Introduction and Chapter One:
The Earliest People
The Earliest People
What do we call someone who reads letters, journals and monuments to find out about the past?
A historian.
Who ruled the two tribes in Egypt?
The King with the Red Crown and the King with the White Crown
What two types of writing did we talk about?
Cuneiform and hieroglyphics
What does embalming do?
It preserves a body
Were the cities in Sumer friends with each other?
No, they fought each other.
What do archaeologists do?
Dig objects out of the ground and learn about them
Who won the battle between the White Crown and Red Crown Kings?
The White Crown King
What two countries wrote in cuneiform and hieroglyphics?
Egypt and Sumer
Why did the Egyptians think it was important to preserve dead bodies?
So that dead people could go on to the next world
What was Sargon's country called?
Akkadia or the Akkadian Empire
Did farmers move from place to place like nomads? Why?
No, because they had to stay in one place long enough to tend their crops, water them, and harvest them
What were the two tribes who lived in Egypt called?
Upper Egyptians and Lower Egyptians
Which material lasts the longest when you write on it?
Stone and clay
What body part did the Egyptians believe would be weighed on a special pair of scales when a person reached the afterworld?
The heart
What did Sargon do?
He conquered all the city-states and made them into one country.
Why was the Fertile Crescent a good place to live?
Because there was water, good soil, and plenty of grass and plants
What continent and country is the Nile River in?
It is in the continent of Africa and the country of Egypt
What three things did the Egyptians and Sumerians write on?
Stone, clay, and paper (or papyrus)
What did the Egyptians bury with their mummies?
Everything a dead person would need: food, clothes, toys, games, jewelry, furniture
What two rivers is Mesopotamia between?
The Tigris and the Euphrates
What sort of food did nomads eat and where did they sleep?
They ate plants such as grasses, leaves, grain, roots, berries; large animals such as elk, deer, reindeer, bison; other foods such as eggs, honey, lizards, snakes, and fish. They slept in caves.
Why was it important for the Nile River to flood every year?
Because it watered the land and brought silt up onto the riverbanks. When the water came up out of the river, rich dirt from the bottom of the river came with it. This dirt was called silt, and it was full of good vitamins and minerals for plants.
Which material is easiest to write on but falls apart?
Paper
What did priests do to a body to make a mummy?
They took the insides out, preserved the body with salt and spices, wrapped it in linen and put it into a coffin
How did Sargon keep control of the land?
He made harsh laws and put his soldiers in the conquered cities to make them obey.