Vocabulary Terms

Fertile Crescent - crescent shaped region containing the comparatively moist and fertile land of otherwise arid and semi-arid Western Asia, and the Nile Valley and Nile Delta of northeast Africa.

Mesopotamia - An ancient region of southwest Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in modern-day Iraq. Probably settled before 5000 b.c.

City-State - a state that has its own government and consists of a city and the area around it

Dynasty - a family of rulers who rule over a country for a long period of time; also : the period of time when a particular dynasty is in power

Cultural Diffusion - The transmission of elements or features of one culture to another.

Polytheism - the belief in or worship of more than one god.

Empire - an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority, formerly especially an emperor or empress.

Hammurabi - Died 1750 b.c. Babylonian king (1792-1750) who made Babylon the chief Mesopotamian kingdom and codified the laws of Mesopotamia and Sumeria.