Mesopotamia
What does fertile mean?
What is a fertile crescent?
land that was good for crops to grow
How did humans live before civilization?
Early Humans - hunter gatherers and farming
The first set of written laws in history.
Hammurabi's Code
Who was at the top of the social class?
The King
What was one of the first cities in history?
Sumer
Why did people settle and begin communities in this area?
Excellent land for growing crops
Mesopotamia is Greek for:
Two Rivers
What is one of Hammurabi's laws?
A builder should be killed if his building collapses...
A son should have his hand cut off if he strikes his father, etc...
Who was below the King in the social class?
The Middle East (Iraq)
At first the scribes of Sumer marked picture symbols in pieces of what?
wet clay
What are the names of the two rivers Mesopotamia is between
Tigris and Euphrates
A famous saying from the Code is "An eye for an _____"
Eye
What type of people would be found in the lowest level of society?
Farmers and slaves
Cities in Mesopotamia were called __________ because they had their own rulers.
City-states.
What is Mesopotamian writing called?
Cuneiform
The largest building in most Sumerian cities was a huge mud brick temple called?
ziggurat
The Sumerian economy was based on
trading of agricultural goods
What types of people would be found in the highest level of a stratified society?
Kings or people with lots of money.
What is it called when you worship multiple gods?
Polytheistic
Name three Mesopotamia inventions
Plow, sailboat, wheel, cuneiform
What did the Sumerian City-States fight over?
land near water
The ziggurat was most closely related to which of these features of Sumerian civilization?
Religion
What is a hierarchy?
A system or organization in which people or groups are ranked one above the other according to status or authority.