Law and Politics
Who is at the top of the social hierarchy?
Kings
What is Polytheism
Believing in more than one god
What does Mesopotamia translate to?
The land between two rivers
What do scribes do?
Write and keep records
Name one of the four ancient civilizations other than Mesopotamia.
Egypt, Indus Valley, China
Why did people believe the king had so much power?
He was chosen by the gods
Why did the Mesopotamians give offerings to the gods?
To make the gods happy so they would protect them.
What is the process of controlling rivers and bringing water to crops?
Irrigation
What is the name of the writing they used in Mesopotamia?
Cuneiform
The hanging gardens of Babylon
Who was at the bottom of the social hierarchy?
Enslaved people
True or false: each city in Mesopotamia had a god dedicated to it.
True
Name one big city in Mesopotamia.
Babylon, Ur, Uruk
What do scribes write with?
Stylus
What is the name of the oldest epic we have?
The epic of Gilgamesh
Who wrote the oldest law code we have?
Hammurabi
What is a zuggurat?
A Mesopotamian temple made to honour the gods.
What were the two rivers that surrounded Mesopotamia?
Tigris and Euphrates
What is the name of the first period in history, after the invention of writing?
Antiquity
What is an epic?
A long poem about the journey of a hero
How many laws are in the oldest law code we have?
Over 200 (282)
Name one Mesopotamian god
Marduk, Enki, Inanna, Enlil, Shamash, Sin, Ninurta
Where is Mesopotamia located?
The fertile crescent
What is the name of the first author in recorded history?
Enheduanna
They were able to translate this text because it was written in Ancient Greek and hieroglyphs. They compared the Greek to the hieroglyphs to learn what the heiroglyphs meant.
The Rosetta Stone