Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent
How did they protect their fields from flooding?
By building up the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers with earthen walls
What was on of the few prized resources of Phoenicia?
Cedar trees prized for their timber and a valuable trade item
What was the basic political unit of Sumer?
City-state
Politically, how was early Sumerian society organized? How did that organization affect society?
City-states. The amount of country side controlled by each city-state depended on its military strength. Stronger city-states controlled larger areas
What are canals?
Human-made waterways
Why do you think the invention of the plow was so important to the Sumerians?
It greatly increased farm production by breaking the hard clay soil of Sumer to prepare for planting.
What played a major role in the Sumerian society?
Religion
Who was Nebuchadnezzar?
The most famous king of the Chaldeans. He rebuilt Babylon into a beautiful city
Sumerian advances and inventions included what?
Ziggurats, the wheel, and cuneiform (the first writing system)
What is urban?
city areas
What is rural?
countryside areas
Who is Gilgamesh?
A king of Uruk and legendary in Sumerian literature (the first epic poem is about him)
What is the Fertile Crescent?
A large arc of rich, or fertile farmland that extends from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
What is silt?
A mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks, which makes land ideal for farming
What is a ziggurat?
A pyramid shaped temple tower
What is a monarch?
A ruler of a kingdom or empire
What is Hammurabi's code?
A set of 282 laws that dealt with almost every part of daily life
What is the alphabet?
A set of letters that can be combined to form words
What is division of labor?
A type of arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular task or job.
What is irrigation?
A way of supplying water to an area of land.
What is a chariot?
A wheeled horse-drawn cart used in battle skillfully used by the Hittites to capture Bablyon around 1595 BC
What changed Sumerian lives?
Advances and inventions
Who is Sargon?
Akkadian emperor and among the first military leaders to have a permanent army and establish the world' first empire.
List the Empires of the Fertile Crescent and one advance or achievement made by each
Akkadians - Organized military power Sumerians - Wheel Babylonians - Code of laws Hittites - Chariot Assyrians - Roads to link distant lands Chaldeans - Astronomy Phoenicians - Alphabet
Many types of what developed Sumer?
Art
Why would rulers benefit if they claimed to be chosen by the gods?
Because the people believed their gods had enormous powers and could bring good harvest or disastrous flood, illness or good health and wealth.
Why did the Sumerians consider it everyone's responsibility to keep the gods happy?
Because they believed it was their duty and that success in every area of life depended on pleasing the gods. Their gods had enormous powers and could bring good harvest or disastrous flood, illness or good health and wealth.
What was the basic Sumerian building material?
Bricks made of mud
Sumerian society was organized in what, which consisted of a city and the surrounding lands.
City-states. The amount of country side controlled by each city-state depended on its military strength. Stronger city-states controlled larger areas
Instead of using pictographs, Sumerians developed a type of writing called what?
Cuneiform, the world' first system of writing
Why do you think cylinder seals developed into works of art?
Each seal left its own distinct imprint and were engraved with designs. Seals could be used to "sign" documents or decorate other clay objects. Some seals showed battle scenes or worship rituals. Some were highly decorative with hundreds of carefully cut gems. They required great skill to make.
Who built the world's first empire, and what did the empire include?
Emperor Sargon, who defeated all the city-states of Sumer and whose Akkadian Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea
What was Hammurabi's most important accomplishment?
Establishing Hammurabi's code, which was thorough and written down for all to see. It contained laws on everything from trade, loans, and theft to marriage, injury and murder.
Why did farmers need to develop a system to control their water supply?
Flooding destroyed crops, killed livestock, and washed away homes, while low water dried crops ups.
What was the most important factor in making Mesopotamia's farmland fertile?
Floods on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers brought silt to the land. The fertile silt made the land ideal for farming.
How did Phoenicians grow wealthy?
From trade of cedar, silverwork, ivory carvings, slaves, and glass objects
Who was the Babylonian king famous for his code of laws?
Hammurabi
How did Sargon build his empire?
He established a permanent army to launch a series of wars against neighboring kingdoms. With conquests, he established his empire.
How did Mesopotamian irrigation systems allow civilization to develop?
Irrigation increased the amount of food farmers were able to grow. Farmers could produce a surplus of food, so fewer people needed to farm and could focus on other jobs such as crafters, religious leaders, and government workers.
What is an empire?
Land with different territories and peoples under a single rule
What areas of life were improved by Sumerian inventions?
Many areas of daily life, such as building sewers under city streets, making stronger tools and weapons with bronze, and producing make up and jewelry. They also made advances in math, science and medecine
Where was Mesopatamia, and what does the name mean?
Mesopotamia means "between rivers" in Greek. It lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and between Asia Minor and the Persian Gulf. It is a part of a larger area called the Fertile Crescent.
What is surplus?
More than is needed (for example food)
Where is Babylon located?
On the Euphrates River near what is today Baghdad, Iraq
Where was Phoenicia located?
On the western end of the Fertile Crescent, along the Mediterranean Sea
Why do you think the priests were so important in ancient Sumerian society?
People relied on them to help gain the gods' favor and the priests interpreted the wishes of the gods and made offerings to them. The kings of Sumer claimed the priests had been chosen by the gods to rule.
Who are priests?
People who performed religious ceremonies
What is a pictograph?
Picture symbols, which was an earlier form of communication than cuneiforms
What made civilization possible in Mesopotamia?
Plentiful food
The people of Sumer practiced the worship of many gods, also called what?
Polytheism
Which empire discussed in this section contributed most to modern-day society? Why?
Probably the Phoenicians, because they developed one of the world's first alphabets to record their activities. English language is based on this same alphabet.
While city dwellers were urban, farmers lived in what areas?
Rural
Mesopotamian farmers used what to irrigate their fields?
Storage basins that held water supplies, canals that then connected the basins to the fields
What does Hammurabi's code reveal about Babylonian society?
That they needed consistent and clear laws just like we do today, that everyone could know and understand, so they knew what was expected of them.
Who conquered Mesopotamia and created a code of law?
The Babylonians
Who built a trading society in the eastern Mediterranean region?
The Phonecians
Who created the world's first advanced society?
The Sumerians
Who developed the first civilization in Mesopotamia?
The Sumerians
Who invented the world's first writing system?
The Sumerians
The world's first civilizations were in the valleys of which rivers?
The Tigris and Euphrates
What is a horse-drawn vehicle that gave the Hittites and advantage during battle?
The chariot
What is a social-hierarchy?
The division of society by rank or class. In Sumerian social order priests were just below kings.
New farming techniques led to the growth of what?
The growth of cities
What supported the growth of civilization?
The rivers of Southwest Asia, most specifically the Tigris and the Euphrates
What is architecture?
The science of building
Food production in Mesopotamia led to what?
The world's first civilization
What is a cuneiform?
The world's first system of writing, using wedged-shaped symbols on clay tablets
What is polytheism?
The worship of many gods
What steps did city-states take to protect themselves from their rivals?
They built up strong armies and strong thick walls around their cities for protections.
What two advantages did Hittite soldiers have over their opponents?
They were the first to master ironworking, so they could make the strongest weapons, and they skillfully used the chariot, so they could move swiftly across the battlefield and fire arrows at their enemy.
The early Mesopotamians developed irrigation for what purpose?
To grow more food
Why do you think writing is one of history's most important cultural advances?
To help progress civilization by writing down trade, as well as works on history, law, grammar, math, poems, songs, and epics
How was cuneiform first used in Sumer?
To record business deals, such as the number of sheep and goats traded
How did trade affect Sumerian society?
Traders traveled to faraway places and exchanged grain for gold, silver, copper, lumber, and precious stones.
For what trade good were the Phoenicians known? For what else were they known?
Trading goods (such as cedar, silverwork, ivory carvings, slaves, and glass objects) and developing colonies along these routes. Most importantly, however, they developed one of the world's first alphabets to record their activities. English language is based on this same alphabet.
What were the main achievements of the Phonecians?
Trading goods (such as cedar, silverwork, ivory carvings, slaves, and glass objects) and developing colonies along these routes. Most importantly, however, they developed one of the world's first alphabets to record their activities. English language is based on this same alphabet.
What were two early uses of the wheel?
Wheeled vehicles, such as carts and wagons, and the plow, pulled by oxen.
What advances and inventions changed Sumerian lives?
Writing, technical advances such as the wheel, plow, sewers, bronze tools, a base-60 math system, categorizing science and ingredients for medicine, and art using gold wood and stone
Do you think a division of labor is necessary for civilization to develop? Why or why not?
Yes, because it allows a people to work on different jobs and accomplish more, such as constructing buildings, making clay pots or tools, digging irrigation systems, and creating laws and government.
What is a city-state?
a city and all the countryside around it
What is a scribe?
a writer, hired for example to keep records or keep track of the items people traded
What are epics?
long stories than tell the stories of heroes
