Question | Answer |
What does Mesopotamia mean? | "Land between the Rivers." |
Where is Mesopotamia located? | Shat al ArabOn the continents of Asia and Africa, Northeastern Africa and southwestern Asia- nations today include Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Kuwait, Oman, Yemen, UAR,
Egypt, Libya |
Shat al Arab | The river that is formed where the Tigris and Euphrates come together shortly before the Persian Gulf- very important to control “the door” to the gulf and the Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean. |
silt | Fine particles of rich soil, carried and deposited by a river, left from flood waters on land. |
Bad Qualities of Mesopotamia Region | • Easily invaded
• Floods can destroy crops and buildings
• Little rainfall |
Good Qualities of Mesopotamia Region | • Fertile soil
• Rivers provide fish
• Rivers provide water
• Rivers provide transportation
• Nice flat land for farming |
surplus | To have an abundance, more than is needed of a item. This allowed for specialization of labor, not everyone needed to keep farming. |
Ziggurat | A stepped building with a temple on the top level. Also included classrooms, workshops, warehouse for valuables and food, rooms for priests to live. |
Civilization | Must include: cities, government, religion, various occupations, arts, architecture,
and writing! |
Social Hierarchy/ Social Classes
(Mesopotamia- 3 basic classes) | Civilizations with specialization of jobs have citizens ranked by income, power, education, family background.
Most ancient civilizations did not give people opportunities to move up the ladder of social classes. |
Women’s Role | Women were allowed to inherit property if there were not male heirs, women could be artisans, but mostly were to take care of children, home.
Could not ever learn to read or write! |