Mesopotamia Vocabulary

Mesopotamia in ancient times, the geographic area located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In Greek, it means “land between two rivers”

Sumer an area in southern Mesopotamia, where cities first appeared. This is thought of as the first civilization.

Tigris River Euphrates River one of the two largest rivers in Southwest Asia that flow from the mountains in Turkey to the Persian Gulf Euphrates River one of the two largest rivers in Southwest Asia that flow from the mountains in Turkey to the Persian Gulf

City-state an early city that was like a small, independent country with its own laws and government

Levee a wall of earth built to prevent a river from flooding its banks

Silt fine particles of rock that clogged Sumerian irrigation systems

Irrigation a means of supplying land with water

Civilization a society marked by developed arts, sciences, government, and social structure (as well as religion, technology, written language and stable food supply)

Social Structure the way a civilization is organized into social and economic groups

Technology the use of tools and other inventions for practical purposes

Merchant a person who makes money by selling goods

Artisan a worker in a skilled trade, especially one that involves making things by hand

Scribe a person who writes and keeps records

Ziggurat an ancient Mesopotamian temple tower with outside staircases and a shrine at the top

Culture the beliefs and behaviors of a society or group of people

Cuneiform writing system developed in ancient Sumer that uses wedge-shaped characters

Pictograph early Sumerian form of writing where a symbol stands for an object