Mesopotamia Vocabulary

​Hammurabi

King Hammurabi took over the city-states of Mesopotamia.  He formed one large empire. He centralized the government. He improved taxes, houses, and the crop-watering system.  This system is called irrigation.  He also wrote laws called the Code of Hammurabi.  The code defined crimes and their punishments.  It covered owners’ rights and how to get loans and pay back debts.  Hammurabi told people how to treat women and the poor in his code, too.

Multiple Choice

Use the reading to help: What is a city-state?

• Type of farming near river

• A country's military

• A city that is its own country

Multiple Choice

Use the reading to help: What is an empire?

• Large centralized government of different city-states

• Collection of many businesses

• A large farm using irrigation

Multiple Choice

Use the reading to help: What is an irrigation?

• Large centralized government of different city-states

• Collection of many businesses

• Crop-watering system that helps grow food.

Multiple Choice

Use the reading to help: What is the Code of Hammurabi?

• Large centralized government of different city-states

• List of crimes and their punishments

• Crop-watering system that helps grow food.

​Sumer

 People lived in Mesopotamia 7,000 years ago.  One of its first city-states was Sumer. It was a trade center.

    The Sumerians had a form of writing. They used cuneiform, or symbols.  These marks were made with a pointed stick on wet clay tablets. Just a few men called scribes could write.  Scribes were important.  Some boys went to school for 12 years to become scribes. 

    Sumer had some rich people.  But most of them were poor.  Sumerians worked as merchants, builders, farmers, and fishermen.  Some artisans made pots, baskets, furniture, and cloth. 

Multiple Choice

Use the reading to help: What is cuneiform?

• People who made crafts and other objects

• Writing system of symbols on clay tablets

• Person who could write

Multiple Choice

Use the reading to help: What is a scribe?

• People who made crafts and other objects

• Writing system of symbols on clay tablets

• Person who could write

Multiple Choice

Use the reading to help: What is an artisan?

• People who made crafts and other objects

• Writing system of symbols on clay tablets

• Person who could write

​Babylon

Another part of Mesopotamia was Babylonia. Babylon had lovely temples and palaces.  It was the cultural center of Mesopotamia. Babylonians thought that a god or a goddess ruled each city. They Babylonians were polytheistic, or believed in many gods.  This god or goddess lived in the city’s ziggurat.  Ziggurats were a bit like pyramids and stood in the center of each city.  Only priests could go into the temples.

Multiple Choice

Use the reading to help: What is a ziggurat?

• Where the gods lived

• Religious leader

• Belief in many gods

Multiple Choice

Use the reading to help: What is a ziggurat?

• Where the gods lived

• Religious leader

• Belief in many gods

Multiple Choice

Which is a ziggurat?

Multiple Choice

What did of government did Hammurabi rule?

• One city-state

• Empire

• Democracy

Multiple Choice

What was the job of scribes?

• play sports

• write

• go to the temples

Multiple Choice

What language did scribes use to write?

• Arabic

• English

• cuneiform

Multiple Choice

Which of these was used by a Sumerian scribe?

Multiple Choice

Which color shows Mesopotamia?

• Purple

• Yellow

• Orange

• Pink