Geography
How do you pronounce "Mesopotamia"?
MESS OH PO TA ME AH
Did humans exist before Mesopotamia?
Yes! They were nomads, hunters, and gatherers.
Did Mesopotamians believe in one god or many gods?
Many.
Ziggurat.
Mesopotamia means what in the Greek language?
The land between two rivers.
Name the two major rivers in Mesopotamia.
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
What does the word polytheism mean?
"Many" "Gods"
The Mesopotamian people believed that the gods controlled what?
Everything good and bad that happened.
What was the main reason that people settled in this area and on this land?
Because it was excellent for growing crops.
Mesopotamia is known as the "Cradle of __________"
Civilization
Name one way the people of Mesopotamia worshipped their gods.
Answers may vary.
Becoming a king (kingship) became hereditary by 3,000 BCE. Explain what this means.
You could only be a king if your father was a king and died. Kingship could only be passed on within a family. So certain families in each city-state held the most wealth and power.
The rivers in Mesopotamia were good for these three things.
Transportation, growing crops, and fishing.
The fertile crescent was between what two large bodies of water (not the rivers)?
Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea.
Name another way that people worshipped gods.
Answers may vary.
Name three different kinds of foods that the god Anu was offered.
Answers will vary.
What nearby mountain range kept the rivers flowing with water?
The Zaggros Mountains.
Why was the Fertile Crescent given that name?
Because the land was incredibly fertile allowing for an abundance of crops to grow and the land was in a crescent shape.
What are the Sumerian myths about?
The myths were stories about the gods and how the gods would punish people that angered them or didn;t worship them properly.
In the city-states of Babylonia and Assyria, people believed that which three gods were MOST powerful?
The gods of sky, air, and crops.