Most of the Vocab Words

Chapter 2
• Polytheistic – belief in many gods
• Ziggurat – massive stepped tower
• Theocracy – government by divine authority
• Cuneiform – wedge-shaped system of writing
• Empire – large political unit or state usually under a single leader
• Dynasty – family of rulers whose right to rule is passed within the family
• Mummification – process of slowly drying a dead body to prevent it from rotting
• Hieroglyphics – complex system of writing that used both pictures and more abstract forms
• Monotheistic – believing in one God
• Satrap – a governor that ruled each province

Chapter 3
• Sanskrit – Indo-European language
• Varnas – social groups that ranked people from high to low
• Caste – a social group defined by occupation and family lineage
• Dharma – divine law
• Nirvana – ultimate reality
• Pilgrims – people who travel to religious places
• Pictographs – picture symbols, or characters, which represent an object
• Ideographs – characters that combine two or more pictographs to represent an idea

Chapter 4
• Epic poem – long poem that tells the deeds of a great hero
• Hoplites – heavily armed infantry soldiers, or foot soldiers
• Democracy – government by the people or rule of the many
• Oligarchy – rule by the few
• Oracle – sacred shrine where a god or goddess revealed the future through a priest or priestess
• Philosophy – organized system of thought

Chapter 5
• Republic – leader is not a monarch and some citizens have the right to vote
• Patricians – wealthy landowners who became Rome’s ruling class
• Triumvirate – government by three people with equal power
• Dictator – absolute ruler
• Imperator – commander in chief
• Paterfamilias – family headed by the dominant male
• Insulae – apartment blocks where the poor lived
• Procurator – an official in charge of a province
• Clergy – church leaders
• Iaity – regular church members
• Plague – epidemic disease

Chapter 6
• Allah – surpreme god
• Quran – holy book
• Shari’ah – set of practical laws to regulate their daily lives
• Caliph – religious and political successor to Muhammad
• Jihad – fair, defensive warfare
• Shia – group that only accepts the descendants of Ali as the true rulers of Islam
• Sunni – accepts only the descendants of the Umayyads as the true rulers of Islam
• Sultan – holder of power
• Mosque – muslim houses of worship
• Bazaar – covered markert
• Dowry – gift of money or property