The Surplus Spark
This term refers to having more of a resource (like grain) than is needed for immediate survival.
What is a surplus?
These two rivers provided the water and fertile soil necessary for Mesopotamia to thrive.
What are the Tigris and Euphrates?
Hammurabi was the King of this famous Mesopotamian city-state.
What is Babylon?
This system involves trading one good or service directly for another without using money.
What is the barter system?
This Mesopotamian invention involved wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets.
What is cuneiform?
Because not everyone had to farm, people could focus on one specific job, such as pottery or weaving. This is called ____________.
What is specialization?
Unlike the unpredictable flooding in Mesopotamia, this river's floods were so regular that the Egyptians designed their calendar around them.
What is the Nile River?
Hammurabi’s Code is famous for this "eye-for-an-eye" style of justice, officially known as this.
What is retaliation
These were the "highways" of the ancient world, often following rivers or coastlines.
What are trade routes?
This is the Egyptian system of writing that used pictures to represent words or sounds.
What are hieroglyphics?
This was the primary reason the first civilizations started in "River Valleys" like the Nile or the Tigris.
What is silt?
While Egypt was ruled by a single Pharaoh, Mesopotamia was often divided into these independent areas that had their own government.
What are city-states?
Hammurabi’s laws were significant because they were the first to be ___________, meaning they couldn't be changed on a whim by a judge.
What is written down?
This group of people was responsible for traveling along trade routes to buy and sell goods.
Who are merchants?
True or False: Hammurabi’s laws treated nobles and commoners exactly the same.
What is False?
Because a surplus allowed for specialization, it led to the creation of this—a system where society is divided into different levels of power and wealth.
What is a Social Hierarchy
While Egypt had natural barriers like deserts, Mesopotamia’s flat land made it easy to invade, leading to this—the frequent rise and fall of different empires.
Constant Conflict
Hammurabi’s Code was one of the first to include this legal idea—that a person is "innocent until proven guilty" and both sides can provide evidence.
What is Justice?
This is the term for a situation where two people each have the specific item the other person wants, which is the "golden rule" for a successful barter.
What is Double Coincidence of Wants?
This famous Mesopotamian story is the oldest epic poem in history and describes a king searching for eternal life.
What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?
This "chain" describes the process where a surplus leads to specialization, which then leads to trade with other groups.
What is the Economic Chain?
Mesopotamia was located in this crescent-shaped region of the Middle East known for its rich soil.
What is the Fertile Crescent?
To make sure everyone knew the laws, Hammurabi had them carved into these tall stone pillars.
What are steles?
If an Egyptian merchant had too much papyrus but needed cedar wood, he would likely trade with people from this nearby region.
Who are the Phoenicians?
This is the term for a social structure where some people have more power or wealth than others (like a pyramid).
What is a social hierarchy?