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worldhistory Ch 3
Mesopotamia
Term | Definition |
---|---|
Mesopotamia | The region where the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow |
Floodplain | the flat land bordering the banks |
silt | the fine soil deposited by rivers |
semiarid | climate with less than 10 inches of rain a year and hot summers |
drought | a period when not enough rain and snow fall |
Surplus | more supplies than they needed for themselves |
Mouth | the part of a river that empties into a larger body of water |
city-state | A community that includes a city and its nearby farmlands |
ziggurat | a temple that is also the city hall ran by priests and serves as storehouse for grain |
polytheism | A belief in many gods and goddesses |
irrigation | farmers’ system of canals for watering crop fields |
king | the highest-ranked leader of a group of people |
reed | the hollow stem of a tall grass |
bronze | a mixture of copper and tin |
pictographs | Such symbols known “picture writing.” |
stylus | sharpened reed used to press markings into a clay tablet |
scribes | The people who specialized in writing |
cuneiform | wedge-shaped writing that used symbols made entirely of wedge shapes on clay tablets |