Code
The first time that laws were written out it consisted of 282 laws.
Absolute power
The way a king rose in which whatever the king decides become law.
Sumeria
3500 to 2300 BCE
Sumeria
Sumeria was the first civilization in Mesopotamia which developed around 3500 BCE.
Sumeria
They relied on annual food to deposit rich soil into the farmland and they controlled water flow by using irrigation and drainage ditches.
Religion
the Sumerians were polytheistic: they believed in many gods.
Religion
They built cigarettes which means temples shaped like pyramids and dedicated them to their chief god where the goddess of the city.