Leaders
He is most well known for leading Babylon and developing a strict set of laws
Hammurabi
This was the first civilization in Mesopotamia and also the first civilization in world history!
Sumer (the Sumerians)
This time period began when metal workers first started to mix copper with other metals, forming a stronger alloy.
Bronze Age
This term describes the region of rich soil that stretches from the Persian Gulf, northwest through Mesopotamia, then westward to the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, and Southwest into Egypt.
Fertile Crescent
This group conquered the Assyrians in 612 BC, and later successfully conquered Jerusalem in 586. Their empire centered around the powerful city of Babylon.
Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians)
This is the name of the Babylonian story that explains how humans were created.
Enuma Elish
Mentioned by the Hebrew prophet, Daniel, this king is most well known for leading the Chaldeans and bringing Babylon back into greatness around the year 600 BC.
Nebuchadnezzar
This empire came to power around 1800 BC when it overthrew the city state of Ur.
Babylon
This system of writing is made up of symbols and syllables and was first written upon clay tablets by the Sumerians.
Cuneiform
These structures are used to move water from collection basins towards fields.
Canals
This group was the first to master iron metallurgy. Their empire was centered in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey) and their use of the chariot helped them to conquer the first Babylonian Empire in 1595 BC.
Hittites
The Babylonian version of the Flood story appears as the eleventh tablet of this larger work of literature.
Epic of Gilgamesh
As cupbearer, he rose to power by overthrowing the king and then conquering all of Mesopotamia and Sumer around 2500 BC as leader of the Akkadians.
Sargon I
This was the first empire in world history and began around 2500 when its leader conquered all of Mesopotamia and territory stretching up towards the Mediterranean Sea.
Akkadian Emipre
This technology is essentially a cart on wheels, pulled by a horse, upon which warriors could achieve a high degree of mobility on the battlefield.
This term refers to the belief in and worship of many gods.
Polytheism
When this site was uncovered in the mid-1800s AD, archaeologists found over 30,000 clay tablets in good condition. When it was destroyed in 612 BC, it likely had even more. What was this institution that contained all sorts of records of knowledge?
Royal Library of Ashurbanipal
In the Biblical version of the flood story, why does the flood occur? (include a cause and a reason for the cause).
God sees the wickedness (sinfulness) of man and sends the flood to kill them because he is sorry he has made them. (Genesis 6:5-9)
He was most likely the king of Uruk around 2700 BC, but most of what we know about this leader comes from a legendary story that was written about him.
Gilgamesh
This empire used tactics of terror as it expanded throughout Mesopotamia, southern Asia Minor, and into Egypt.
The Assyrians
These were the central architectural structures in Sumerian cities that served as city centers and temples for each city.
Ziggurats
This term refers to professional writers who rose to prominence during the time of the Sumerians.
Scribes
This architectural structure was bright blue, with golden bulls and dragons decorated all over the outside. It was used for daily traffic in and out of Babylon, as well as for a ceremonial New Year's Day parade.
Ishtar Gate
In the Babylonian version of the flood story, why does the flood occur? (include a cause and a reason for the cause).
The gods (especially Enlil) are annoyed that the human population has grown so large and become so noisy. Humans are so noisy that they can't even sleep! So, Enlil sends a flood to kill them all.
Ashurbanipal, the most famous king of the Assyrian Empire, who wrote about a Hebrew prophet pestering him, was the leader of this city during the 600s BC.
Nineveh
These were the TWO most important physical features for all of the civilization that occupied Mesopotamia.
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
purple dye
This term refers to the economic arrangement by which each worker specializes in a particular job or task.
division of labor
During the early 500s BC, the leader of Babylon built this magnificent structure for his wife. It included a wide variety of plants that reminded her of her homeland, and put the might and wealth of Babylon on display for all.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
In the Biblical version of the flood story, why does God choose to warn a man of the flood? What does he tell him to do?
God finds favor in Noah because he is a righteous man. God tells him to build an ark, gives him specific directions, and tells him to gather animals of every kind.
In the Babylonian version of the flood story, who warns a man of the flood? What does he tell him to do?
Ea (a different god than the one that caused the flood) tells a man (named Utnapishtim/Ziasudra) about the flood because he couldn't bear to see mankind wiped out. Ea tells him to build a large boat and gives him instructions for doing so. He is also told to gather animals of every kind.
In BOTH flood stories, what do the humans on the boat do to find out if the flood waters have receded?
They send out birds.
At the end Biblical version of the flood story, what does God do for the humans?
God promises to never flood the earth again, blesses Noah, and says the rainbow in the sky is a sign of His covenant with Noah.
At the end Babylonian version of the flood story, what do the gods do for the humans?
Enlil makes Utnapishtim and his wife immortal (because he was angry that his plan to kill "all humans" wasn't successful...this sort of makes Enlil "successful").