| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Artisian | 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 for the 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 elements of government, architecture, ideas, etc. |
| Cuneiform | Wedge shaped writing/ the "first" writing done with a stylus on a damp clay tablet and preserved by drying in the sun |
| Cylinder Seals | Small cylinders decorated by distinctive images. These were rolled on damp clay to leave a rectangular impression to "seal" a deal in business/ equivalent to a signature today |
| Deify | To declare someone a God |
| Dynasty | When rule of a country or empire is passes down through a family from one generation to the next |
| Empire | Several lands joined together by the rule of one ruler who would be called an emperor |
| Epic | Poems/stories that tell the deeds of great heros |
| Gilgamesh | the epic story of the king Gilgamesh, who searched for immortality/ a Sumerian legend, Believed to be the first story |
| Hegemony | dominance or control |
| Irrigation | supplying water to agricultural lands 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, Containing pictures that were informative to scholars |
| Scribe | someone who writes/ usually a revered position in ancient society |
| Semitic | a word used to describe a group of people whose 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 devotional statues that Sumerians left in the ziggurat to appease their gods |
| Ziggurat | A temple in Mesopotamia. I 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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