Early Civilizations: Mesopotamia

Early Civilizations: Mesopotamia

Early Civ Recap

• Humans developed from nomadic hunter-gatherers to settlements with agriculture and domesticated animals.

• Settled in places with geographic protection, fresh water, and fertile land.

• Egypt was based around the Nile.

Multiple Choice

This Egyptian form of writing used pictures and symbols:

• mummification

• hieroglyphics

• delta

• pharaoh

Mesopotamian Geography

• Name for group of civilizations that developed in the area between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River known as "The Fertile Crescent."

• A wide, flat plain that offered little protection.

• Random, violent floods.

Mesopotamian Culture

• There was no one, single, Mesopotamian culture. The Sumerians, based around the city of Sumer were the oldest.

• Every civilization that followed kept what worked and got rid of what they didn't like.

• However, this doesn't mean that there was no culture.

Mesopotamian Culture cont.

• Like Egypt, Mesopotamians developed a system of writing called cuneiform. It used symbols and shapes to create meaning.

• The first, oldest literature was created in Mesopotamia in the epic poem Gilgamesh.

Cuneiform

• Compare this style of writing with Egyptian hieroglyphics.

• Egypt, because it was protected, developed an artistic, fancy style. Mesoptamia had to create something that worked.

Multiple Choice

What is the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers called?

• Awesome circle

• Fertile Crescent

• Sausage Croissant

• None of the above

Mesopotamian Religion

• Most Mesopotamian societies were polytheistic, like Egypt.

• However, Judaism, the world's oldest monotheistic religion developed here. Without Judaism there is no Christianity or Islam.

Mesopotamian Government

• Most Mesopotamian civilizations were organized as city-states, or a city and it's surrounding area. Each city-state had it's own government, often a monarchy.

Hammurabi's Code

• One of the world's first law codes.

• Created by Babylonian King Hammurabi.

• Summed up best as "an eye for an eye."

List of different Mesopotamian city-states/governments

• Sumerians

• Babylonians

• Akkadians

• Assyrians

• Persians

• Hebrews

Multiple Choice

This term describes a political unit that contains a city and it's surrounding area.

• State

• Nation

• City-state

• City-county

Mesopotamian Economy and Technology

• Each city-state had it's own economy and most relied on the barter system until money was developed.

• With regards to technology, the Sumerians invented the wheel and created the basic measurement of 60, 60, and 360.

Conclusion

• Mesopotamian civilization developed independently from Egypt and had multiple civilizations and innovations due to their relative lack of geographic protection.

• However, Mesopotamia still had it's own culture, languages, religion, government, and politics.

Multiple Choice

Rule by one person, a king or queen

• Dictatorship
• Theorcracy
• Monarchy
• Oligarchy

Multiple Choice

A city with political and economic control over the surrounding countryside

• City-State
• Country
• Villiage
• Culture

Multiple Choice

Who created the world's first law code?

• Hammurabi

• Sargon

• Cyrus the Great

• Nebuchadnezzar

Multiple Choice

What was the legal code that came out of Mesopotamia that was meant to protect people and their property?

• The Code of Hammurabi

• The Torah

• The New Testament

• The Quran

Multiple Choice

What is the writing form that uses web-shaped markings made with reeds?

• cuneiform

• hieroglyphics

Multiple Choice

What does polytheism mean?

• Belief in no God

• Belief in one God

• Belief in many Gods

Multiple Choice

What are the names of the two rivers that would flood regularly in Mesopotamia, thus making the land more fertile for agriculture?

• The Nile and the Zambezi

• The Congo and the Niger

• The Euphrates and the Tigris

• The Jordan and the Dead Sea