Vocabulary
a person trained to read and write, often recording information
What is a scribe?
Name the two rivers that gave Mesopotamia its name.
What are the Tigris and Euphrates?
Which group worked the land and grew much of Mesopotamia’s food?
Who were farmers?
What is a surplus?
What is more of a resource than is needed?
What is a city-state?
What is an independent city and the surrounding land it governs?
What is the wedge-shaped writing system developed by the Sumerians?
What is cuneiform?
What region extended from the Persian Gulf toward the Mediterranean Sea?
What is the Fertile Crescent?
What is a social hierarchy?
What is a ranking of people into groups with different status or power?
Name two goods Mesopotamians traded with other communities.
What are grain, wool, pottery, gold, gems, textiles, or metalwork?
What was one responsibility of a Mesopotamian ruler?
A ruler might make decisions, collect taxes, enforce laws, lead armies, or govern a city or territory.
What is a levee?
What is an earth wall built to help hold back floodwater?
What is a way of controlling the supply of water to land or crops?
What is irrigation?
Why were priests important in Mesopotamian cities?
People believed priests could communicate with the gods, so priests held religious influence in their communities.
What were people called who traded goods?
Who were merchants?
What is an empire?
What is a large territory or group of peoples ruled by one leader?
What is the process of taming animals or plants for human use?
What is domestication?
Name a benefit and a risk of river flooding in Mesopotamia.
What are fertile soil and unpredictable damage to fields and settlements?
What is a term for people who made pottery, woven cloth or metal tools?
What is artisans?
How did extra grain support specialization?
Extra grain could feed people who did jobs other than farming, such as building, crafting, or writing.
What was Hammurabi’s Code?
What was a written set of laws for people in Hammurabi’s empire?
What does agrarian mean?
What is relating to farming or agricultural communities?
How could Mesopotamia’s open plains make the region easier to invade?
The region had fewer natural barriers, so outside groups could enter more easily.
How were ziggurats used in Mesopotamian religious practices?
Ziggurats had temples where people worshipped a city’s patron god or goddess.
How could trade routes spread goods and ideas?
Traders carried goods between communities and helped people share ideas and technologies.
Which modern country is in the area where most of Ancient Mesopotamia was located?
What is Iraq?