Pharaoh: The most common of the various titles for ancient Egyptian monarchs; the term originally

meant "great house" or "palace".

Monotheistic: Having one god.

Artisan: A skilled craftperson who makes products such as weapons and jewelry..

Feudal System: A form of government in which power is shared between the national government ans
state governments.

Cuneiform: "wedge-shaped", a system of writing developed by the Sumerians using a reed stylus to
create wedge-shaped impressions on a clay tablet.

Empire: A large political unit, usually under a single leader that controls many peoples or territories.

Pre-history: The period before writing was developed.

Artifact: A person who precties self-denial to achieve an undertanding of ultimate reality.

Nomad: A person who moves from places to place.

Civilization: A Complex culture in which large numbers of people share a number of commun elements
such as social structure, religion, and art.

Dynasty: A family of rules whose right to rule is passed on within the family.

Regime: The government in power.

Theogracy: Government by divine authority.

Mandate of Heaven: Claim by Chinese kings of Zhou dynasty that they had direct authority from heaven
to rule and to keep order in the universe.

Dao: "way", the key to proper behavior under Confucianism.

Filial Piety: The duty of family members to subordinate their needs and desires to those of the male
head of the family, a concept important in Confucianism.

Hinduism: The major Indian religious system, which had it's origins in the religious beliefs of the Aryans
who settled India after 1500B.C.

Karma: In Hinduism, the force generated by a person's actions that determines how the person will be
reborn in the next life.

Reincarnation: The rebirth of an individual's soul in a different form after death.

Hammurabi: Was an important Babylonian king known best for an early law code, that we refer to by his
name. He united Mesopotamia and turned Babylonia into an important power.

Nubia: Is a region along the Nile river, which is located in northern Sudan and southern Egypt.

Animists: Believe that all objects are ensouled, and that some things such as mountains and rivers
actually carry the souls of deities.

Aryan: The Aryan race is a notion historically significant in European culture in the period of the late
nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

Mesopotamia: Tiger River and Euphrates river. Mesopotamia was an ancient region that existed
primarily in what is now Iraq, and it is recognized for its role in the development of the first literate
societies.

Persia: Persia describes the modern region of Iran. It was named after a province in southwestern Iran,
which is now called Fars, but was then called Pars.

Hierarchy: is an organizational structure in which items are ranked according to levels of importance.
Most governments, corporations and organized religions are hierarchical.

Hunter Gatherers: Hunter-gatherers are/were a group of people who went hunting and gathering for
survival weapons, food, items, etc. They hunt and gather in small groups and move from place to place
with all the animals.