Glossary for Mesopotamia text

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Glossary

Akkad: the northern part of the southern Tigirs-Euphrates valley.

Akkadian: the Semitic language, spoken in Mesopotamia from the 1st to 3d millennium B.C.E.

Aramaic: A later language that replaced Akkadian around 539 B.C.E.

Babylon: a provincial capital in the 3d Dynasty of Ur, it later became the capital of southern Mesopotamia under the rule of Hammurabi.

Babylonia: southern Mesopotamia.

Cuneiform: The written language of Mesopotamia and surrounding regions. It was written with a stylus into soft clay.

Euphrates: One of the two major rivers that forms the "cradle of civilization."

Hammurabi: ruler of Sumer (1792-1750 B.C.E.)

Nippur: a city on the east bank of the Euprates. It was one of the most important religious centers of Sumer.

Philadephia Tablet: This tablet is dated to the Uruk iii period (3100 2900 B.C.E.) and represents a land transaction.

School tablet: a tablet used to teach a student cuneiform from the Babylonian city of Nippur. It dates to the Hammurabi Dynasty (circa 1900-1600 B.C.E.).

Scribe: literally, one who writes. Scibes were the record keepers of Babylonian society.

Sumer: The southern part of the Tigris-Euphrates valley. The sumerians were rivals of the Semites farther north (later called akkadians).

Sumerian: The language of the sumerian people of lower Tigris-Euphrates valley. It became the standard language of Babylonia.

Tigris: One of the two major rivers that forms the "cradle of civilization."

UPM: The University of Pennsylvania Museum. UPM has one of the world's great collections of archaeological artifacts, and their excellent website is linked above.

Ur: an important sumerian city around 3500 B.C.E. At the time, it was near the coast of the persian gulf which extended inland from its current position.