Inventions & Innovations
This wedge-shaped writing system was developed in Mesopotamia for recording laws and trade.
Cuneiform
What did Napoleon Bonaparte (& his crew) find in the late 19th century that helped them decipher the Ancient Egyptian writing system?
Rosetta Stone
The Egyptian believed in many gods. What was the name of the god of the sun?
Ra
What river did the Egyptians settle around?
Nile River
What revolutionary practice allowed people to settle in the Fertile Crescent?
agriculture or the science of farming
The Sahara Desert
What is famous for being the world's first known written set of laws?
Some of the theories about the Indus civilization's disappearance include weather changes, invasions, and the movement of people known as what?
Migration
What type of structure did the people of Mesopotamia build to worship in?
Ziggurats
What rivers did Mesopotamia form around?
Tigris & Euphrates
What was the muddy substance deposited along shorelines after a rive flooded?
Silt
Why was the area Mesopotamia developed in called the Fertile Crescent?
Because it was located in a semicircle-shaped land between three rivers, providing some of the most fertile land in the world despite being located in another wise barren, desert land.
What was the name of the plant Egyptians used to make an early form of paper?
papyrus
When the Indus River Valley civilization was found, what did excavators notice about the way the city was built?
It was designed a grid system.
What was the process that Egyptians used to preserve their bodies for the afterlife?
Mummification
What does the term Mesopotamia mean?
Land between rivers
After losing lives, homes, and farmlands due to the rivers' flooding, the ancient peoples began moving farther away from the rivers. What innovation allowed them to do this?
Irrigation
What three modern day countries did the Indus River Valley civilization form in?
India, Pakistan, Afghanistan
What evidence shows trades happened between the people of the Indus River Valley & Mesopotamia?
Indus River Valley seals (or stamps) on items in Mesopotamia.
Why do we know little about the beliefs of the people of the Indus River Valley civilization?
Their wiring system, which contains 400-600 symbols, has yet to be deciphered.
What were pyramids used for?
Entombing their pharaohs.
When (roughly) did the Indus River Valley Civilization disappear?
1900 BC
While the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers flooded each year, they were not predictable like the Nile was. During what months did the Nile River flood?
June through September
What is silt & how is it created?
A nutrient rich soil made of mud and clay, created by the natural flow of the rivers.
What demonstrated that the people of the Indus River Valley valued cleanliness?
They built a drainage system for their homes and city, flushing away waste, and the Great Bath that was probably used for regular cleansing.
What made King Tut—an Egyptian pharaoh with few accomplishments or impacts on Egyptian life—so famous?
His tomb was intact when discovered and gave knowledge about Egyptian history
Why did the Egyptians believe the sun was a god?
Because they believed it died every night and was reborn every morning, and only a god could do that.
What three modern day countries did Mesopotomia inhabit?
Iraq, Kuwait, Syria
Why did nearly all ancient civilizations settle around rivers rather than other fresh bodies of water?
Due to the the rivers' constant flow it cleansed itself, washing away dirt and bacterial, provided fertile soil when it flooded, was a source of transportation, among other things that a lake or sea could not provide.
What was the only organ left inside the body during the mummification process?
The Heart