Unit 1 Terms and Topics 1) River Valley Civilizations - civilization situated beside and drawing sustenance from a river. A river gives the inhabitants a reliable source of water for drinking and agriculture. Additional benefits include fishing, fertile soil due to annual flooding, and ease of transportation. The first great civilizations all grew up in river valleys. (ex: Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and Indus Valley)   2) Polytheistic- religious system honoring multiple (poly) Gods (ex: Babylonians) 3) Monotheistic- religious system worshipping one (mono) God (ex: Christianity) 4) Theocracy- civilization whose political and cultural structure is controlled by religion (ex: ancient Egypt)

Unit 1 Terms and Topics 5) Pictographic Writing- writing system in which pictures or images express words or ideas (ex: Hieroglyphics in Egypt or Cuneiform in Mesopotamia)   6) Phonetic Languages- writing system in which spoken sounds are expressed as letters (ex: Phoenician alphabet and modern English alphabet) 7) Pharaoh- ruler of Egyptian society and honored as living God 8) Code of Hammurabi –brutal but effective code of law established by Babylonian king Hammurabi; this universal code of law helped Hammurabi establish the world’s 1st empire