Study Guide for Political Systems (Fertile Crescent)
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44 terms
Terms | Definitions |
|---|---|
 Tigris and Euphrates River | Rivers that flow southeastward to Persian Gulf. |
| Mesopotamia | Plain between Tigris and Euphrates. |
| Wheat and barley | Two major staple crops of Mesopotamia. |
| Zagros Mountains | North of Mesopotamia whose ice and snow melted and cause the flooding of Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. |
| Sumer | Region in Mesopotamia; size of Massachusettes that held most of the city-states. |
| Sumerian Priests | The earliest rulers of the city-states because they could talk to the gods. |
| Sargon of Akkad | Defeated city-states of Sumer with his army - created world's first empire. |
| Assyria's Military Machine | Had strong and well-disciplined army they used to conquer empires. |
| Assyrian tactics in taking city-states | Pantoon bridges, tunnels under walls, archers, ladders. |
| Battering ram | Iron tipped ram used to break down city gates. |
| Exile | Person forced to leave homeland. |
| Library at Nineveh | One of the oldest and largest ancient libraries in Assyrian captail cities. |
| Hanging Gardens of Babylon | Built by King Nebuchadnezzar for his wife who was homesick. One of the seven Ancient Wonders of the World. |
| Persia | Empire that was ruled by diplomacy and tolerance whose capital city was Babylon. |
| Marduk | Babylon's chief god. |
| King's Eyes and Ears | Darius' secret group of inspectors whose job was to monitor the satraps and the people to make sure they were doing their jobs. |
| 10.000 Immortals | Elite group of Persian soldiers who helped Darius seize Persia's throne in 522-521 BC. Could never go under 10,000. |
| Lydians | Group of people in Asia who invented metal coins and the Persians adopted this. |
| Hammurabi's Code | List of 282 specific laws that was based on "an eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth". First ever set of laws. |
| Five characteristics of civilization are... | Advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and advanced technology. |
| Advanced cities | More than a large group of people living together. |
| Specialized workers | Artisans - skilled workers who make goods by hands. |
| Complex institutions | Long-lasting patterns of organization in a community. |
| Fertile Crescent | Arc of rich farmland in Southwest Asia, between the Persian Gulf and Miediterranean Sea. |
| Slit | Thick bed of mud. |
| Irrigation | Ditches that carried river water to their fields and allowed them to produce a surplus of crops. |
| City state | A city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independant political unit. |
| Dynasty | Series of rulers from a single family. |
| Cultural Diffusion | Process of a new idea or a product spreading from one culture to another. |
| Polytheism | Belief in many gods. |
| Empire | Political unit in which a number of people or countries are controlled by a single ruler. |
| Hammurabi | Babylonian king that created Mesopotamia's 282 laws. |
| Assyria | Southwest Asian kingdom that controlled a large empire from about 85 to 612 B.C. |
| Sennacherib | One of the Assyrian kings. |
| Nineveh | Assyria's capital. |
| Ashurbanipal | One of the Assyrian kings who was able to read several languages. |
| Medes | Southwest Asian people who helped destroy Assyrian Empire. |
| Nebuchadnezzar | Chaldean king who restored Babylon. |
| Cyrus | Persia's king in 550 B.C. |
| Cambyses | Cyrus' son, who extended the Persian Empire by conquering Egypt (named after Cyrus' father). |
| Darius | Cambyses' successor, noble of dynasty. Seized throne in 522-521 B.C. |
| Satrap | Governor that ruled a province. |
| Royal Road | Road system of Persian Empire which ran from Susa in Persia to Sardis in Anatolia, a distance of 1,677 miles. |
| Zoroaster | Persian prophet and religious who lived around 600 B.C. |
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