Geography
What are the two main rivers in this region?
Tigris and Euphrates
Define hunter-gatherer
People who rely on the animals they kill and plants, seeds, and fruit they collect for food.
Define silt
a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks
What is irrigation?
It is a way of supplying water to an area of land.
Define surplus
More than you need!
What is this region known as?
Mesopotamia
Define semi-sedentary settlements
These are settlements where people live for a short part of the year to grow a small amount of food.
What is the benefit of annual flooding?
It brings rich silt and makes the farmland fertile.
What is livestock?
Any animal that you grow for food or other human uses.
Define division of labor
An arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular task or job
What does Mesopotamia mean?
land between rivers
New tools made of clay or flint
What food did the early settlements produce?
Farmers grew wheat, barley, and other types of grain. Livestock, birds, and fish were also good sources of food.
This meant that water levels in the Tigris and Euphrates rivers depended on rainfall in _________ where the two rivers began.
Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey, Taurus Mountains
What is the result of a surplus?
Fewer people needed to farm. Some people became free to do other jobs.
What are some examples of new jobs?
What is the Fertile Crescent?
The Fertile Crescent is a large arc of rich, fertile, farmland. The Fertile Crescent extends from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
What mineral was useful in making sharp tools?
Flint
With population growth and more food, early villages turned into the world's first _______________.
Civilizations
Give three methods early Mesopotamians used to control the water.
They dug large basins to contain the water.
They dug canals and ditches to direct water away from homes and towards their crops.
They built up the river banks to contain the water.
What are the benefits of a division of labor? Give three solid examples.
They could accomplish more, including large buildings and irrigation projects. They required specialized workers and tools. They required management and organization. They needed rules and regulations that come from a strong government.
What are the two main mountain ranges in this region?
Taurus and Zagros
What is the Neolithic Revolution? Justify your answer with three steps.
The shift from migrating to find food to building settlements to produce food.
1. People hunted and gathered basic food.
2. People formed semi-sedentary settlements to grow a small amount of food each year.
3. People developed new tools that allowed them to create permanent settlements to grow food.
Define the word civilization. What are some important aspects of a civilization?
A civilization is an organized society within a specific area.
They include social classes, art, architecture, writing, formal education, and government.
Give three reasons why farming wasn't easy in early Mesopotamia.
The area received very little rain.
When the water levels were low, the crops dried up.
The floods killed livestock, destroyed crops, and washed away homes.
What are the benefits of the new Mesopotamian cities?
They were a place to trade goods. They provided leaders with power bases, including money, followers, and influence. Cities were the political, religious, cultural, and economic centers of civilization.