1. Chapter Three Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent

2. It’s a large arc of rich, or fertile farmland
1. Define the Fertile Crescent and where did it extend from?
2. Define silt
It’s a large arc of rich, or fertile farmland
It extended from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea
It’s a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks
Made soil fertile and perfect for farming

3. A way of supplying water to an area of land
3. When did the first farm settlement form in Mesopotamia? What did they grow?
4. Define irrigation
A way of supplying water to an area of land
As early as 7000 B.C
They grew:
Wheat
Barley
Other grain
Had livestock, birds and fish

4. They are human-made waterways Tigris River Euphrates River
5. Define canals
6. Which two rivers did the farmers build banks on to protect from flooding?
They are human-made waterways
Tigris River Euphrates River

5. 7. Define surplus
8. Define division of labor
More (food) than needed
Types of arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular task or job

6. Less farmers needed meant people were free to do other jobs Crafters
9. How did less people having to farm help other jobs develop?
What were those jobs?
Less farmers needed meant people were free to do other jobs
Crafters
Religious leaders
Government workers
Building irrigation systems needed specialized skills like managers

7. 11. Who were the Sumerians? Between 4,000 and 3,000 B.C.
10. When did cities develop in Mesopotamia?
11. Who were the Sumerians?
Between 4,000 and 3,000 B.C.
They developed the first civilization in Mesopotamia, called it Sumer and it was a very advanced society

8. 12. Define rural and urban
13. Define city-state
Rural~ countryside
Urban~ city
This was a city and all the countryside around it

9. 14. Who was Gilgamesh?
15. Who were the Akkadians?
One of Uruk’s kings who became a legendary figure in Sumerian literature
Lived peacefully north of Sumer until the 2300’s B.C. when Sargon wanted to expand

10. 16. Who was Sargon?
17. Define empire
Leader of the Akkadians, made his city a military power, his soldiers used bows and arrows and he gained their loyalty by eating with them everyday
Land with different territories and peoples under a single rule

11. The worship of many gods
18. Describe the city-state of Ur
19. Define polytheism
One of the earliest and largest cities in Mesopotamia, it was a trading center with India, 30,000 people, around 2000 B.C.
The worship of many gods

12. Inanna, goddess of love and war
20. Describe the Sumerian religion
21. Define priests
Polytheistic
God Enlil, lord of air
Enki, god of wisdom
Inanna, goddess of love and war
Utu and Nanna were the sun and moon gods
Gods brought good harvests and floods
People who perform religious ceremonies
In Sumer they interpreted the wishes of the gods and made offerings to them in temples

13. 22. Define social hierarchy
Describe the Sumerian social order
The division of society by rank or class
1. kings
2. priests
3. skilled craftspeople, merchants, and traders
4. farmers and laborers
5. slaves

14. Men~ political power and made laws
23. Describe men and women roles in Sumer
24. Define cuneiform
Men~ political power and made laws
Women~ took care of the home and children
Education mostly for men or wealthy women
This was the world’s first system of writing

15. 25. Define pictograph
26. Define scribe
Picture symbols
Another word for writer

16. 27. Explain Sumerian schools
28. Define epics
For reading and writing
Long poems that tell the stories of heroes
The Epic of Gilgamesh

17. Two story homes, palaces, made of bricks, columns on temples
29. Describe technical, math, and science advances
AND advances in architecture and the arts
Wheel (the first, used for carts and wagons)
Potters wheel
Plow
Sewers under the street
Bronze weapons
Math systems (360 degrees and area of rectangles)
Named 1000’s of animals, plants and minerals
Came up with treatments to medical conditions
Two story homes, palaces, made of bricks, columns on temples
Art~ sculptures, pottery, jewelry, cylinder seals
music

18. A pyramid shaped temple tower
30. Define ziggurat
31. What was Babylon and who was Hammurabi
A pyramid shaped temple tower
Was a Sumerian town along the Euphrates River, then by 1800 B.C. it had a powerful government of its own

19. A ruler of a kingdom or empire
32. Define monarch
33. Describe Hammurabi’s code
A ruler of a kingdom or empire
This was a set of 282 laws that dealt with almost every part of daily life
Laws on trade, loans, theft, marriage, injury and murder

20. A wheeled, horse-drawn cart used in battle
34. Who were the Hittites and Kassites?
35. Define chariot
Hittites~ built an empire in today’s Turkey, mastered ironworking (stronger weapons), used chariots, captured Babylon
Kassites~ Hittites king was killed by an assassin and they took over Babylon for almost 400 years
A wheeled, horse-drawn cart used in battle

21. Astronomy and geometry advances
36. Who were the Assyrians?
37. Who were the Chaldeans?
Took over Babylon in 1200’s B.C., only for a bit then came back 300 years later and conquered all of the Fertile Crescent and Asia Minor and some of Egypt
Strong army (iron weapons and chariots)
Before attacking they’d loot a village and burn crops
Kings had local leaders to collect taxes
After wars broke out in the Assyrian empire they were weak so the Chaldeans invaded and took over
Famous ruler Nebuchadnezzar (rebuilt Babylon in to a beautiful city (famous Hanging Garden of Babylon)
Astronomy and geometry advances

22. 38. Who were the Phoenicians?
Created a wealthy trading society on the Mediterranean Sea
Traded all over Egypt, Greece, Italy, Sicily and Spain
Had cedar trees (valuable) silverwork, ivory, slaves
Expert traders
One of the finest harbors
Worlds first alphabet, made writing easier (ours is based on this)