| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| fertile crescent | a region of rich farmland that curves from the mediterranean sea to the persian gulf centered on the area between the tigris and euphrates rivers. |
| mesopotamia | the area that lies between the tigris and euphrates rivers in southwest asia. |
| ziggurat | a sumerian temple made of sun-dried brick that was dedicated to the chief god or goddess of a particular city-state. |
| city-state | a political unit that includes a town or a city and the surrounding land controlled by it. |
| polytheism | the belief of many gods. |
| dynasty | a family of rulers whose right to rule is hereditary. |
| cuneiform | sumerian writing. |
| sargon | king of akkad in mesoptamia; he is considered the founder of mesopotamia and conquered many cities along the middle euphrates to northern syria. |
| hammurabi | king of babylonia; he was a brilliant military leader who brought all of mesopotamia into the babylonian empire. he is known for his uniform code of 282 laws, the earliest known set of written laws. |
| indo-europeans | a group of semi-nomadic people who migrated from sothern russia to the indian subcontinent around 1700 bc |
| steppes | arid grassland |
| nebuchadnezzar ll | chaldean king of babylon from 605 to 562 bc; he rebuilt babylon into a beautiful city noted for it famed hanging garden |
| judaism | a monotheistic religion originating with the israelites |
| torah | the first five books of the hebrew bible; the most sacred texts of the jewish faith |
| abraham | according to the bible,the originator the jewish line |
| covenant | a binding agreement |
| patriarch | an ancestral ''father'' of judasim |
| moses | hebrew prophet and lawgiver; according to the bible |
| exodus | the escape of the hebrews from egypt |
| diaspora | the dispersal of the jews from their homeland in palestine during the 2,600 |
| monotheism | the belief in one god |
| cyrus the great | king of persia and founder of the persian empire |
| darius l | he was a new leader for persia |
| satrap | to help rule, darius choose governors |
| xerxes | he's an emperor and he is also the son of darius |
| zoroaster | a new region started after the persian he found a religion known as zoroastrianism based on the idea that people have free will |
| dualism | the belief that the world is controlled by two forces good and evil |
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