Definition of Terms Essay

A pre-Socratic Greek materialist philosopher. Democritus was a student of Leucippus and co-originator of the belief that completely matter is made up of various imperishable, indivisible elements which he called atoma or indivisible units, from which we get the English contrive atom. Mesopotamia A cradle of civilization geographically located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq. Sumer in southern Mesopotamia is commonly regarded as the worlds earliest civilization.Cities in Mesopotamia after-hoursr served as capitals of the Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Mitanni, Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, Parthian, Sassanid and Abbasid empires. Idea A concept or abstraction formed and existing in the mind. Human capability to contemplate ideas is associated with the ability of reasoning, self-reflection, and the ability to acquire and drill intellect. Further, ideas give rise to actual concepts, or mind generalizations, which are the basis for an y kind of knowl pass on whether science or philosophy. HumbabaA monstrous heavyweight of immemorial age raised by Utu, the Sun. Humbaba orHuwawa was also the guardian of the Cedar Forest where the gods lived. Anubis The Greek severalise for the past jackal-headed god of the dead in Egyptian mythology whose hieroglyphic version is more accurately spelled Anpu. He is also known as Sekhem Em Pet. Prayers to Anubis have been found carved on the most ancient tombs in Egypt indeed, the Unas text (line 70) associates him with the Eye of Horus. He serves as both a guide of the recently departed and a guardian of the dead.Kumarbi Kumarbi bit off the genital organ of Anu and spat out three new gods. This is connect in the Hittite myth Kingship in Heaven Alalu was overthrown by Anu who was in turn overthrown by Kumarbi. When Anu tried to escape Kumarbi bites off his genitals. Anu tells his son that he is now pregnant with the Teshub, Tigris and Tasmisu. Upon hearing this Kumarbi spit the semen upon the ground and it became impregnated with two children. Kumarbi becomes pregnant and is cut open to salvage Tesub. Together, Anu and Teshub depose Kumarbi TammuzTammuz was established in honor of the eponymous god Tammuz, who originated as a Sumerian shepherd-god, Dumuzid or Dumuzi, the consort of Inanna and, in his Akkadian form, the parallel consort of Ishtar. The Syrian Adonis (lord), who was drawn into the Greek pantheon, is another counterpart of Tammuz,son and consort. The Aramaic name Tammuz seems to have been derived from the Akkadian form Tammuzi, based on early Sumerian Damu-zid. Oligarchy A form of government where political power effectively rests with a smaller elite segment of society (whether distinguished by wealth, family or military machine powers).The word oligarchy is from the Greek words for few. Aton Aton was the focus of Akhenatens religion, but viewing Aton as Akhenatens god is a simplification. Aton is the name given to represent the solar dis c. The term Aton was use to designate a disc, and since the sun was a disc, gradually became associated with solar deities. Aton expresses in extendly the life-giving force of light. Babylon A city of ancient Mesopotamia, the ruins of which atomic number 50 be found in present-day Al Hillah, Babil Province, Iraq, about 85 kilometers (55 mi) south of Baghdad.It was the holy city of Babylonia from around 2300 BC, and the seat of the Neo-Babylonian Empire from 612 BC. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon was wholeness of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Iliad The poem concerns events during the tenth and final year in the siege of the city of troy weight, or Troy, by the Greeks (See Trojan War). The word Iliad means pertaining to Ilion (in Latin, Ilium), the city proper, as opposed to Troy (in Greek, , Troia in Latin, Troia), the state centered around Ilium, over which Priam reigned.The names Ilium and Troy are often used interchangeably. Hyksos An Asiatic people who invaded th e eastern Nile Delta, initiating the Second Intermediate Period of Ancient Egypt. They rose to power in the 17th century BC, (according to the traditional chronology) and ruled inflict and Middle Egypt for 108 years, forming the Fifteenth and possibly the Sixteenth Dynasties of Egypt, (c. 16481540 BC). 1 This 108-year period follows the Turin Canon, which gives the six kings of the Hyksos 15th Dynasty a total reign length of 108 years. 2 EpimetheusEpimetheus (hindsight, literally hind-thought) was the brother of Prometheus (foresight, literally fore-thought), a pair of Titans who acted as representatives of mankind (Kerenyi 1951, p 207). They were the inseparable sons of Iapetus, who in other contexts was the father of Atlas. While Prometheus is characterized as ingenious and clever, Epimetheus is depicted as foolish. Attica A periphery (subdivision) in Greece, containing Athens, the capital of Greece. Attica is subdivided into the prefectures of Athens, Piraeus, East Attica and We st Attica. EnkiA deity in Sumerian mythology, later known as Ea in Babylonian mythology, primarily chief god of the city of Eridu. He was the deity of crafts . The exact meaning of his name is uncertain the common translation is Lord of the background the Sumerian en is translated as a title equivalent to lord Nebuchadnezzar II A ruler of Babylon in the Chaldean Dynasty, who reigned c. 605 BC-562 BC. He is famous for his monumental building indoors his capital of Babylon, his role in the Book of Daniel, and his construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and known among Christians and Jews for his conquests of Judah and Jerusalem.Ionians One of the four main ancient Greek phyla or tribes, linked by their use of the Ionic dialect of the Greek language whose settlements were located principally on the Islands between Greece and Anatoliabut whose peoples settled on both coasts as fountainhead (giving rise to the eponymously named region of Ionia), which migrations includes only t he southern areas of the Greek mainland including Athens. Akhenaten Meaning Effective spirit of Aten, first known as Amenhotep IV (sometimes read as Amenophis IV and meaning Amun is Satisfied) before his first year, was a Pharaoh of the Eighteenth dynasty of Egypt.He is especially noted for attempting to compel the Egyptian population in the monotheistic worship of Aten, although at that place are doubts as to how successful he was at this. Inanna The goddess of love and war, if Inanna wasnt strapping on her battle sandals,she was seen swaggering around the streets of her home town, dragging childly men out of the taverns to have sex with her. Despite her association with mating and fertility of humans and animals, Inanna was not a mother goddess, and is rarely associated with childbirth. Inanna was also associated with fall and storms and with the planet Venus..Boundless It is symbolized by the infinity sign which is like an inverted number 8. Ii manifests the eternal powers of a god-king which is limitless. Annunaki A group of Sumerian and Akkadian deities related to, and in some cases overlapping with, the Annuna (the Fifty Great Gods) and the Igigi (minor gods). The name is variously written da-nuna, da-nuna-ke4-ne, or da-nun-na, meaning some intimacy to the effect of those of royal blood or princely offspring or heaven and earth (Anu-na-ki) The Annunaki appear in the Babylonian creation myth, Enuma Elish.Shamash Means sun. Both in early and in late inscriptions Sha-mash is designated as the offspring of Nannar, i. e. of the moon-god, and since, in an enumeration of the pantheon, Sin generally takes precedence of Shamash, it is in relationship, presumably, to the moon-god that the sun-god appears as the dependent power. Academy An institution of higher learning, research, or honorary membership. The name traces back to Platos school of philosophy, founded approximately 385 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, north of Athens.Sp arta A Dorian Greek military city-state, originally centered in Laconia. Sparta emphasized military training, and after achieving notable victories over the Athenian and Persian Empires, regarded itself as the natural protector of Greece. The Kings of Sparta were believed to be the direct descendants of Hercules. Hephaestus The Greek god whose Roman equivalent was Vulcan he was the god of technology, blacksmiths, craftsmen, artisans, sculptors, metals and metallurgy, and fire.He was worshipped in all the manufacturing and industrial centers of Greece, especially Athens place by Greek colonists in southern Italy with the volcano gods Adranus of Mount Etna and Vulcanus of the Lipara islands, and his forge moved here by the poets. Uruk An ancient city of Sumer and later Babylonia, determine east of the present bed of the Euphrates, on the line of the ancient Nil canal, in a region of marshes, some 30 km east of As-Samawah, Al-Muthanna, Iraq. Octavian The name Gaius Octavius. His fat her, of the same name, came from a respectable but undistinguished family of the equestrian order and had been governor of Macedonia.After Octavius birth, his father gave him the cognomen of Thurinus, possibly to commemorate his victory at Thurii over a rebellious band of slaves. Dialectics A controversy, that is, the exchange of arguments and counter-arguments respectively advocating propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses). The outcome of the exercise might not simply be the refutation of 1 of the relevant points of view, but a synthesis or combination of the opposing assertions. Gaea The Greek goddess personifying the Earth. Her Roman equivalent was Terra . derives from the Greek words Ge () = Earth (Pelasgian), and *aia = grandmother (PIE The Republic A Socratic dialogue by Plato, written approximately 360 BC. It is an influential work of philosophy and political theory, and perhaps Platos lift out known work. Minotaur A creature that was part man and part bull. Minotaur is Greek for Bull of Minos. It dwelt at the center of the Labyrinth, which was an elaborate maze-like construction built for King Minos of Crete and designed by the architect Daedalus and his son Icarus who were ordered to build it to hold the Minotaur. The Minotaur was eventually killed by Theseus UtnapishtimIn the eleventh tablet of the Babylonian Epic of Gilgamesh, Utnapishtim the faraway is the advised king of the Sumerian city state of Shuruppak who, along with his unnamed wife, survived a great flood sent by Enlil to drown every living thing on Earth. Kadesh An ancient city of the Levant, located on the Orontes River, probably identical to the remains at Tell Nebi Mend,about 24 km southwest of Hims ,in what is now western Syria . Kadesh is first noted as one of two Canaanite cities (the other being Megiddo) that led a coalition of city-states opposing the conquest of the Levant by Thutmose iiiNeanderthals A species of the Homo genus (Homo neanderthalensis or Homo sapiens neanderthalensis) that inhabited Europe and parts of western Asia. The first proto-Neanderthal traits appeared in Europe as early as 350,000 years ago. Stela A stone or wooden slab, generally taller than it is wide, erected for funerary or commemorative purposes, most usually decorated with the names and titles of the deceased person or livinginscribed, carved in relief (bas-relief, sunken-relief, high-relief, etc), or painted onto the slab. Pandora The first woman, Each god helped create by giving her unique gifts.genus Zeus ordered her creation as a punishment for mankind, in retaliation for Prometheus having stolen fire and then giving it to humans for their use. She is most famous for carrying a stimulate (pithos) (or box) containing all the worlds evils. She releases these evils, but closes the lid before Hope can escape. Knossos The largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete, probably the formal and political center of the Minoan civilization and culture. T he city of Knossos remained important through the Classical and Roman periods kiss of peace RomanaThe latin term for the Roman peace (sometimes Pax Augusta), was the long period of relative peace and minimal expansion by military force experienced by the Roman Empire between 27 BC and 180 AD. Augustus Caesar led Rome into the moderation of Pax Romana, and his successors for the most part imitated his policy. This period ended with the death of Marcus Aurelius, which is considered the start of the decline of the Roman Empire. Xerxes A king of Persia (reigned 485465 BC) of the Achaemenid dynasty. Xerxes ( ) is the Greek form of the Old Persian throne name Xsayarsa, meaning Ruler of heroes.Xerxes was victorious during the initial battles. At the Battle of Thermopylae, a small force of warriors, led by King Leonidas of Sparta, resisted the much larger Persian forces, but were ultimately defeated, after a Greek man called Ephialtes betrayed his country by telling the Persians of another pass around the Hot Gates Mountains to corner them. Thebes A city in Greece, situated to the north of the Cithaeron range, which divides Boeotia from Attica, and on the southern edge of the Boeotian plain. Thebes played an important role in the fabric of Greek myth, being the site of the stories of Cadmus, Oedipus, Dionysus.