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River Valley Civilizations Benchmark Review

Terms in this set (50)

archaeologist
a scientist who learns about ancient people by studying the things they left behind
artifact
an object made by a human being, typically an item of cultural or historical interest.
Hominid
An early ancestor of humans
Culture
Beliefs, customs, and traditions of a specific group of people.
Homo habilis
(man of skill) first to make stone tools
Migration
movement of people from one place to another
artisan
A skilled craftsperson
cultural diffusion
the spread of cultural elements from one society to another
Sumerians
The name of the first culture in the world to develop cities.
myth
A traditional story about gods, ancestors, or heroes, told to explain the natural world or the customs and beliefs of a society.
nomad
a person who moves from place to place
clan
a group of related families
carbon dating
a scientific method used to determine the age of an artifact
Prehistory
the period of time before written records
Monoarchy
ruled by a king or queen
Dynasty
A series of rulers from the same family
Pharaoh
A king of ancient Egypt, considered a god as well as a political and military leader.
Polytheism
belief in more than one god
Monotheism
Belief in one God
Hieroglyphics
Egyptian writing system
city-state
A city with political and economic control over the surrounding countryside
Cuneiform
the world's first system of writing
Hammurabi
Babylonian king who codified the laws of Sumer and Mesopotamia (died 1750 BC)
Hammurabi's Code
first written code/set of laws that all were expected to obey.
Gilgamesh
A legendary figure in Sumerian literature
Israelites
Descendants of Abraham who left Mesopotamia and settled in Canaan
Abraham
Founder of Judaism
Exodus
a large-scale departure or flight
Diaspora
the dispersion of the Jews outside Israel
Mesopotamia
Land between two rivers
Nile River
The river in which early kingdoms in Egypt were centered around.
Aryans
immigrants who arrived at the Ganges river valley by the year 1000 BC
Fertile Crescent
an area of rich farmland in Southwest Asia where the first civilizations began
Torah
First five books of the Hebrew Bible
Enlightenment
The Goal of believers in the Buddhist religion
Buddhism
A religion based on the teachings of the Buddha.
Ten Commandments
ten laws and teachings said to have been given to Moses by God
Siddhatha Gautama
Founder of Buddhism
Hinduism
A religion native to India, featuring belief in many gods and reincarnation
Reincarnation
The rebirth of a soul in a new body
agriculture
farming
civilization
A complex, highly organized social order
Karma
(Hinduism and Buddhism) the effects of a person's actions that determine his destiny in his next incarnation
Missionary
A person who spreads his or her religious beliefs to others
Vedas and Upanishads
Sacred writings of Hinduism
Old Stone Age
Paleolithic Age
New Stone Age
Neolithic Age
irrigation
Supplying land with water through a network of canals
Ziggurat
A pyramid shaped temple tower
pyramid
Huge, triangular shaped burial tombs of Egyptian pharaohs built during the Old Kingdom
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