Terms for Historians
The study of how everything around us came to be
What is history?
A wanderer. People lived as this during prehistoric times because they were always looking for animals to hunt or grass to feed their flocks.
What is a nomad?
Naomi was from this city. She returned to this city with Ruth after the deaths of her husband and sons. This city has a Christmas connection.
What is Bethlehem?
Huge towers with stepped sides. They get smaller as they go up. Long ramps wind around their outsides, leading up to temples at the top. There was a giant one in Ur.
What are ziggurats?
He was a shepherd who became the king of Israel.
Who is David?
The title of the King of Egypt
What is the pharaoh?
There was no paper or ink, so ancient writers used a reed as a stylus (writing tool) to write this wedge shaped script into clay bricks or tablets. The brick was then fired to make it hard.
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What is cuneiform?
This is one of the oldest civilizations. It sprang up around the Nile River.
What is the Egyptian civilization?
Manmade objects left over from the distant past
What are artifacts?
A group of civilized people who share the same homeland, the same stories, the same laws, and the same way of life.
What is a civilization?
This sea is a long arm of water that reaches up between Africa and Arabia. God parted this sea, and the Jews crossed over on dry land.
What is the Red Sea?
Means "land between the rivers". It was the ancient land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
What is Mesopotamia?
God spoke to him through a burning bush. He led God's people out of Egypt.
Who is Moses?
In ancient Egypt, a dead body that was carefully preserved.
What is a mummy?
The oldest known poem
What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?
Western river of ancient Mesopotamia. It is the longer of the two.
What is the Euphrates River?
The study of ancient history
What is archaeology?
Ancient farmers used this simple machine to fill ditches with water for their crops.
What is a shadoof?
In ancient times, it was land that formed a crescent (curved) shape and had soil that was good for farming. The lands surrounding it were deserts and mountains, which were not good for farming.
What is the Fertile Crescent?
An Akkadian ruler who was the first to rule a kingdom big enough to be called an empire
Who is Sargon?
He went to battle with only 300 Israelite soldiers who were armed with trumpets and torches hidden under ceramic pitchers.
Who is Gideon?
A sealed case where the Egyptians placed a mummy
What is a sarcophagus?
A set of characters used for writing
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What is a script?
The Harappan civilization was a civilization almost as old as Egypt and Mesopotamia. It existed along this river that flows through India and Pakistan.
What is the Indus River?
The most commonly found type of artifact
What is pottery?
A little kingdom like a country that grew up around a city.
What is a city-state?
Ancient city-state in Mesopotamia located on the Euphrates River. It was the homeplace of Abraham.
What is Ur?
The oldest civilization in Mesopotamia.
What is the Sumerian civilization?
She was a prophet and also a brave judge of Israel.
Who is Deborah?
This is the biggest pyramid of all. It is 450 feet tall, and it still stands.
What is the Pyramid of Khufu, aka the Great Pyramid of Giza?
A short, hard rod with a unique design carved into it. It was rolled across wet clay to leave a perfect copy of the design. These were used like signatures. A king might use his to sign new laws. He might carry it in his pocket or wear it as jewelry.
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What is a cylinder seal?
Eastern river of ancient Mesopotamia. It is the shorter of the two.
What is the Tigris River?
The time period between the creation of the world up until the time of Jesus / the Fall of Rome (AD 476). It is before the Middle Ages.
What is the ancient era?
A big kingdom or group of kingdoms that are all ruled by one monarch called an emperor. Sargon was the first to establish one.
What is an empire?
This is the name of the valley where the tomb of King Tut was found.
What is the Valley of Kings?
The most complete set of ancient laws. Copies of it were placed all around the empire, including one on a monument. The strict laws were written by a king during the First Babylonian Dynasty.
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What is the Code of Hammurabi?
At a young age, he heard the Lord speak to him in the night. He answered, "Speak, Lord. Your servant is listening."
Who is Samuel?
The first type of Egyptian pyramids. They were flat-topped.
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What are mastabas?
An old story that tries to explain how things came to be the way they are
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What is a myth?
Fine soil that is carried along with running water. It covered the Nile Valley every year as a result of the yearly floods. It gave the Nile Valley the best farmland in the world.
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What is silt?