Word | Definition |
scribe | a person whose profession was writing down or copying letters, contracts and other documents |
dictator | a ruler who has absolute power and authority |
values | the beliefs or ideals that guide the way people live |
specialize | to be trained to do a particular kind of work |
barter | trade of one kind of product for another without the use of money |
key | a list of map symbols with an explanation of what each symbol stands for |
longitude | the distance east or west of the Prime Meridian expressed in degrees |
society | a group of people bound together by the same culture |
prehistory | the period before events were recorded in writing; the Old and New Stone Ages |
temperate | climate characterized by a lack of extremes in temperature |
senate | the lawmaking body of ancient Rome |
famine | a widespread lack of food resulting in hunger and starvation |
custom | a social habit or way of living in a group |
silt | bits of black soil, sand and clay laid down by flowing water |
history | the record of what has happened in the past |
geography | the study of the Earth and everything on it |
tributary | a small river or stream that flows into a large river |
atlas | the resource you would use to look for political boundaries of a country |
technology | the use of tools and skills that serve human needs |
monotheism | the belief in one god |
dynasty | a line of rulers who belong to the same family and pass control from one generation to the next |
arable | land fit for cultivation and the growth of crops, resulting in a surplus |
altitude | elevation |
climate | pattern of weather that an area has had over a long period of time |
arid | receiving little rainfall; dry |
almanac | a resource used to find out the facts of a country |
environment | the surroundings of a place |
pilgrimage | a journey taken for religious purposes |
secondary source | a textbook |
culture | the ways that groups of people live, think, believe and feel |
architecture | the science of building |
surplus | an extra supply of something |
drought | a long period of dry weather |
domesticate | to tame animals in order to make them useful to people |
polytheism | the belief in more than one god |
government | the established form of ruling a place |
archaeology | the study of the remains of past cultures |
religion | the way people worship the god(s) in whom they believe |
assembly | the basic lawmaking body in a democracy, made up of a group of citizens |
legacy | the traditions and knowledge of a culture that have been passed down to people today |
latitude | the distance north or south of the Equator, expressed in degrees |
polar | the climate of the earth's polar regions |
tyranny | a type of government in which all power is held in the hands of one ruler, usually a military leader |
symbol | anything that stands for something else, such as a blue line that stands for a highway on a map |
secondary source | a written record of the past, such as a book by a historian, based on information from a primary source |
republic | a government in which the citizens have the right to choose their leaders |
hemisphere | one of the halves of the earth |
scale | relative size as shown on a map, such as 1 inch = 100 miles |
myth | a story about the gods and goddesses of a particular people |