| Person/ place or thing | definition |
| Tiglath-pileser III | began Assyria drive to build a world empire |
| Shalmaneser V | Assyrian king who deported ten tribes of Northern Kingdom of Israel |
| Ashurbanipal | last great Assyrian king; collected a library of about 100,000 cuneiform clay tablets |
| Jonah | Jewish prophet who warned Nineveh of God's coming judgment |
| Sennacherib | Assyrian king who died after mocking the God of Israel |
| King Nabopolassar | King of Babylon who formed an alliance with Medes and Scythians; established Chaldean empire |
| Nebuchadnezzar | king of Babylon who conquered western part of Fertile Crescent, destroyed Jerusalem, and carried inhabitants of Judah into captivity |
| Daniel | Jewish captive who became chief adviser to Nebuchadnezzar
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| Nabonidus | Nebuchadnezzar's son;last Chaldean king |
| Belshazzar | Nabonidus's son; handled actual business of gobernment; witnessed handwriting on the wall. |
| Cyrus the Great | Oersian king who rose to power after uniting Persians and leading them to victory over Medes; permitted Jews to return to Judah |
| Darius | Persian king who made the middle east more prosperous than ever |
| Nineveh | replaced Assur as capital of Assyrian Empire |
| "Hanging Gardens" | structure of receding terraces supported by arches and columns and filled with flowers and trees; buit by Nebuchadnezzer for his wife |
| "Royal road" | great "highway" of Persian empire |
