People & Daily Life
This term describes people who moved often to hunt animals and gather wild plants for food.
Hunters & gatherers (or hunter-gatherers).
This major innovation was a turning point between the Paleolithic and Neolithic eras.
Agriculture (farming).
The definition of "culture."
Culture = the way of life shared by a group of people.
Early river civilizations often grew near rivers because rivers provided this helpful soil made of fine particles carried by the water.
Silt (fertile soil).
Put these in order from oldest to newest: Babylonian Empire, Sumerian city-states, Akkadian Empire, Assyrian Empire.
Oldest → Sumerian city-states; older → Akkadian Empire; Babylonian Empire (newer); Assyrian Empire (newest).
Name one main reason Paleolithic people moved from place to place.
To follow animal herds, find seasonal plants, find water, or avoid exhausted resources.
What is domestication? Give an example.
Changing wild plants/animals so they can be raised by people (e.g., wheat, barley, dogs, sheep).
This is a first-hand account or object from someone who lived during an event.
Primary source.
Name the region called the _____ Crescent and state why it was important.
Fertile Crescent = crescent-shaped area of the Middle East with rich soil where early civilizations grew (between Tigris & Euphrates, includes parts of modern Iraq, Syria, Israel, Lebanon).
Who was the famous Babylonian king known for creating a written set of laws?
Hammurabi.
Explain why artifacts are important to historians studying early humans.
Artifacts give direct evidence of tools, clothing, diet, and daily life; they help build timelines and understand technology.
Explain what a permanent settlement is and why it often formed after people learned to farm.
A place where people live for a long time (villages); farming provides reliable food so people can stay in one place.
What does "job specialization" mean? Give one example from early river civilizations.
Developing specific skills for a specific job (example: scribe, artisan, merchant).
Explain how annual flooding could help farmers in river valleys.
Flooding deposited silt (fertile soil) and replenished nutrients, making fields productive.
Name two things historians can learn from Hammurabi’s Code about Mesopotamian society.
The code shows social values, punishments, class differences, and everyday laws (property, trade, family); it is one of the earliest written law collections.
Give two differences between a Paleolithic nomad and a Neolithic village dweller.
Paleolithic nomads: moved frequently, lived in small groups, relied on hunting/gathering; Neolithic village dwellers: settled permanently, farmed, had larger groups and more complex homes.
Define "surplus" and explain one big effect a food surplus had on early societies.
Surplus = extra food; effect: allows job specialization, population growth, trade, and formation of cities.
Define "social hierarchy" and name one group you might find near the top in Mesopotamian society.
A system dividing society by wealth, power, status; top: rulers/kings, priests, or wealthy landowners.
List three technological or architectural achievements that from Mesopotamia.
Mud bricks, irrigation networks (canals/gates), plow, wheel, shaduf, planned cities, ziggurats.
Explain what scribes did in Mesopotamia and why they were important.
Scribes wrote cuneiform on clay tablets, kept records of crops, trade, laws; they preserved knowledge and helped government function.
Describe how social organization (one of the Seven Aspects of Culture) might look different in a small hunter-gatherer group compared to a Neolithic village.
Hunter-gatherer social organization: small bands with informal leadership; Neolithic village: larger family groups, roles, possible leaders or councils.
Describe how irrigation changed farming and name one simple irrigation tool used in ancient river civilizations.
Irrigation moved water to fields which meant more reliable outcomes (canals, ditches); shaduf is a hand-operated water-lifting tool.
What is "cuneiform" and why was it important for Mesopotamia?
Cuneiform = wedge-shaped writing developed by Sumerians; important for record-keeping, laws, history.
Describe what a city-state is and provide an example from Mesopotamia.
Many independent city-states (e.g., Sumer) each with its own government and king; they controlled nearby land and competed or traded with neighbors.
Choose one Mesopotamian empire (Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, or Assyria) and describe one major contribution it made to civilization (example: writing, law, architecture, technology).
Example answers: Sumer — cuneiform writing; Akkad — first empire under Sargon; Babylon — Hammurabi’s Code; Assyria — military organization, expanded empires, libraries.