1. Region containing the comparatively moist land of otherwise arid SW Asia (Middle East)

2. Fertile Crescent

3. Name given to the geographic area (not civilization) between the Tigris and the Euphrates

4. Mesopotamia

5. Oldest civilization to emerge in Mesopotamia

6. Sumer

7. a system in which people are ranked one above the other according to status.

8. Hierarchy

9. a stepped tower, sometimes topped by a temple

10. Ziggurat

11.  wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia

12. Cuneiform

13. Sumerian king most known for creating a written law code

14. Hammurabi

15. Two types of rules imposed by the government, one which covers major transgressions like theft, the other which covers other aspects of legal life such as marriage and contracts

16. Civil & Criminal law

17. An area with fertile soil, created by river floods

18. Delta

19. a sequence of rulers from the same family

20. Dynasty

21. Division within a government designed to focus on one aspect of a states needs, usually controlled by the larger system of government (ex. Department of Education)

22. Bureaucracy

23. a region and cultural area in the Americas, extending approximately from central Mexico to Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras

24. Mesoamerica

25. Capital of the Aztec Empire, built upon a lake in Central Mexico

26. Tenochtitlan

27. method of agriculture which uses willows and mats to grow crops in shallow lake beds

28. Chinampas

29. goods or taxes paid to a controlling power as a sign of subjugation

30. Tribute

31. Title given to the leader of the Incan Empire

32. Sapa Inca