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Mesopotamia
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Drought | A drought is a long time with little to no rain which can cause food shortages. To combat droughts in their new homeland, Sumerians created an irrigation systems of Canals, levees, and reservoirs. |
| Famine | A famine is when there isn’t enough food in one place, forcing the area of people to either move or try to maintain their crops. There was a famine in Mesopotamia, forcing them to move into the plains between the Tigris and Euphrates river. |
| Surplus | A surplus is an extra amount of resources often used for trading. Every year, farmers try to grow a surplus of crops for taxes, trading, and extra food. |
| Barter | A barter is to trade for the things people want. Because Mesopotamia was always looking for ways to improve, they must have barterd a lot to get resources from around the world. |
| City-state | A city-state is like it’s own independent country with its own laws and government. Hammurabi overthrew most of the city-states in Mesopotamia, declaring him as one of the most powerful leaders in the region. |
| Ziggurat | A ziggurat is a pyramid-shaped temple tower, which rises above each city. This is their place for religion. Many people go to the ziggurats to pray in Mesopotamia. They also go there to worship and make offerings to the gods |
| Cuneiform | Cuneiform is the world's first system of writing which was represented by symbols which represented syllables. Sumerians wrote cuneiform on clay tablets with a stylus. |
| Hammurabi's code | Hammurabi’s code was a set of 282 laws invented by Hammurabi. It was one of the first law systems that applied to a large group of people. Hammurabi’s code had many sections like crime laws, court laws, personal injury, property and many more. |
| Social structure of Mesopotamia | 1.King 2.priests, warriors, government officials 3. Skilled craftspeople 4. Farmers or laborers 5. slaves |
| Judaism | Judaism is the religion of Hebrew people which was created by shepherds and early people in Canaan (between Jordan river and Mediterranean Sea). The ancient writings of Judaism were known as the Torah. They make up the first five books for the bible. |
| Polytheism | Polytheism is the belief in more than one god. The Mesopotamias and Egyptians believed in more than one god, meaning they had a polytheistic religion. |
| Monotheism | Monotheism is the belief in one god. The Hebrews believed in only one god, meaning they had a monotheistic religion |
| Akkadians | Leader: Sargon. Achievements of sargon: army fought in tight formations, demanded loyalty from governors or replaced them, Made sure his empire would be ruled by his posterity. Achievements: Replaced Sumerian language,skilled at 3d sculptures. 1st empire |
| Babylon | Leader: Hammurabi, achievements of leader: Created Hammurabi's code (282 laws), united people of empire, maintained irrigation system & built roads w/postal service. Achievements: Agriculture & trade flourished. Second empire |
| Asserians | Leader: Ashurbanipal. Achievements : Used horses & iron in battle, skilled at siege, first to use battering rams & movable towers. Spread stories of their cruelty, created 2d sculptures on palace walls (shows kings doing various things). Third empire |
| Neo-Babylons | Leader: King Nebuchadnezzar II. Achievements of leader: Built inner and outer walls, towers for archers, a moat for protection, and hanging gardens of babylon. Achievements: Made sundials and sicoverieis to 60-min hour and 7-day week. Fourth empire |
| Why was Sargon important | Sargon was one of the first empire rulers in Mesopotamia. He was the Akkadian ruler. |
| Why Hammurabi was so important | Hammurabi was the king of Babylon. He was best known for his code of laws which consisted of 282 of them. He also united the people of his empire which consisted of mostly every city-state in Mesopotamia. |
| Why Nebuchadnezzar II was so important | Nebuchadnezzar II was known for creating the hanging gardens of Neo-Babylon which was one of the 7 wonders of the world. He also created inner and outer walls for his empire. |
| Abraham | Abraham was the leader of the Hebrew people and led them from Ur, through the fertile crescent into Canaan. |
| Moses | Moses was the new leader of the Hebrews. He helped them escape from the Egyptians who enslaved them for more than 400 years until Moses helped them break free. |
| Stable food supply | Mesopotamia has a stable food supply. They built irrigation systems to water their crops. These were canals,dams, and reservoirs. They also invented the plow which helped them make holes in the soil faster, helping them make food twice as fast as before. |
| Stable food supply pt. 2 | This led to a stable food supply since now, the people in Mesopotamia could control their water supply and plant crops more efficiently, leading to a stable food supply |
| Writing | Mesopotamia had a writing system called cuneiform. Cuneiform means wedge in latin since they used a sharp wedge called a stylus to write. They used clay tablets to write which was first used to record the goods they exchanged with other people. |
| Writing pt.2 | Cuneiform started with about 2000 symbols but was then reduced to 700, making writing easier. Cuneiform was one of the first written languages, making it revolutional to all of Mesopotamia. |
| Arts | The arts in Mesopotamia were not taken lightly. The many kinds of art included: weapons, cups, mirrors, jewelry, architecture, and music. The people of Mesopotamia believed that music brought joy to the gods. |
| arts pt.2 | They played many instruments, one of which was the lyre. Lyre makers put a lot of effort into making lyres beautiful by using various colors and sculptures.People of Mesopotamia also created many sculptures of their kings, gods, and other symbolic things. |
| Government | Mesopotamian people had a strong government ruled by kings. The people of Mesopotamia believed that their kings were chosen by the gods to rule over the people of each city-state. |
| Government pt2 | The Sumerians were the first to develop a law system in which was recorded on scribes. The jobs of the kings were to enforce laws, collect taxes, build temples, and maintain the irrigation systems. |
| Social structure | Social stature in Mesopotamia was based on one’s job. The sections of the social stature were high class, common class, and slaves. The high class people included priests and landowners who had big, luxurious homes in the middle of the city. |
| Social structure pt2 | The common class people were: merchants, craftsmen, farmers, and fishermen. These people lived in mud-brick homes near the outer layer of the city. Lastly, slaves didn’t own homes though they could own property. Most slaves lived in their owners' homes. |
| Technology | Mesopotamian people invented many things like the wheel which was invented by pottery makers who discovered how a potter’s wheel could be rolled on its edge. It resulted in one of the most powerful inventions since it made pulling heavy loads easier |
| Technology pt2 | They also invented the arch, which was placed on many buildings before and even now. These arches made buildings stronger since they could support a lot of weight. This led to a new way to make gates and other entry-ways to places. |
| Religion | The Mesopotamian people were polytheists, meaning they believed in multiple gods. The people of Mesopotamia built temples called Ziggurats since they believed that gods lived in towers. The ziggurats were symbolic to the god’s towers. |
| Religion pt2 | The people also sacrificed people or foods/materials as offerings to gods. They would also offer luxurious things to gods in order to keep peace with them. It was the king’s job to build/maintain ziggurats, usually located in the middle of a city-state. |
| Problem #1 in Mesopotamia | -Problem 1: there wasn’t enough food due to the droughts in the current land. -Solution 1: The people decided to move out of the foothills, onto the plains between the Tigris and Euphrates river. |
| How does solution#1 lead to problem #2 | Though the land had water, it was very unstable. Sometimes there would be too little water but sometimes there would be floods, ruining the crops. |
| problem #2 in Mesopotamia | Problem 2: there would be too little water but sometimes there would be floods, ruining the crops Solution 2: They created a irrigation system where they collect water and store it for when they needed it. These systems included dams, canals, and levees. |
| How does solution#2 lead to problem #3 | These irrigation systems were great but over time, they were hard to maintain because of their complexity. |
| Problem #3 in Mesopotamia | Problem 3: The irrigation systems would always get clogged with silt, affecting the water flow. Solution 3: The people worked together which helped them become a larger community and united City-states to become larger empires. |
| How does solution #3 lead to problem #4 | Because Mesopotamia had so many city-states, many of them fought for resources. Many rulers would want more land or conquer more city-states which lead to many attacks. |
| Problem #4 in Mesopotamia | Problem 4: cities fought each other for access to water and other resources like lad. Solution 4: The cities built moats around their cities to prevent attacks |
Created by:
jfu28
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