The First
Military Dictator
Military Dictator
What is a cupbearer?
Khafre, the son of Khufu, built his tomb (called the Second Pyramid) next to his father's at Giza as well as this monument, carved from "living rock," to guard it.
What is the Sphinx?
These people swept down from the Zagros Mountains in 2278 BC and disrupted the peace and prosperity of the Akkadian Empire for over a century.
Who are the Gutians?
This Semitic native of Ur received a message from YHWH promising him a great name, a great nation, multitudes of descendants, and blessings for all the earth.
Who is Abram?
This process, resulting from centuries of irrigating fields with the brackish water of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, lead to severe crop shortages in Mesopotamia.
What is salinization?
The ancient Egyptians developed this medium for writing in order to convey messages quickly and more conveniently across their expanding empire.
What is papyrus?
This man, whose origins are obscure, usurped the throne of Kish and eventually established the Akkadian Empire.
Who is Sargon?
Worship of this chief deity, associated with the noon-day sun, became popular during the late Old Kingdom period.
Who is Ra?
This artifact depicts the Akkadian king in a godlike position fighting to expand his borders in Elam, and commemorates the successes which brought the empire to its greatest extent.
What is the Victory Stele?
The patriarch of Abram's family, who decides to leave his homeland of Ur for safer and more secure regions to the northwest.
Who is Terah?
This roving group of Western Semites, also known as the Martu or Amurru, threatened Sumeria's western border for decades.
Who are the Amorites?
This Egyptian god, murdered by his brother, was the father of Osiris and became the ruler of the Underworld.
Who is Osiris?
The Akkadian Empire was forged by its military strength, namely its use of this weapon, made possible by its access to yew trees beyond the Zagros Mountains.
What is the bow?
During the Fifth Dynasty, power began to shift away from the pharaoh towards this group, as indicated by the dwindling number of pyramids and the increased number of temples.
What are priests?
This king of the Akkadian Empire, the grandson of Sargon, won many military campaigns and expanded the empire to its greatest extent, taking the title "King of the Universe."
Who is Naram-Sin?
This land, on the eastern shores of the Mediterranean Sea, was promised to Abraham and his descendants via covenant with YHWH.
What is Canaan?
This successor kingdom to Sumeria was established by Ishbi-Erra, and contains the last rulers recorded in the Sumerian King List.
What is the Isin Dynasty?
In order to stem the tide of Amorite invasions, Shu-Sin built this defensive structure between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
What is a 170-mile wall?
This King of Kish lost his nerve in the face of Lugalzaggesi's approaching army, and even sent his right-hand man with a message requesting the enemy to murder its bearer.
Who is Ur-Zababa?
This practice, based on the belief that pharaohs were divine and could only wed other divine beings, may have contributed to the collapse of the Fourth Dynasty.
What is intermarriage?
Utuhegal, the king of this city, drove the barbarians out of his homeland, and then managed to liberate and occupy Uruk, Eridu, Ur, and Nippur before being betrayed by his son-in-law, Ur-Nammu.
What is Lagash?
This term is used to describe the doctrine or belief that there is only one God.
What is monotheism?
This ruler was the last king of the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the final Sumerian leader to reign in Mesopotamia before his capture and exile in Elam.
Who is Ibbi-Sin?
Ancient Sumerian farmers used several methods to correct the environmental disaster, including the growing of barley, and this technique to allow fields to recover from salinization.
What is weed fallowing?
In order to help Sumeria's struggling economy and bring stability to the region, the rulers of the Akkadian Empire enacted these reforms which enabled their dynasty to last longer than any other in ancient Mesopotamia.
What are the standardization of weights and measures, tax reform and management, and the first professional army?
This example of monumental architecture, a four-sided stone tower topped by a miniature pyramid, was originally developed during the Fifth Dynasty to honor the sun god.
What is an obelisk?
This poem was written to explain how the fall of the Akkadian Empire was due to the wrath of Enlil who is angry with its rulers for destroying his temple.
What is "The Cursing of Agade"?
These two sons of Abraham are considered the forefathers of Islam and Judaism, respectively.
Who is Ishmael and Isaac?
The fall of Ur occurred in this year, when the Elamites swept through and razed the city, and is the year considered to be the end of Sumerian Civilization.
What is 2004 BC?
In addition to the Great Pyramid, Khufu also constructed the Sadd al-Kafara, creating the world's first examples of these public structures to provide water to his subjects.
What are dams and reservoirs?