Geography
Both Egypt and Mesopotamia are located in a region called the _______ ________.
Fertile Crescent
What does polytheism mean?
The belief in multiple gods (poly = many, theo = god) (Both Egyptian and Mesopotamian religions were polytheistic and had many nature gods.)
How did Mesopotamians measure time?
base-60 for seconds, minutes, and hours (multiples of 12/24 are also part of this system, ex. hours in the day, months in the year)
What is the word for an Egyptian ruler?
Pharaoh (a god-king or god-queen)
Who was at the top of the Mesopotamian social structure? (Also true of Egypt!)
The king/queen and royal family
What does domestication mean?
Training and breeding wild animals and plants to live with humans and meet human needs (ex. wheat, cattle, sheep, etc.) (BOTH Mesopotamians and Egyptians did this)
What were ziggurats? Describe their shape AND why they were built.
Stepped temples that Mesopotamians built to honor the gods (priests communicated with the gods for the people)
What tools did Mesopotamians invent to travel faster?
wheels, sailboats, (also carts, caravan trade, writing and money if you make the argument!)
What was the first Mesopotamian Empire called, and who founded it?
Akkadian Empire, Emperor Sargon
What group had the least power in Mesopotamian and Egyptian societies?
Enslaved people (treated as property not humans with rights)
How did deserts and mountains protect Egyptians and Mesopotamians?
They created natural barriers from invasions. (It's hard for invaders to travel through hot dry land (desert) or over rocky, steep, hazardous, etc. terrain (mountains).)
What is the name of the most famous story from ancient Mesopotamia?
The Epic of Gilgamesh
Long before farming societies, hunter-gatherings invented hafting. What is it?
Hafting is combining a sharp blade with a stick (evidence of collective learning because it requires sharing and strenghtening ideas through communication to build a strong knife or axe like this!)
What is an agricultural surplus, and why was it important to the economy?
excess of food stored for future use (winter, crises, etc.) --> surpluses allow for population growth, wealth accumulation, and/or job specialization
Which group was the largest in both societies, and where were they on both social pyramids?
farmers (because they grew the food); near the middle (between the middle and the bottom)
Mesopotamians and Egyptians both had rivers that __________, so they invented irrigation, which means __________________________.
flooded; systems to manage water (like digging canals) to get water to crops and people (and protect from flooding and drought)
What did Egyptians do to prepare dead bodies for the afterlife?
They mummified the bodies (and buried them in elaborate pyramid tombs) (technically they only did this with the most important and royal bodies!)
Name the two writing systems of Mesopotamia and Egypt and the tools each use to write.
Mesopotamians used cuneiform and carved clay tablets (and stone); Egyptians use hieroglyphics (pictographs) and wrote on papyrus paper (and stone).
What was Hammurabi's Code, and how do you think it impacted life for Mesopotamians? (a strong answer will give examples!)
Answer should identify this as a code of laws written and enforced by King Hammurabi and his government. Answer may paraphrase an example law we studied and make an inference about power, violence, strictness, in/equality of social roles (age, gender, class, other), etc
What kinds of jobs did people in the middle and upper parts of the social pyramids have? Name 2+ and briefly explain what they did for their societies.
priests, scribes (writers), artisans (crafts people), merchants (traders), soldiers