Resources for Civilization, Achievements, and Empires

Boundaries of Mesopotamia SE Asia Inside the Fertile Crescent Unpredictable flooding water resource for trade/transportation, fishing, freshwater, farming Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

irrigation Supplying dry land with water Canals Ditches Dams Reservoirs

Mesopotamia “Land between the rivers” in Greek language Very fertile Made up of many city- states

Sumer SE region of Mesopotamia Flat land Many successful city- states located in this region Sumerians invented many things we still use today.

City-state a city surrounded by walls with farmland on the outside ex. - Babylon, Ur, Uruk, Nippur, Akkad had separate governments

polytheism Belief in many gods Started as a way to explain events in nature

Ziggurat Religious temple to city- state’s most important god Multi-layered mudbrick Located in center of city- state People left offerings Priests in charge

Cuneiform Wedge-shaped writing system On clay with a stylus Written by scribes Invented to keep track of records trade & government Sumerian achievement

Sargon Akkadian king (city of Akkad) Conquered all of Mesopotamia created world’s first empire United all of Meso. under one rule

Hammurabi Hammurabi’s Code of Law 282 laws Governed every aspect of life “eye for an eye” Fair within same social classes