Geography of the Fertile Crescent
What two rivers made the Fertile Crescent fertile?
The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
What was the first known civilization in Mesopotamia?
Sumer
What type of government did most Sumerian city-states have?
A monarchy (ruled by a king)
What was one of the earliest known tools for writing?
A stylus
What type of religion did the Mesopotamians practice?
Polytheism (belief in many gods)
What modern-day countries does the Fertile Crescent cover?
Parts of Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Turkey
What was the main building material in Mesopotamia?
Mud bricks
What was Hammurabi best known for creating?
Hammurabi’s Code of Laws
What did the Sumerians invent to help with transportation?
The wheel
Who did Mesopotamians believe chose the kings?
The gods
What is Mesopotamia’s nickname that describes its location between rivers?
“The Land Between Two Rivers”
A large, stepped temple used for religious ceremonies?
ziggurat
What is the term for a group of states controlled by one ruler?
An empire
What mathematical system did the Sumerians develop?
A base-60 number system
Why were ziggurats built tall?
To be closer to the gods
What natural challenge did Mesopotamians face due to the rivers?
Unpredictable flooding
People trained to write and keep records were called
scribes
Who was the ruler who created the first empire in history?
Sargon of Akkad
What advancement allowed Mesopotamians to measure land and build structures (its a math term)
Geometry
What did Mesopotamians believe about the afterlife.. describe the place?
It was a gloomy, dark place beneath the earth
What farming technique did Mesopotamians develop to control water?
Irrigation
What writing system did the Sumerians invent?
Cuneiform
What was Hammurabi’s Code?
It provided a set of laws that applied to everyone
What invention helped farmers produce food more efficiently in the farms... (we still use it today)
A plow
What famous epic tells the story of a Sumerian hero-king?
The Epic of Gilgamesh