Irrigation - method of bringing water to a field from another place to water crops

Sabbath – weekly day of worship and rest for Jews (Saturday)

Ten Commandments – laws given to Moses by God; part of the Torah

Rabbi – Jewish leader and teacher of the Torah

Covenant – agreement

Subcontinent – large landmass that is part of a continent but distinct from it

Sanskrit – written language developed by the Aryans

Caste – social group a person is born into and cannot change

Hinduism – system of religion that grew out of the religion of the Aryans in ancient India

Aristocrat – noble whose wealth came from land ownership

Pictograph – a character that stands for an object

Ideograph – a character that joins two or more pictographs to represent an idea

Bureaucracy – a group of appointed officials who are responsible for different areas of government

Agora- an open area that served as both a market and a meeting place

Direct Democracy-Athens government, government by the people, citizens share in running the government, each citizen has 1 vote

Representative Democracy-USA system of government, where citizens choose a smaller group to make laws and decisions for them

Myth - story describing gods, heroes, or natural events

patrician- wealthy landowner and member of the ruling class in ancient Rome

plebeian- member of the common people of ancient Rome

consul- one of the two top government officials in ancient Rome

veto- to reject

Gospel-(“good news”) one of the four accounts of Jesus’ life, teachings, and resurrection

Pope-the bishop of Rome, later the head of the Roman Catholic Church

Monastery-religious community where monks live and work

Missionary-person who travels to carry the ideas of a religion to others

oasis- green area in a desert fed by underground water. 

Quran- holy book of Islam. 

mosque- Muslim house of worship. 

bazaar- marketplace. 

shrine - holy place

samurai - class of warriors in feudal Japan who pledged loyalty to a noble in return for land

shogun - military general over a large area of feudal Japan

daimyo - powerful military lord over small territories in feudal Japan

feudalism- political system based on bonds of loyalty between lords & vassals

vassal- in feudalism, a noble who held land from & served a higher-ranking lord, and in return was given protection

fief- under feudalism, the land a lord granted to a vassal in exchange for military service & loyalty

knight- in the Middle Ages, a noble warrior who fought on horseback