1. Unit 2 Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent
Key terms and people

2. Key Terms and People
Fertile Crescent – a large arc of rich (fertile) farmland
Silt – a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks
Irrigation – a way of supplying water

3. Key Terms and People Canals – human made waterways
Surplus – more than needed
Division of Labor – type of arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular task or job

4. Key Terms and People
Sargon – Akkadian Emperor who was one of the first rulers to have a permanent army
Empire – land with different territories and peoples under a single rule

5. Key Terms and People Rural – countryside areas Urban – city
City-State – consisted of a city and all the countryside around it
Gilgamesh – one of the Unuk’s kings who became a figure in Sumerian literature; “The Epic of Gilgamesh”

6. Key Terms and People Cuneiform – the world’s first system of writing
Pictographs – picture symbols
Scribe - writer

7. Key Terms and People Polytheism – the worship of many gods
Priest – people who preformed religious ceremonies
Social hierarchy – the division of society by rank or class
Impact – effect, result

8. Key Terms and People Epics – long poem that tells the story of heroes
Architecture – the science of building
Ziggurat – pyramid shaped temple tower

9. Key Terms and People Monarch – a ruler of a kingdom or empire
Hammurabi’s Code – a set of 282 laws that dealt with almost every part of daily life
Chariot – a wheeled horse drawn cart used in battle

10. Key Terms and People
Nebuchadnezzar – Chaldean King who rebuilt Babylon into a beautiful city with hanging gardens
Alphabet – a set of letters that can be combined to form words