| Term | Definition |
|---|
| artisan | someone who crafts an object with raw materials |
| bas-relief | sculpture in which the carvings project slightly from background |
| Bronze Age | 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 elements of government, archittecture, 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 deal in business / equivalent to a signature today |
| deify | to declare someone a god |
| dynasty | when rule of a country or empire passes down through the family from one generation to the next |
| empire | several lands join together under the rule of one ruler who would be 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. This is a Sumerian legend and is believed to be the first story |
| Hegemony | dominance or control |
| irrigation | supplying water to agricultural land by artificial means |
| monarch | a ruler who is a king or queen |
| polytheism | the worship of many gods |
| Royal Standard of Ur | an artifiact 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 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 batter / 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. It had distinctive and was used to store commodities and goods that were given as offerings. People worked and lived there. |
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