HistoryNerd94's definitions

Hammurabi

Amorite ruler of Babylon (r. 1792–1750 B.C.E.). He conquered many city-states in southern and northern Mesopotamia and is best known for a code of laws, inscribed on a black stone pillar, illustrating the principles to be used in legal cases.

Toward the end of a long reign, Hammurabi initiated a series of aggressive military campaigns, and Babylon became the capital of what historians have named the "Old Babylonian" state, which eventually stretched beyond Sumer and Akkad into the north and northwest, from 1900 to 1600 B.C.E.

by HistoryNerd94 December 20, 2010

Feudalism

A medieval European social system in which land was divided into hundreds of small holdings.

Europe was characterized by a social system historians have called feudalism.

by HistoryNerd94 December 27, 2011

Babylon

The largest and most important city in Mesopotamia. It achieved particular eminence as the capital of the Amorite King Hammurabi in the eighteenth century B.C.E. and the Neo-Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar in the sixth century B.C.E.

The Babylonian Creation Myth climaxes in a cosmic battle between Marduk, the chief god of Babylon, and the Tiamat, a femal figure who personifies the salt sea.

by HistoryNerd94 December 12, 2010

Civilization

An ambiguous term often used to denote more complex societies but sometimes used by anthropologists to describe any group of people sharing a set of cultural traits.

Scholars agree that political, social, economic, and technological phenomena are indicators of civilization.

by HistoryNerd94 September 26, 2010

Semitic

Family of related languages long spoken across part of western Asia and northern Africa. In antiquity these languages included Hebrew, Aramaic, and Phoenician. The most wide–spread modern member of the Semitic family is Arabic.

As early as 2900 B.C.E., personal names recorded in inscriptions from the northerly cities reveal a non-Sumerian Semitic language.

by HistoryNerd94 December 16, 2010

Foragers

People who support themselves by hunting wild animals and gathering wild edible plants and insects.

Modern foragers in the Kalahari Desert of southern Africa and the Ituri Forest of Central Africa derive the bulk of their day-to-day nourishment from wild vegetable foods.

by HistoryNerd94 November 8, 2010

Amulet

Small charm meant to protect the bearer from evil. Found frequently in archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia and Egypt, amulets reflect the religious practices of the common people.

The survival of many amulets and representations of a host of demons suggest widespread belief in magic—the use of special words and rituals to manipulate the forces of nature.

by HistoryNerd94 December 24, 2010