Amulet

Small charm meant to protect the bearer from evil. Found frequently in archaeological excavations in Mesopotamia and Egypt, amulets reflect the religious practices of the common people.
The survival of many amulets and representations of a host of demons suggest widespread belief in magic—the use of special words and rituals to manipulate the forces of nature.
by HistoryNerd94 December 24, 2010
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Treaty of Tordesillas

Treaty negotiated by the pope in 1494 to resolve the territorial claims of Spain and Portugal.
The Portuguese colonized Brazil under the terms of the Treaty of Tordesillas, a 1494 agreement dividing the Americas between Spain and Portugal.
by HistoryNerd94 January 06, 2012
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Cuneiform

A system of writing in which wedge-shape symbols represented words or syllables. It originated in Mesopotamia and was used initially for Sumerian and Akkadian but later was adapted to represent other languages of western Asia. Because so many symbols had to be learned, literacy was confined to a relatively small group of administrators and scribes.
Because the reed made wedge-shaped impressions, the early pictures, which were more or less realistic, evolved into stylized combinations of strokes and wedges, a system known as cuneiform writing.
by HistoryNerd94 December 25, 2010
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Feudalism

A medieval European social system in which land was divided into hundreds of small holdings.
Europe was characterized by a social system historians have called feudalism.
by HistoryNerd94 December 27, 2011
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Semitic

Family of related languages long spoken across part of western Asia and northern Africa. In antiquity these languages included Hebrew, Aramaic, and Phoenician. The most wide–spread modern member of the Semitic family is Arabic.
As early as 2900 B.C.E., personal names recorded in inscriptions from the northerly cities reveal a non-Sumerian Semitic language.
by HistoryNerd94 December 16, 2010
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Culture

Socially transmitted patterns of action and expression. Material culture refers to physical objects, such as dwellings, clothing, tools, and crafts. Culture also includes arts, beliefs, knowledge, and technology.
Learned patterns of action and expression constitute culture.
by HistoryNerd94 September 27, 2010
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