Chapter 5, Lesson 3: The Beginnings of Judaism

1. Judaism – Judaism is the religion of the ancient Hebrews. The
Hebrew Bible (also called The Old Testament) is the record of their
history and their religion.

2. Abraham – Abraham was the first great leader of the Hebrew people.
He had been a shepherd in the Sumerian city-state of Ur when he was
called to lead his people to Canaan.

3. Canaan – Canaan was an area on the western end of the Fertile
Crescent. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Jordan River,
it was the “Promised Land” of the Hebrews.

4. Covenant - Judaism started with a covenant, or special agreement,
between Jehovah and Abraham. It is considered by Hebrews to be the
beginning of their history.

5. Moses – Moses, who had been raised as a prince of Egypt and whose
name means “drawn from the waters,” led the Hebrew slaves out of Egypt
and back to Canaan. He is considered one of the greatest prophets (a
person who speaks for God) of the Hebrew Bible.

6. The Torah – The Torah is made up of the first five books of the
Hebrew Bible. It comes from the Hebrew word “to teach" and was given
to Moses by Jehovah on Mt. Sinai.

7. Monotheism – Monotheism is a belief in only one God. The Hebrews
were monotheistic, which set them apart from every other culture in
the Fertile Crescent.

8. The Ten Commandments – The Ten Commandments are the core of the
Hebrew religion and its teachings. They differ from the Code of
Hammurabi in that they do not list punishments (other than being
separated from God). 

9. The Sabbath – The Sabbath is a day set aside by the Hebrews for
rest, prayer, and study. In the Hebrew week, it started at sundown on
Friday and continued to sundown on Saturday. 

10. The Diaspora – The diaspora occurred when the Hebrews were
scattered to many parts of the world. Even without a homeland, though,
they continued to live by the teachings of the Torah.

Chapter 8, Lesson 1: Geography of Ancient Greece

1. The Aegean Sea – The lands of ancient Greece centered around the
Aegean Sea. Those lands included the Balkan Peninsula, the west coast
of Asia Minor, and more than 400 islands, which acted as
“stepping-stones” across the Aegean as the Greek civilization grew.

2. The Mediterranean Sea – In time, the Greeks would cross this great
sea to trade with Egypt and Phoenicia. It lies south of, but connects
to, the Aegean Sea.

3. Crete and Rhodes – These two islands were the largest of “The
Stepping-stones.” Crete is on the south end of the Aegean; Rhodes lies
off the south coast of Asia Minor. It is on Rhodes that the the giant
statue, the Colossus, was built.

4. Peninsula – A peninsula is an area of land that is surrounded on
three sides by water. The Greek mainland of the Balkan Peninsula is
actually two smaller peninsulas – Attica and the Peloponnesus.

5. Attica – Attica is the narrow, northern half of the Balkan
Peninsula. It lies west to east.

6. Harbor – A harbor is a sheltered place along a coast. The fact that
Attica had numerous harbors was a major reason the Greeks made their
living from the sea.

7. The Peloponnesus – Shaped like a giant “claw” reaching towards the
island of Crete, this is the southern half of the Balkan Peninsula. It
has a small amount of fertile farmland.

8. Triremes – A trireme is a large sea-going vessel that was suited
for crossing deep waters, such as the Mediterranean. They were powered
by several rows of oarsmen and used sails as a back-up source of power.

9. Alphabet – The alphabet was perhaps the greatest technology shared
by the Greeks and the Phoenicians. A set of just 22 symbols, it was
adapted from cuneiform.

10. Colonies – A colony is a group of people who live apart from, but
still have close ties with, their home country. The Greek colony on
the Black Sea provided fish, Cyprus provided timber, and southern
Italy supplied them with cattle.