Geography
What does Mesopotamia mean?
The "land between two rivers."
Who is at the top of the social class pyramid?
Kings
What did Hammurabi create?
Hammurabi's Code.
What did the Mesopotamians build for their fields and why?
Canals, ditches, and levees to bring water from the rivers to their crops.
Where would a ziggurat be located?
In the center of the city.
What rivers did Mesopotamia lie between?
The Tigris River and the Euphrates River.
Who is at the bottom of the social class pyramid?
Slaves
Where did Hammurabi display his laws and why?
He displayed them in public, so everyone would understand the consequences of breaking the law.
They became the roadways of Mesopotamia.
What is a ziggurat?
A ziggurat is a temple where the Mesopotamians went to worship their gods and goddesses.
How did the geography of Mesopotamia impact the way people protected their cities?
The land was flat around the cities, so people built strong walls around their cities for proection against enemies.
What were the cities in Mesopotamia called?
City-states
Why is cuneiform an important invention?
It allowed the Mesopotamians to pass down stories and knowledge. Without it, we wouldn't know so much about Mesopotamia and how they lived!
Define irrigation.
The supply of water to land or crops to help growth, typically by means of channels.
Define polytheism.
The belief in many gods.
Mesopotamia was part of what area of land?
The Fertile Crescent.
List who belongs at the second, third, and fourth tier of the social class pyramid.
Priests, merchants and artisans, and farmers.
Give ten examples of inventions from Mesopotamia.
Wheels, irrigation, cuneiform, calendars, law system, math based on the number 60, brick-making, maps, tools, and sailboats.
How was the Mesopotamian irrigation system flawed?
The system caused salt to rise to the surface of the soil, which killed the plants.
Explain what religion was like in Mesopotamia. x3
They worshipped different gods and goddesses. Each god was responsible for something different. The Mesopotamians spent a lot of time worshipping to keep all the gods happy. They believed that if their gods were happy, they would have a good life.
Why is it important that Mesopotamia was located btween two rivers? x2
The rivers provided water for farming and they were used for transportation.
Give 5 examples of city states in Mesopotamia.
Ur, Babylon, Sumer, Assyria, Uruk, Ninevah, Akadia, etc.
Why writing system did the Mesopotamians invent, how was it used, and what was it used for?
They invented cuneiform. This was written using wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets and was used by scribes for recording laws, trade, and other records.
How did having plenty of crops help the Mesopotamians? x3
Having a lot of food meant that people did not have to travel around to find food anymore. This meant they could specialize in other areas, like being merchants, artisans, etc. They also did not have a lot of natural resources, so they could trade their extra food for the resources they needed like wood and metal.
List two gods in Mesopotamia.
Anu, Ea, Nanna, Marduk, Ereshkigal, Enlil, Inanna, Utu, Tiamat.