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Ancient Mesopotamia

Ancient Mesopotamia . Duncan Winburn 9/30/2011. Vocabulary. Fertile Crescent – a piece of fertile land shaped like a crescent. It was fertile because of the water. Mesopotamia – the first civilization in Sumer, between the Tiger and Euphrates rivers

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Ancient Mesopotamia

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  1. Ancient Mesopotamia Duncan Winburn 9/30/2011

  2. Vocabulary • Fertile Crescent – a piece of fertile land shaped like a crescent. It was fertile because of the water. • Mesopotamia – the first civilization in Sumer, between the Tiger and Euphrates rivers • Irrigation – a way of taking water to crops • Canals – waterways people made • Surplus – having more than what they needed

  3. Vocabulary • City-State – a city and all the land around it • Social Hierarchy – organizing people by what they do, by rank, by class • Polytheism – worshipping a lot of gods • Ziggurat – a big temple for the priests and the gods • Cuneiform – a form of writing that the Sumerians used, which was the first writing language used

  4. Vocabulary • Scribe – a person who writes things, like things people traded • Sargon I – an Akkadian emperor. • Epic of Gilgamesh – the first epic poem • Chariot – a horse drawn cart with just two wheels used in battle • Hammurabi’s Code – a set of 282 rules that dealt with daily life

  5. Vocabulary • Nebuchadnezzer II – as king, he made Babylon better by rebuilding the city • Phoenician Alphabet – the Phoenicians made the world’s first alphabet that made writing a lot easier • Carthage – the most famous city that the Phoenicians founded, in Africa • Hanging Gardens of Babylon – a famous garden on top of Nebuchadnezzer’s palace.

  6. Short Answer Questions • 1. Describe the major bodies of water around the Fertile Crescent • The Tigris and Euphrates rivers

  7. Short Answer Questions • 2. List and explain each of the five major characteristics of civilizations. • Writing – you have to have writing to remember your bartering deal • Art – you need art to make architecture • Technology – you need technology to make clocks and calendars • Cities – you need cities to survive in a civilization • Highly Organized Society – you need highly organized society to keep a civilization together

  8. Short Answer Questions • 3. Why was Mesopotamia an ideal place for a civilization to develop? • All of the water made the land fertile and made it easy to grow crops

  9. Short Answer Questions • 4. What were the majors social classes of Sumerian society? Who belonged to each? • The Upper class – kings, priests, government officials, nobles, scribes • The Middle class – artisans, merchants • The Working class – farmers, laborers • The Lower class – slaves

  10. What was at the center of Sumerian City-States? What does this tell us about them? This tells us the Sumerians like to worship gods. • A ziggurat was in the center of the Sumerian City-State

  11. Describe the gender roles of Sumerian society. Men did most of the work, while most women stayed home and took care of the house and the children.

  12. Why did writing first develop? Writing made remembering bartering deals easier.

  13. Explain at least one Sumerian advancement in mathematics. The Sumerians advanced architecture, and architecture requires math, like understanding angles.

  14. Name one Sumerian technical advancement and detail how it made people’s lives easier. The Sumerians invented the wheel. This made moving large things easier.

  15. Describe at least two characteristics of each of the following Mesopotamian civilizations: • Sumer • They made writing. • They made the wheel. • Akkad • Sargon was from there and he was a brilliant military leader. • They conquered Sumer • Babylonia • Hammurabi created the first law code. • Nebuchadnezzar II made the hanging gardens of Babylon • Phoenicia • Phoenicia became talented in trade because there were located right on the Mediterranean Sea. • They also made the first real alphabet.

  16. What led to the end of the Assyrian Empire? In 652 BCE, a lot of wars started. Therefore, the Assyrian Empire lost most of its strength. Because of this, the Chaldeans attacked it and won.

  17. Why was farming a challenge in Mesopotamia, and how did the people overcome it? • Either there was a drought, or there was a flood, that made farming difficult. • They learned how to control water by making waterways, called irrigation. They also learned how to store their food so they could keep it for a while.

  18. How did the Sumerians link religion and government? Priests, god pleasers, had a high rank in social hierarchy. Along with the kings, they made the laws.

  19. Describe two military technologies of the: Hittites Assyrians The Assyrians also used iron weapons and chariots. • The Hittites were the first people to use iron weapons. • They also used the chariot, a horse-drawn cart that people rode in.

  20. For which resource was Phoenicia well-known, and why did they use the sea to trade? The Phoenicians had plenty of cedar, but they had trouble trading because of high mountains and unfriendly neighbors. Because of this, they had to trade by sea.

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