historynerd94's definitions
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
Get the Cuneiformmug. 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
Get the Civilizationmug. by HistoryNerd94 December 27, 2011
Get the Feudalismmug. 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
Get the Semiticmug. The period of the Stone Age associated with the ancient Agricultural Revolution(s). It follows the Paleolithic period.
The Neolithic (New Stone Age), which is associated with the origins of agriculture, followed the Paleolithic.
by HistoryNerd94 November 7, 2010
Get the Neolithicmug. 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
Get the Babylonmug. (Ancient) The change from food gathering to food production that occured between ca. 8000 and 2000 B.C.E. Also known as the Neolithic Revolution.
The term Agricultural Revolutions is more precise because it emphasizes the central role of food production and signals that the changeover occured several times.
by HistoryNerd94 November 12, 2010
Get the Agricultural Revolutionsmug.