Ancient Mesopotamia

Which of the following was NOT a function of governments in Mesopotamia?

• Keeping order

• Punishing wrongdoers

• Treating the people justly

• Building the economy

Which of the following best describes the origin of government in Mesopotamia?

• As specialization occurred and not everyone had to farm, some people emerged as rulers and religious leaders

• As people hunted and gathered, someone had to be in charge of the nomadic groups

• When people began farming they decided that whoever grew the most crops would be in charge

• Rulers were chosen by priests

Which of the following best describes the structure of the governments of Mesopotamian city-states?

• They were ruled by elected representative

• They were ruled by hereditary kings

• They were ruled by the people themselves

• They were ruled by non-royal leaders who had absolute power

Define ZIGGURAT

• The main entrance to Babylon. Here, judges would sit and decide court cases

• Pyramid-shaped religious temples where business transactions also took place

• The thick walls that surrounded Babylon. Laws were carved on the side of these walls

• The beautiful gardens on the roof of King Nebuchadnezzar’s palace

Which of the following does NOT accurately describe the relationship between government and religion in Mesopotamia?

• Religion and government in Mesopotamia were completely separate - just like many modern governments in the world today.

• The high priest was often also the king, so one person was in charge of religious life and political life

• The Mesopotamian people believed that many of their laws, such as Hammurabi’s Code, came from the gods

• Ziggurats were not only centers of religious life, but they were also where new laws were announced

The Mesopotamian city-states can be considered to be THEOCRACIES because

• Their leaders had absolute power

• they were united into large empires

• they had written laws, such as the Code of Hammurabi

• They had kings who were believed to have been selected by the gods

Which of the following best describes a MONARCHY?

• A government in which the people directly elect their leaders

• A government in which the people rule themselves

• A government in which the military rules

• A government in which a royal person is in charge

All of the following were purposes of Hammurabi’s Code, except

• providing a series of laws for the people to follow

• promoting trade

• explaining how certain court cases should be decided

• promoting trade punishing wrongdoers

One effect of Hammurabi’s Code was that

• criminals were treated leniently

• slaves were freed

• different people with similar disputes ended up having the same decisions made by judges

• people of different social classes were treated equally

People settled on the Fertile Crescent for all of the following reasons, except

• access to good drinking water

• land that was good for farming

• easy access to wandering herds of animals

• the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers allowed for easy trade with others