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Fertile Crescent
an area of rich farmland in Southwest Asia where the first civilizations first began
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Silt
A mixture of fertile soil and tiny rocks that make land ideal for farming
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Irrigation
a way of supplying water to an area of land
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Canals
a human made waterway
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Surplus
More of something than is needed
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Division of Labor
an arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular task or job
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City-state
a political unit consisting of a city and its surrounding countryside
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Gilgamesh
King of Uruk, a city-state in Sumer, he became a legendary figure in Sumerian literature
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Sargon
King of Akkad, a land north of Sumer, he built the world's first empire after defeating Sumer and northern Mesopotamia
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Empire
a land with different territories and peoples under a single rule
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Polytheism
the worship of many gods
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Priests
a person who performs religious ceremonies
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Social Hierarchy
the division of society by rank or class
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Cuneiform
the world's first system of writing; developed in Sumer
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Pictographs
a picture symbol
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Epics
long poems that tell the stories of heroes
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architecture
the science of building
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ziggurat
a pyramid-shaped temple in Sumer
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monarch
a ruler of a kingdom or empire
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Hammurabi's Code
a set of 282 laws governing daily life in Babylon; the earliest known collection of written laws
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chariot
a wheeled, horse-drawn cart used in battle
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Nebuchadnezzar
ruled 605-561 BC; Chaldean king, he rebuilt Babylon into a beautiful city which featured the famed hanging gardens
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alphabet
a set of letters that can be combined to form words
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