Vocab 1
Barren
Land to poor to grow much or any vegetation
Tributary
A river or stream that flows to a larger body of water
Nomad
A person who moves from place to place
Abundant
Available in large quantities, plentiful
Refine
To remove impurities and improve
Arid
Very dry with extremely high daytime temperatures
Desertification
Gradual transition from fertile to less productive land
Reliable
Dependable
Alluvial plain
Flat area located next to a stream or river that floods
Nonrenewable
A resource that cannot be reproduced quickly enough to keep pace with its use
Silt
Fine particles of soil
Irrigation
Process of redirecting water to crops using channels and ditches
Petroleum
Unrefined oil
Cultural hearth
Center of civilization from which ideas and technology spread to other cultures
Agricultural Revolution
A period in which humans began to grow crops instead of gathering plants
Domesticate
To keep and use animals as a source of labor and food
City-states
Independent political units
Cuneiform
Earliest known form of writing
Floodplain
Low-lying land next to rivers formed by sediment deposited by flowing water
Hydroelectric power
A form of energy created using flowing water
Regulate
To control
Hieroglyphics
An ancient system of writing that uses pictures and symbols
Dynasty
A series of rulers in the same family
Pyrimids
A stone monument built as a tomb in ancient Eygpt
Pharaohs
A king in ancient Eygpt