20 definitions by HistoryNerd94
In the governments of many ancient societies, a professional position reserved for men who had undergone the lengthy training required to be able to read and write using cuneiform, hieroglyphics, or other early, cumbersome writing systems.
Male domination of the position of scribe—an administration or scholar charged by the temple or palace with reading and writing tasks—further complicates efforts to reconstruct the lives of women.
by HistoryNerd94 December 21, 2010
A system of writing in which wedge-shape symbols represented words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially for Sumerian and Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of western Asia. Because so many symbols had to be learned, literacy was confined to a relatively small group of administrators and scribes.
Because the reed made wedge-shaped impressions, the early pictures, which were more or less realistic, evolved into stylized combinations of strokes and wedges, a system known as cuneiform writing.
by HistoryNerd94 December 25, 2010
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 14, 2010
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 7, 2010
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 23, 2010
A small independent state consisting of an urban center and the surrounding agricultural territory. A characteristic political form in early Mesopotamia, Archaic and Classical Greece, Phoenicia, and early Italy.
The term city-state refers to a self-governing urban center and the agriculture territories it controlled.
by HistoryNerd94 December 17, 2010
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 11, 2010