City-States
What social class was at the very bottom?
Slaves
What two rivers formed the region of Mesopotamia?
Tigris and Euphrates
What pyramid-shaped temple did each city-state build to honor its god?
Ziggurat
What tool did scribes use to carve symbols into clay?
Reeds
About how long did Sargon's empire last?
150 Years
What social class sat at the very top of Sumerian society?
Kings
What rich layer of soil did yearly flooding leave behind?
Silt
What is the belief in many gods called?
Polytheism
What is the wedge-shaped writing system of Sumer called?
Cuneiform
What do we call a group of different lands and peoples governed by one ruler?
Empire
What metal did Sumerians create by mixing copper and tin?
Bronze
What term describes growing more food than you need?
Surplus
What two subjects did priests develop by watching the sun, moon, and stars?
Astronomy & Math
What is considered the world's oldest recorded story?
Epic of Gilgamesh
What protection tax did conquered lands have to pay Sargon?
Tribute
What is a city plus its surrounding lands, governed independently, called?
City-State
What nickname is Mesopotamia known by, because so many "firsts" happened there?
Cradle of Civilization
What were the small statues placed in temples to show devotion called?
Votives
Gilgamesh was probably a real king of which city?
Uruk
What city did Sargon come from?
Akkad