Geography
What does the word "Mesopotamia" actually mean in Greek?
Land between the rivers
What do you call a person who moves from place to place with flocks and herds instead of settling down?
A nomad
What was the name of the very first civilization in southern Mesopotamia
Sumer (or Sumerians)
What was the wedge-shaped writing system invented by the Sumerians called?
Cuneiform
What are the two major rivers that frame Mesopotamia?
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
What is an independent city and the farmland around it called?
A city-state [1]
What tall, pyramid-like temple did ancient Sumerians build to honor their gods?
A ziggurat
Trading goods and services without using money is called what?
The barter system
What is the curved, fertile strip of land where Mesopotamia is located called?
he Fertile Crescent
What is the practice of bringing water to crops using pipes, ditches, or canals called?
Irrigation [1]
Believing in many different gods and goddesses is known as what?
Polytheism
What major invention by Mesopotamians helped with both transportation and pottery-making?
The wheel
What is an elevated area of flat land called?
A plateau
Having more food or supplies than you immediately need is called a what?
Surplus [1]
Who built the world’s very first empire by uniting independent Sumerian city-states?
Sargon (of Akkad)
Modern-day Mesopotamia is located mostly inside which country?
Iraq [1]
On which continent is Mesopotamia located?
Asia
What major human milestone marks the line between prehistory and recorded history?
The invention of writing
Which famous Babylonian king is best known for creating a strict, written code of 282 laws?
Hammurabi [1]
What writing tool did scribes use to press wedge shapes into wet clay tablets?
A stylus