Vocabulary: From Akkad to Ziggurat
This early form of writing was made by pressing a stylus into clay tablets
cuneiform
This ruler of Babylon was famous for creating his code, a set of laws and rules.
Hammurabi
The hero of the most famous Mesopotamian story.
Gilgamesh
This area, whose name means "the land between," is located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Mesopotamia
A small, independent city with its own ruler and gods.
city-state
A person who recorded information using writing
scribe
Mesopotamian kings claimed their power came from these higher beings.
gods and goddesses
The flood story in Gilgamesh shows how people saw the power of these beings.
the gods
Canals, irrigation, and dikes were built mainly for this reason.
To control water for farming.
A large political unit that controls many peoples and lands.
empire
The food or money a state collects from its own people.
tax
The Neo-Assyrians ruled through this powerful emotion.
fear
or
order
The wild man who became Gilgamesh’s friend.
Enkidu
Cutting down too many trees led to this environmental problem.
flooding
and/or
silt
One way city-states and empires were similar.
rulers, laws, writing, temples, taxation, etc.
Forced movement of conquered people to another land.
resettlement
This ruler of Akkad is famous for creating the first empire in history.
Sargon
This god helps Gilgamesh in his fight against Humbaba after Gilgamesh's mother prays to him
Shamash
City-states in Mesopotamia were built next to these for transportation and irrigation
Rivers
One major difference between city-states and empires.
City-states are small and rule one land/one people, while empires are large rule many lands and peoples
A name for people who lived beyond the borders of settled lands.
barbarians
The Persian Empire had these special governors who worked for the king to rule their own area.
satraps
This man of myth from ancient Mesopotamia was able to live forever after surviving a great flood.
Utnapishtim
This kind of environment was impossible for settled empires like the Neo-Assyrians or Persians to control.
Steppe/grassland
Name at least two cities in ancient Mesopotamia or Persia
Uruk, Ur, Akkad, Nippur, Nineveh, Babylon, Persepolis, Lagash, Pasargadae