Geography and Farming
This region is called a “large arc of rich farmland” in Southwest Asia where early farming cities grew.
What is the Fertile Crescent?
In Sumer, this term meant a city and all the countryside around it that the city controlled.
What is a city-state?
These trained writers in Mesopotamia kept records for the government and merchants on clay tablets.
Who are scribes?
These sea traders, who lived along the Mediterranean Sea, were especially famous for selling cedar wood.
Who are the Phoenicians?
This word means a ruler of a kingdom or empire, like a king or queen.
What is a monarch?
The word Mesopotamia means “land between the rivers.” It lies between these two rivers.
What are the Tigris and Euphrates?
Most Sumerians lived here, in the countryside and farmland rather than in big cities.
What are rural areas?
This Sumerian writing system used wedge-shaped marks pressed into clay.
What is cuneiform?
This Phoenician invention made writing easier by using a small set of letters to build words.
What is the alphabet?
This Babylonian monarch is famous for creating a written code of laws that covered many parts of daily life.
Who is Hammurabi?
This rich soil, left behind by river floods, helped farmers grow strong crops in Mesopotamia.
What is silt?
Sumerians believed in many gods. This word describes a religion with many gods.
What is polytheism?
In Sumer, this term described how society was divided into groups like kings, priests, merchants, and farmers.
What is a social hierarchy?
This Persian leader built a huge empire by first conquering the Medes and allowed conquered people to keep their own customs.
Who is Cyrus the Great?
In the Persian Empire, this type of soldier fought on horseback and helped make the army faster and stronger.
What is cavalry?
Mesopotamian farmers controlled river water by building canals and ditches to bring water to their fields
What is irrigation?
This legendary king of Uruk became the hero of one of the world’s oldest stories in Sumerian literature.
Who is Gilgamesh?
This Babylonian king is famous for creating a written set of laws that dealt with crimes, family life, business, and more.
Who is Hammurabi?
This Persian ruler organized his empire into provinces ruled by satraps (governors) so he could control the large area more easily.
Who is Darius I?
This Persian leader allowed conquered people to keep their own customs, which helped prevent rebellions and made his empire more stable.
Who is Cyrus the Great?
Because irrigation helped farmers grow more food than they needed right away, this happened and allowed people to specialize in different jobs.
What is a surplus? (of food)
This Akkadian ruler is known for building one of the world’s first empires by conquering many Sumerian city-states.
Who is Sargon (of Akkad)?
Hammurabi’s Code was carved into stone and placed in public. Explain its importance in one idea
What is it made punishment and judging people more fair because the laws were written down for everyone to see?
This empire, ruled from Nineveh, became known for its strong army, use of iron weapons, and harsh rule over conquered people.
Who are the Assyrians?
In the Persian Wars, this is one main reason the Greeks were able to defeat the much larger Persian forces at battles like Marathon and Salamis.
They had better weapons and armor and used smart strategies in battle OR Their tactics and armor gave them an advantage