Mesopotamia Power Point Flashcards
Where was the Fertile Crescent?
The area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
What were some of Mesopotamia’s important “firsts”?
- Written language
- Law codes
- Important inventions
- Complex cities
- Large public works
What are some of the characteristics of a “Civilization”?
- Agriculture
- Social Hierarchy
- Organized Cities
- Organized Trade
- Consolidated Oral Language System
- Organized Religion
What is important to remember about the Tigris and Euphrates rivers?
- Overflowed their banks and deposited silt.
- Silt made the soil very fertile.
- Fertile soil was great for agriculture.
- But the rivers would often have terrible floods.
Who were the Mesopotamians? Where did they come from?
They originated from Bronze Age nomadic tribes.
What bound the Mesopotamians together?
- Language
- Religion
- Trade
What were the important Mesopotamian city-states?
- Ur
- Akkad
- Assur
- Nimrud
- Nineveh
Which people would the Mesopotamians “give birth” to later on?
- Assyrians
* Babylonians
Agriculture was important to Mesopotamia. What were some of the crops they grew?
Barley was the main crop.
Grapes and dates were also grown.
What animals were important to Mesopotamia?
Sheep
What made trade possible for the Mesopotamians?
Farmers grew more food than they needed.
(Went from sustenance farming to surplus farming.)
What were buildings and cities made from?
Bricks—made from clay mixed with water and strengthened with straw, then dried in the sun.
Later fired in kilns which made them stronger.
Why were bricks made from clay the primary building material in Mesopotamia?
Wood and metal were scarce.
The soil was full of clay.
Mesopotamian cities were well planned. What were they like?
Complex streets.
• Brick walls.
• Housing based on class—both quality and location.
• City center with markets and wells for water.
• Religious buildings such as the ziggurat.
• Cities could hold large populations.
What were some of the important inventions of the Mesopotamians?
- Wheel
- Sailboats
- Plow
- Time
- Complex irrigation techniques
- Writing
What did the invention of the wheel do for the Mesopotamians?
Used on carts which made trade easier
Use on early chariots—transportation and warfare
How did the Mesopotamians measure time?
60 second minutes, 60 minute hours
What was important about improvements in irrigation?
Made farming easier and led to agricultural surpluses which led to trade
What was Mesopotamian writing called?
Cuneiform
When was cuneiform writing developed?
Around 3500 BCE
What was writing used for in Mesopotamia?
At first it was used to record concrete ideas: records of kings, battles, floods
Later became more complex: laws, religious texts, social ideas
How many cuneiform characters were there?
600-1000 depending on the time period
What is one of the oldest surviving pieces of writing surviving?
Epic of Gilgamesh—a compilation of poems about the hero Gilgamesh
What was Hammurabi’s Code?
A collection of 284 laws dated to 1753 BCE. Punishments based on the crime and on the class of the person who committed the crime and the victim. Made public on stone tablets throughout the kingdom
