City-States in Mesopotamia

Question 1

What is the Fertile Crescent, and why is it called that?

Answer 1

• An arc of land that provided the best farming in Southwest Asia because of its shape and the richness of the soil
• called that bc of its Curved shape and richness of the land

Question 2

Name three disadvantages of Sumer’s
natural environment.

Answer 2

1. Unpredictable flooding + a period of little rain
2. No natural barriers for protection
3. Natural resources were limited

Question 3

Time Period

Answer 3

3500-1600 BC

Question 4

Rivers

Answer 4

Euphrates and Tigris

Question 5

Cities

Answer 5

Sumer, Uruk

Question 6

Physical Boundaries

Answer 6

Rivers

Question 7

Significant Figures

Answer 7

Enlil and Ugally, Hammurabi

Question 8

Religious Foundation

Answer 8

Polytheistic

Question 9

style of political/government rule

Answer 9

theocracy

Question 10

define:

theocracy

Answer 10

leader makes decisions about cities’ religion

Question 11

Notable Achievements

Answer 11

Irrigation, agriculture, cuneiform, rule of laws

Question 12

reason for collapse/end

Answer 12

The Babylonian Empire overtook them

Question 13

Mesopotamia

Answer 13

Land between two rivers

Question 14

Silt

Answer 14

the dirt left behind when the rivers flooded

Question 15

Cuneiform

Answer 15

the mesopotamian writing system

Question 16

Ziggurat

Answer 16

pyramid-like monuments and temples for the gods

Question 17

City-State

Answer 17

A city and its surrounding land that it controlled like countries are governed today

Question 18

Tigris

Answer 18

one of the two rivers that border mesopotamia. flows on the north and east side

Question 19

Euphrates

Answer 19

one of the two rivers that border mesopotamia, flows on the south and west side

Question 20

Zagros Mtns are located where?

Answer 20

north and east side of mesopotamia, right behind the tigris river

Question 21

Fertile Crescent

Answer 21

the only fertile area (place you can plant in) in the place (surrounded by deserts)

Question 22

cultural diffusion

Answer 22

When ideas/things are spread from culture to culture

Question 23

polytheism

Answer 23

the belief in many gods

Question 24

dynasty

Answer 24

A line of successors that is passed down from father to son

Question 25

Persian Gulf

Answer 25

located under mesopotamia

Question 26

Ur

Answer 26

a major city in mesopotamia that controlled much of the trade into Mesopotamia

Question 27

sumer

Answer 27

the earliest known region of southern mesopotamia

Question 28

uruk

Answer 28

the capital city of giglamesh, a large city-state, trade, specialization of crafts and teh evolution of writing

Question 29

Nippur

Answer 29

ancient sumarian city, the religious center of mesopotamia

Question 30

Babylon

Answer 30

the amorites invaded mesopotamia and made babylon their capital, hammurabi ruled in its peak

Question 31

Hammurabi

Answer 31

made a code of laws, sixth king in the babylon dynasty

Question 32

what were hammurabi's laws abt?

Answer 32

- Deals with everything that affected his community - Family relations - Business conduct - Crime - based on "an eye for an eye"

Question 33

What were the positives of mesopotamia?

Answer 33

- The silt that you get from flooding - Writing (cuneiform) - Writing leads to history - Trade, which led them to be the first territorial kingdom - Taxes → stable social orders - Hammarabi’s code introduced the “presumption of innocence” - “Brutal, terrifying, efficient army”

Question 34

What were the negatives of mesopotamia?

Answer 34

- Conflict between people and city - Unpredictable flooding - Hammarabi’s code was built on “an eye for an eye”, but could be unjust - Empires are hard to unify - They had to conquer cities in order to please the gods

Question 35

Central Institutions (government, religion, law, etc)

Answer 35

- created ziggurats to worship the gods and had priests that could connect with them as rulers - had a code of laws to establish order once an empire emerged.

Question 36

Record Keeping

Answer 36

- written records in cuneiform for taxes and debts, trading, and record keeping for current events that were dramatic and note-worthy.

Question 37

Innovative Technology

Answer 37

- the irrigation systems - bronze - the wheel for pottery.

Question 38

Specialized Workers

Answer 38

People could do things other than farming with the surplus of food. That's how specialized workers came to be. Two examples of these specialized workers are artists and scribes.

Question 39

King Sargon of Akkad

Answer 39

created the first empire