Cuneiform

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

Holocene

The geological era since the end of the Great Ice Age about 11,000 years ago.

Most researchers today, however, believe that climate change drove people to abandon hunting and gathering in favor of pastoralism and agriculture. So great was the global warming that ended the last Ice Age that geologists gave the era since about 9000 B.C.E. a new name: the Holocene.

by HistoryNerd94 November 15, 2010

Pharaoh

The central figure in the ancient Egyptian state. Believed to be an earthly manifestation of the gods, he used his absolute power to maintain the safety and prosperity of Egypt.

The Egyptian state centered on the king, often known by the New Kingdom term pharaoh, from an Egyptian phrase meaning "palace."

by HistoryNerd94 December 26, 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 08, 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

Culture

Socially transmitted patterns of action and expression. Material culture refers to physical objects, such as dwellings, clothing, tools, and crafts. Culture also includes arts, beliefs, knowledge, and technology.

Learned patterns of action and expression constitute culture.

by HistoryNerd94 September 27, 2010