Hunting and Gathering

• Unified all of Mesopotamia circa 1800 B.C.E.; collapsed due to foreign invasion circa 1600 B.C.E.
• Means of obtaining subsistence by humans before the mastery of sedentary agriculture; normally typical of tribal social organization
• Early urban culture based on sedentary agriculture; located in modern southern Turkey; larger in population than Jericho, had greater degree of social stratification
• Massive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple connections

Civilization

• The New Stone Age between 8000 and 5000 B.C.E.; period in which adaptation of sedentary agriculture occurred; domestication of plants and animals accomplished
• Combination of ideas, objects, and patterns of behavior that result from human social interaction
• Societies with reliance on sedentary agriculture, ability to produce food surpluses, and existence of nonfarming elites, along with merchant and manufacturing groups
• From 4000 to 3000 B.C.E.; increased use of plow, metalworking; development of wheeled vehicles, writing

Nomads

• Indo-European nomadic, warlike, pastorialists who replaced Harappan civilization
• Pictograph characters grouped together to create new concepts; typical of Chinese writing
• Seafaring civilization located on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean; established colonies throughout the Mediterranean
• Cattle- and sheep-herding societies normally found on the fringes of civilized societies; commonly referred to as "barbarian" by civilized societies

Pastoralism

• People who migrated into Mesopotamia circa 4000 B.C.E.; created the first civilization within the region; organized area into city-states
• A system of inequality organized around gender categories that privileges males
• Massive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple connections
• A nomadic agricultural lifestyle based on herding domesticated animals; tended to produce independent people capable of challenging sedentary agricultural societies

Mesopotamia

• Means of obtaining subsistence by humans before the mastery of sedentary agriculture; normally typical of tribal social organization
• Societies with reliance on sedentary agriculture, ability to produce food surpluses, and existence of nonfarming elites, along with merchant and manufacturing groups
• Literally "between the rivers"; the civilization that arose in the alluvial plain of the Tigris-Euphrates river valleys
• The term used to denote the kings of ancient Egypt; the term, "great house" refers to the palace of the pharaohs

Monotheism

• Massive towers usually associated with Mesopotamian temple connections
• Form of writing developed in ancient Egypt; more pictorial than Mesopotamian cuneiform
• Unified all of Mesopotamia circa 1800 B.C.E.; collapsed due to foreign invasion circa 1600 B.C.E.
• The exclusive worship of one god; introduced by Jews into Middle Eastern civilization

Aryans

• African state that developed along the upper reaches of the Nile circa 1000 B.C.E.; conquered Egypt and ruled it for several centuries
• Indo-European nomadic, warlike, pastorialists who replaced Harappan civilization
• From 4000 to 3000 B.C.E.; increased use of plow, metalworking; development of wheeled vehicles, writing
• Pictograph characters grouped together to create new concepts; typical of Chinese writing

Huanghe (Yellow) River Basin

• Site of the development of sedentary agriculture in China
• Major urban complexes of Harappan civilization; laid out on planned grid pattern
• Global conversion to agriculture over hunter-gatherer lifestyles
• Means of obtaining subsistence by humans before the mastery of sedentary agriculture; normally typical of tribal social organization

Eglitarian

• Literally "between the rivers"; the civilization that arose in the alluvial plain of the Tigris-Euphrates river valleys
• Believing in the equality of all peoples
• Shamans or priests in Chinese society who foretold the future through interpreting animal bones cracked by heat; inscriptions on bones led to Chinese writing
• The term used to denote the kings of ancient Egypt; the term, "great house" refers to the palace of the pharaohs

Neolithic Revolution

• Shamans or priests in Chinese society who foretold the future through interpreting animal bones cracked by heat; inscriptions on bones led to Chinese writing
• The most important Babylonian ruler; responsible for codification of the law
• Seafaring civilization located on the shores of the eastern Mediterranean; established colonies throughout the Mediterranean
• Global conversion to agriculture over hunter-gatherer lifestyles