| Term | Definition |
|---|
| material culture | physical remains left by past human societies |
| archaeology | scientific study of remains of past human societies |
| Neanderthals | Human subspecies that originated in 350,000 B.C, became extinct soon after |
| anthropology | scientific study of modern human cultures and societies |
| matriarchal society | society in which women have the primary authority |
| Neolithic Age | period which people gained greater control over their food supply |
| Near East | Egypt, Mesopotamia, Anatolia, and Iran |
| domestication | practice of adapting wild animals to live with humans |
| pastoralism | mobile lifestyle based on keeping flocks and herds |
| agriculture | sedentary style of life based on cultivation of crops |
| cultural assimilation | acquisition by one group of people of the cultural traits of another people. |
| Fertile Crescent | arc of fertile land running though Egypt, the Levant, Mesopotamia. |
| Levant | Lands between eastern coast of the Mediterranean and Mesopatamia |
| Mesopotamia | Lands surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers |
| history | accounts of the human past that use written records |
| Bronze Age | Near East, period in which bronze was used for weapons. |
| cuneiform | Mesopotamian writing system |
| myths | stories explaining things that people did not understand |
| legends | accounts of people in distant pasts that have been passed down orally |
| Anatolia | Modern day Turkey |
| polytheism | belief in many gods |
| anthropomorphic | looking and behaving like people |
| divination | religious practice in which people looked for signs to determine the will of the gods |
| city-state | city that is also an independent nation |
| ziggurat | step-shaped pyramid serving as the main temple |
| hierarchical structure | social structure organized according to rank |
| barter | form of exchanging, using goods |
| patriarchal society | society in which men have the primary authority |
| dowry | financial contribution provided to a bride by her family |
| adobe | mixture of clay to make bricks |
| Semitic peoples | pastoral peoples living in semiarid regions of Syria and northern Arabia |
| Akkadians | Semitic people who established the first Near Eastern empire |
| empire | political unit incorporating different peoples under a single gov't |
| Elam | Ancient kingdom located in modern-day Iran |
| Amorites | Western Semitic peoples who moved into Mesopotamia |
| Assyrians | Semitic people who settled in the upper Tigris River valley |
| Babylonians | Semitic people who settled in central Mesopotamia and established the Old Babylonian Empire |
| Hammurabi | Mesopotamian ruler who created the Old Babylonian Empire |
| talent | Mesopotamian unit of weight |
| astrology | learning based on the belief that the future was ordained by the gods |
| Indo-European people | pastoral peoples of central Asia who settled in ares of India and Europe |
| steppe | flat treeless plain covered by short grass |
| Aryans | Indo-European peoples who settled in Iran |
| Hitites | Indo-European people who settles in Anatolia |
| Balkans | Southeastern Europe, including modern Greed, Bulgaria, and Romania |
| Kassites | Indo-European people who invaded Mesopotamia |
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