Geography
What two rivers is Mesopotamia between?
Euphrates river
Tigris river
What was the most important building in the city-states?
Ziggurats
What was their writing?
cuneiform- writing using wedge shaped character on wet clay
What was the first Empire?
Akkadian Empire
Who ruled over the empires?
Emperors
What is the importance of the rivers in Mesopotamia?
water source
traveling
What helped create a stable food supply for Mesopotamia?
plow
wheel- farming carts
irrigation systems
Who were people who wrote? Why were they important?
Scribes
recorded laws, kept record of trade, knew the writing system
Who took control over the city states to form empires?
Kings
What does it mean to make someone move out of their homeland
exhile
How did mesopotamia water their crops during the dry seasons and droughts?
irrigation systems- canals, reservoirs, and dams
What were the traits that made Mesopotamia a complex civilization?
Government, religion, art, technology, social structure, stable food supply
What 4 new inventions of technology did they use?
Bronze, wheel, plow, and arches
Who wrote the Code of Laws and why were they important?
Hammurabi king of Babylonian Empire
create justice for everyone
What was the area in Mesopotamia that had rich soil and water that made the area great for farming. Early Empires took over all of this region.
Fertile Crescent
What did people use in their environment to build homes and walls? How did people get materials they did not have in their environment?
mud and plaster
trade
top- priests and kings
Middle-artisans, merchants, craftsmans, and families
lower class- slaves
What was the wheel used for?
pottery, farming carts, and chariots
Why were the Assyrians feared by their enemies?
What is the belief in many gods?
Polytheism
What was the name of the first civilization in Mesopotamia? Where was it located?
Sumer
Southern Mesopotamia
Why were priests leaders and important to city-states? who became the ruler after priests?
knew how to please the gods to get good weather for farming and to protect from invasion
maintained the irrigation system
Kings took control
How did people please the gods and why did they please the gods?
sacrifice and through music/ worship
get good luck and protection
What advancements were there in the development of the New Babylonian Empire?
colorful Istar Gate, hanging garden of Babylon, 300 feet Ziggurats. lots of money and power
What is having too much of something? Why was this important for the complex civilization of Mesopotamia?
Surplus
allowed for other skills and jobs to be done