Mesopotamia Geography
The land of Ancient Mesopotamia is between what two rivers?
Tigris and Euphrates
The system of canals designed to control the flow of water to bring it to plants is called...
irrigation
Two examples of institutions that Mesopotamia had: ____ and ____
government and religion
The dividing of society into different classes based on their job and how wealthy they are
Social structure
Geography: What does the word Mesopotamia mean?
Between two rivers
What is this area of land called?
Fertile Crescent
The Mesopotamian number system is based on number ___
60
Who led the government in ancient Mesopotamia?
monarchs (kings and queens)
Who makes up the upper class of Ancient Mesopotamia (at least three)?
kings, priests, government officials, scribes, wealthy merchants
General: what do we call a complex culture shared by a large group of people?
civilization
An independent city and its surrounding area in Mesopotamia is called a ___
city-state
Name three Mesopotamian inventions
Wheel, plow, irrigation system, writing system called cuneiform
The Ancient Mesopotamians' religion believed in many gods. The belief in many gods is called ___
polytheism
The bottom social class in Mesopotamia
slaves
General: What five traits make Mesopotamia a civilization?
Advanced cities, advanced technology, a writing system, institutions and specialized workers.
The type of climate that Mesopotamia has: ____ (hot and dry with periods of floods)
semiarid
Sumerians wrote on _____ (what?) using a ____ (tool).
Sumerians wrote on clay tablets using a stylus.
Sumerian temple; a central structure in every city built to worship the gods
ziggurat
Who makes up the middle class in ancient Mesopotamia (at least three)?
Farmers, artisans, traders, fishermen, bakers...
Literature: What was the name of the first written epic in the world?
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Fine particles of rock and soil brought by floods, that made the land fertile in Mesopotamia are known as
Silt
What written language did Ancient Mesopotamians Create?
Cuneiform
A religion leader, someone who leads rituals to worship gods is called a ___
priest
What led to the division of labor in ancient Mesopotamia?
Food surplus
Inventions: What is the name of an important Sumerian agricultural invention (hint: it involved an animal)?
Explain how the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates were good for Mesopotamia.
Flooding left fertile silt from the bottom of the rivers on the river banks, so the land there was good for farming.
Cuneiform (with letters and numbers) is based on an earlier, simpler form of writing that used pictures, called_______?
Pictographs
A type of government led by a king or a queen
When workers need special skills do to a job, we say that the workers are _____ in their field.
specialized
What is the main resource that Sumerians had and that they traded for what they needed?
Crops/grains