Archaeology: The study of the material evidence left behind by past cultures.
Barbarian: A negative term used to describe someone as uncivilized.
Barter: Exchange of one item for another.
Chariot: A small and highly mobile open-air wagon drawn by horses.
Commerce: Buying and selling of goods on a large scale.
Communism: A political and economic system in which the government owns virtually all property in the name of the people.
Concentration camp: A camp where political prisoners or prisoners of war are held.
Dictator: A ruler who holds absolute, or complete, power.
Dynasty: A group of people, often but not always a family, who continue to hold a position of power over a period of time.
Economy: The whole system of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services in a country.
Islam: A faith that arose in Arabia in the a. d. 600s, led by the prophet Muhammad (A. D. 570?-632).
Linguist: A scholar who studies the historical development of languages.
Medieval: An adjective describing the Middle Ages.
Middle Ages: The period from the fall of the Roman Empire to the beginning of the Renaissance, roughly a. d. 500-1500.
Muslim: A believer in Islam.
Nomads: Wandering groups of people.
Peasants: A farmer who works a small plot of land.
Peninsula: An area of land that sticks out into a body of water.
Sack (verb): To destroy.
Semitic: A term describing a number of groups in the Middle East, including the modern-day Arabs and Israelis.
Smelting: Refining a metal, such as iron.
Soviet Union: A country that combined Russia and fourteen other nations under a Communist government from the end of World War I to the early 1990s.
Strait: A narrow passage of water.
Sultan: A type of king in the Muslim world.
Systematic: Planned and orderly.
Tumulus: A burial mound.
Usurp: To seize power.
Vassal: A ruler who is subject to another ruler.
Westerner: Someone from a culture or civilization influenced by ancient Greece and Rome.
Map of Asia Minor and the Black Sea Region.
XNR Productions. The Gale Croup.
Egypt and the nations of Mesopotamia, with whom it was often at war. The two greatest achievements of the Hittites were the development of iron smelting and chariot warfare, skills that their enemies adapted and used against them. Their language also provided an important historical link for scholars studying the relation between the peoples of Europe and India. Later came the Phrygians, known for their great wealth; and the Lydians, the first nation to coin money. As for the Cimmerians, Scythians, and Sarmatians of the Ukraine, they were notable not so much for their civilizations as for their conquests. Among the nations they threatened were Urartu and Armenia to the south, civilizations that became heavily involved in the affairs of Mesopotamia, Persia, and even Rome.
World History
