Geography
What does Mesopotamia mean?
"between two rivers"
Which group of people are believed to have developed the world's first civilization?
Sumerians
The worlds first system of writing.
cuneiform
Land with different territories and peoples under a single rule.
empire
Irrigation supplied _______ to an area of land.
Water
A mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks.
Silt
This group of people performed religious ceremonies and had a high status in Sumer.
Priests
What is an epic?
A long poem that tells the story of a hero.
This is a term that means a city and all the countryside around it.
city-state
In ancient Sumer, were priests higher or below kings?
Below, but not very far below!
Mesopotamia lies between the _________________ and the ________________________.
Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf
Sumerian writers were called ____________.
scribes
What Sumerian achievement would greatly improve transportation for the rest of history?
The wheel
The ruler of a kingdom or empire (king or queen).
monarch
What are 2 reasons why an empire might RISE?
Strong leader, strong army, or control of trade (wealth).
The large arc of rich, fertile farmland that extends from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Fertile Crescent
Who was the greatest Babylonian king?
Hammurabi
A pyramid-shaped temple tower.
ziggurat
A set of 282 written laws that dealt with various topics in daily life.
Hammurabi's Code
The greatest achievement of the Phoenicians.
alphabet
Name the two rivers that provided fertile soil for farming in Mesopotamia.
Tigris & Euphrates
Who was the Chaldean king known for the Hanging Gardens in his palace?
Nebuchadnezzar
Who was the hero of the famous Sumerian epic we learned about in this chapter?
Gilgamesh
Worship of many gods. *(MUST pronounce correctly)*
polytheism
Weak leader, weak army, invaders, disease, or natural disasters