| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Artisan | someone who crafts an object from raw materials |
| Bas-relief | sculpture in which the carvings project slightly from the background |
| Bronze Age | roughly from 3000-1000 BCE when bronze replaced stone as the material for tools |
| City State | a city and possibly the surrounding agricultural area that is also an independent political unit |
| Civilization | when human society has advanced to share the elements of government, architecture, ideas, etc. |
| Cuneiform | wedge shaped writing/ the "first" writing done with a stylus on a damp clay tablet and preserved through drying in the sun |
| Cylinder Seals | small cylinders decorated with distinctive images. These were rolled on damp clay to leave a rectangular impression to "seal" a business deal/ equivalent to a signature today |
| Deify | to declare someone a god |
| Dynasty | when rule of a country or empire passes down in a family from one generation to the next |
| Empire | several lands joined together under one ruler called an emperor |
| Epic | poems/ stories that tell of the deeds of great heroes |
| Gilgamesh | the epic story of the king Gilgamesh, who searched for immortality/ a Sumerian legend. This is believed to be the first story. |
| Hegemony | dominance or control (ex: when a powerful country has influence over a region) |
| Irrigation | supplying water to argricultural land by artificial means |
| Monarch | a ruler who is a king or queen |
| Polytheism | the worship of many gods |
| Royal Standard of Ur | an artifact from the Royal Graves of Ur. It contained pictures that are very informative to scholars. |
| Scribe | someone who writes/ usually a revered position in ancient society |
| Semitic | an adjective used to describe a group of people who's language could be traced back to the same root |
| Stele | a monument, vertical in style, small or large, that contained writing or pictures to commemorate or record something |
| Surplus | food/goods produced that are extra (not needed for survival) and available to barter/ sell. |
| Theocracy | A government under the control of religious leaders |
| Usurp | to take over a position without any legal right |
| Votive Statues | small divotional statues that Sumerians left in the ziggurat to appease their gods |
| Ziggurat | a temple in Mesopotamia. It had a distinctive shape and was used to store commodities and goods that were given as offerings. People worked and lived there. |
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