| Term | Definition |
|---|
| Civilization | A centralized society with developed forms of religion, ways of governing, and learning. |
| technology | The skills and knowledge to make products or meet goals. |
| ziggurat | A large building in most Summerian cities was a huge mud-brick temple. |
| government | An organized system that groups use to make laws and decisions. |
| city-states | A city or village and the farmlands around it. |
| monarchy | A government in which one person has complete authority to rule. |
| authority | Right to rule. |
| surplus | An extra food supply used to feed new Sumer settlers. |
| merchant | People who bought and sold goods for a living. |
| social class | A division of groups of people with different levels of importance. |
| scribe | A person who wrote things for others. |
| innovation | A new way of doing things. |
| conquer | Wars fought to take over the lands of others. |
| empire | A conquered land of many people and places governed by one ruler. |
| emperor | A ruler of an empire. |
| taxation | A system where people pay taxes to support the government. |
| Code of Hammurabi | A collection of laws compiled by the Babylonian leader Hammurabi. |
| Sargon | A warrior who conquered Mesopotamia. |
| equal justice | Fair treatment under the law. |
| monotheism | The belief in one God. |
| covenant | A special agreement. |
| Ten Commandments | A set of laws given by God to Moses for responsible behavior. |
| Judaism | The religion of the Jewish people. |
| Torah | The stories of the Israelites in the five books of the Bible of Moses. |
| colony | A settlement separate from, but under the control of, a home country. |
| cultural diffusion | The spreading of new ideas to other places. |
| barter | The exchange of one good or a service for another. |
| money economy | An economic system based on the use of money rather than barter. |
| Israelites | Lived by the Ten Commandments and the Jewish religion. |
| Phonecians | Creators of a new alphabet. |
| Lydians | Creators of coined money. |
| Assyrians | People who gained control of Mesopotamia and ruled trade routes in southwestern Asia. |
| Nobles | People in the upper class. |
| Middle Class | People who exchanged their services for goods. |
| Laborers | Unskilled workers such as slaves. |
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