Topic 2 Lesson 1 - History

Beginning around ________ b.c., conquering armies swept across Mesopotamia and gradually overwhelmed the Sumerian city-states. The newcomers built on Sumerian learning and advances in many fields. They then helped spread the Sumerian legacy across the Middle East.

2500

By _______ b.c., Sumerians built a number of cities. Each city and the land surrounding formed a ___________

3000, city-state

Around _______ b.c., the world's first civilization developed in southeastern Mesopotamia, in a region called Sumer

3300

Sumerian civilization rose more than _______ years ago along the ________ and ____________ rivers in what is today Iraq. The *(2 rivers from the blanks before)* Valley lies in eastern end of the _________ ___________, an area that stretches in an arc from the __________ Gulf to the ___________________ Sea.

5,000, Tigris, Euphrates, Fertile Crescent, Persian, Mediterranean

Name 2 groups that conquered the Middle East (4 possible answers)

Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians

In ancient times, people told stories about the wanderings of a hero named ______________. Eventually, these stories were collected into a long narrative poem, (*NAME IT*). It describes a great flood that destroys the world. Archaeologists have found clear evidence that catastrophic floods occurred regularly in ancient times.

Gilgamesh, The Epic of Gilgamesh

The most important ceremony occurred at the new year when the king sought and won the favor of __________, the life-giving goddess of ______. The king then took part in a symbolic wedding to her. This ritual, Sumerians believed, would make the new year fruitful and prosperous.

Inanna, love

Much later, the ancient Greeks called the Tigris-Euphrates Valley ___________________, which means "between the _________."

Mesopotamia, rivers

Despite the danger of flooding in Mesopotamia, farmers planted a variety of crops. ______ left by floodwaters made the soil fertile

Silt

The Middle East was home to the ____________ civilization, one of the world's first civilizations

Sumerian

_________ brought riches to Sumerian cities. People who did this sailed along the rivers or risked the dangers of desert travel to carry goods to distant regions. Although it is unclear where and when the wheel was invented, the Sumerians may have made the first wheeled ___________

Trade, vehicles

Over the centuries, inventive Sumerians made advances in _______________ and ___________________. To measure and solve problems of calculation, they developed basic algebra and geometry. They based their number system on _____, dividing the hour into 60 minutes and the circle into 360 degrees, as we still do today.

astronomy, mathematics, six

Rulers lived in magnificent palaces with spacious courtyards. Most people, though, lived in tiny houses packed in a web of narrow alleys and lanes. Artisans who practiced the same trade, such as weavers or carpenters, lived and worked in the same street. These workshop-lined streets formed a _________, the ancestor of today's _____________ _______.

bazaar, shopping mall

Sumerian scribes had to go through years of difficult schooling to acquire their skills. Discipline was strict. Untidy copying or talking in class could be punished by _________. Students who did well often learned about religion, ____________________, and literature as well

caning, mathematics

Successful farming communities in Mesopotamia grew into ________, which gave rise to Sumerian civilization

cities

The Sumerians had few natural resources to build these cities, but they made the most of what they did have. They lacked building materials such as timber or stone, so they built with ______ and ________. They used *FIRST BLANK* to make _________, which they shaped in wooden molds and dried in the sun. These bricks were the building blocks for some of the world's first great cities, such as ____ and _______.

clay, water, bricks, Ur, Uruk

The Fertile Crescent has often been called the ______________ of the world in part because it commands access to three continents: (name them)

crossroads, Asia, Africa, Europe

By 3200 b.c., Sumerians had invented the earliest known writing. It was later called ______________, from the Latin word for "wedge," because scribes wrote by making wedge-shaped marks on clay ___________. Cuneiform grew out of a system of pictographs used to record goods brought to temple storehouses. Later, the Sumerians developed symbols to represent more complicated thoughts. As their writing evolved, the Sumerians used it to record not only ______________ exchanges but also myths, prayers, laws, and business contracts.

cuneiform, tablets, economic

To survive, early farming communities along the rivers had to work together to build dikes, _______, and irrigation systems. Over time, the construction and upkeep of increasingly complex irrigation systems led to the rise of an elaborate, well-run __________________

dams, government

In addition to floods, lower Mesopotamia suffered summer _____________ and hot _________, which could turn fertile soil to dust, shrivel crops, and cause famine

droughts, winds

Building on the learning of the Sumerians, later Mesopotamian astronomers developed ever more accurate calendars and learned to predict ____________ of the sun and moon.

eclipses

Control of the Tigris and Euphrates was key to the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia. From time to time, the rivers rose in terrifying _________ that washed away _________ and destroyed mud-brick villages

floods, topsoil

Each Sumerian city-state had a distinct social ______________, or system of ranking groups. The highest class included the ruling family, leading officials, and high __________. A small middle class was made up of scribes, _____________, and artisans. At the base of society were the majority of people, who were mostly peasant ____________.

hierarchy, priests, merchants, farmers

Newcomers to the region adopted many ________ and innovations from the Sumerians. The myths and gods of the newcomers became mingled with those of Sumer. In the process, names changed. The Sumerian goddess Inanna, for example, became Ishtar.

ideas

Some farmers had their own land, but most worked land belonging to the _______ or to temples. Sumerians also owned slaves. Most slaves were people who had been captured in _____. Some, though, had sold themselves into slavery to _____ their ________

king, war, pay, debts

The Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians adapted cuneiform so it could be used with their own _______________. These peoples then helped spread Sumerian learning across the Middle East. The river-valley civilization that began in Sumer featured a number of elements, beyond a written language, that reappeared in other, later civilizations. Sumer's patriarchal family structure, agricultural-based economies, government structures, and the beginning of a trade base influenced later empires and the rise of classical civilizations, such as _________ and _______. Later peoples also elaborated on Sumerian oral narratives, such as The Epic of Gilgamesh, which was written down in cuneiform by both the Akkadians and the Babylonians.

languages, Greece, Rome

In Sumer, goddesses were highly honored in religious practice. However, Sumerian women never held _______ ________ equal to those of men. But some rulers' wives had supervisory powers, and a number wrote songs about their husbands, revealing to later scholars that they had learned writing and music. On rare occasion, a woman may have inherited ____________.

legal rights, property

Sumerians produced fine gold, wood, and stone carvings. They invented a stringed musical instrument, called the ______, and performed on other instruments such as pipes and drums.

lyre

Rival city-states often battled for control of land and water. For protection, people turned to war leaders. Over time, these war leaders became hereditary rulers, leading to the rise of the _____________, a form of government in which one person, such as a king or queen, has complete authority

monarchy

The early Sumerians had a rich ______ literature, reaching far back in time. These types of poems told of the heroic deeds of warrior leaders. Eventually, Sumerian oral literature was __________.

oral, written

As a result of Mesopotamia's location, the region also became a crossroads where _________ and ________ met and mingled

people, ideas

Like most ancient peoples, the Sumerians were ________________, worshiping many gods. Sumerians believed that gods and goddesses behaved like ______________ ___________.

polytheistic, ordinary people

Each city-state had its own special god or goddess to whom people prayed and offered sacrifices of animals, grain, or wine. Sumerian rulers served as the high __________ for their city-state's chief deity, or god.

priest

Like river valley civilizations that emerged in other parts of the world, Sumerian civilization thrived thanks to fertile _____, ________, and the complex organization of government, __________, and specialized classes

soil, water, religion

In each city-state, the ruler was responsible for maintaining the city walls and irrigation systems. He led its armies in war and enforced the laws. As government grew more complex, the ruler employed scribes to carry out functions such as collecting ________ and keeping ____________. The ruler also had religious duties. In the early city-states, rulers probably were ______________; that is, the ruler was seen as the chief servants of the gods and led ceremonies meant to please them.

taxes, records, priest-kings

The Sumerians believed in an afterlife. At death, they thought, a person descended into a grim _______________ from which there was no release.

underworld

The Sumerians built the earliest known wheeled carts and ___________. They then developed the potter's wheel, which is used to shape wet clay into _________ and other kinds of pottery. They used __________ to make tools and weapons and developed looms to weave cloth. Equally important was the technology and engineering skills they invented to build irrigation systems and flood control projects

wagons, bowls, bronze

The largest buildings were _____________, pyramid-temples that soared toward the heavens. On top of each stood a shrine to a particular god or goddess

ziggurats