The earliest written language. BCE The years before the year 0. The worship and belief in many gods. The land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

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1 Rise of Civilizations & Mesopotamia Study Guide Test: Monday, November 19 Format: Matching, Multiple Choice, Free Response Notes: Rise of Civilization, Uruk Civilization Organizer, Ancient Mesopotamian Religion, Empires in Mesopotamia Questions, Empires of Mesopotamia Chart Textbook Readings: pp Handouts:Akkadian Empire/Babylonian Empire, Fertile Crescent Empires Vocabulary: Mesopotamia, silt, Fertile Crescent, BCE, CE, irrigation, division of labor, surplus, cuneiform, bureaucrat, pantheon, polytheism, myth, empire Cuneiform The earliest written language Silt Fertile Crescent Bureaucrat A mixture of fine rock and mineral particles found at the bottom of rivers that create very fertile soil A large arc of rich/fertile farmlands that stretches from Southern Mesopotamia to the Eastern Mediterranean shores A government worker BCE The years before the year 0 Division of Labor When people in a community have a variety of different kinds of jobs Polytheism The worship and belief in many gods Mesopotamia The land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Myth Surplus A story usually involving gods and goddesses that explains something about the world and/or teaches a lesson Having more than you need CE The years after the year 0 Empire Irrigation Pantheon A civilization whose government controls and rules over other civilizations A way of supplying water via canals to an area of land to help agricultural growth A family of gods/goddesses of a particular religion

2 The Rise of Civilizations 1.) What are the seven characteristics of a civilization? 1 Large Population Centers 2 Division of Labor 3 Social Classes 4 Organized Government 5 Religion and Shared Values 6 Art and Architecture 7 Written Language 2.) Why was there so much silt in the lands surrounding the Tigris and Euphrates rivers? The flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers which deposited silt 3.) Why couldn t the Mesopotamians use the silt outside of the areas right next to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers? The areas away from the rivers were too dry and desert-like to farm on 4.) What did the Mesopotamians invent to allow silt outside of the areas right next to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers? Irrigation

3 5.) How did the development of an irrigation system lead to a division of labor in Mesopotamia? Developing an irrigation system led to the Mesopotamians having a surplus of food. Having a surplus of food meant that not everybody had to farm any more because the civilization had even more food than it needed. So it freed up other people to do different kinds of jobs other than farming 6.) Why is a division of labor necessary for an agricultural community to become a civilization? Every characteristic of a civilization needs to have full-time workers dedicated to it existing for it to exist. Uruk: Civilization Organizer & pp How did people who weren't farmers get their food in Uruk? What evidence is there for this? Storehouses that farmers brought their surplus crops to. Workers would come to the storehouse and be paid in food for doing their job. Cuneiform tablets that recorded the amount of food being given out and brought in What building would store the food in Uruk? The temple Who was in the upper class of Uruk? What other non-upper class jobs were in Uruk? The kings and the priests Farmers, builders, merchants, bureaucrats, soldiers, stone-cutters, supervisors, etc. How many people lived in Uruk? 40,000-50,000

4 1.) Taken altogether, what is name of the civilization that all of the Mesopotamian city-states belonged to? Sumer 2.) What is the name of the empire that took over that civilization (from #1)? Akkadians Ancient Mesopotamian Religion 1.) All of the Mesopotamian gods and goddesses are the personification of what two types of things? Nature and human nature 2.) What was the deal that the Mesopotamians believed they had with their gods? If they took care of the gods needs the gods would take care of their needs. If they didn t take care of the gods needs then the gods would not take care of them. 3.) What kinds of things did the Mesopotamians do to make their gods happy? Prayers, offerings, songs, rituals, cleaning their statues, feeding them, parading their statues through the streets, dancing for them 4.) What were the two purposes for why the Mesopotamians wrote down and told myths about their gods and goddesses? Teach lessons and explain why the world is the way it is 5.) According to their myths, what did the Mesopotamians most likely believe their purpose in life was? To take care of the needs of the gods primarily by feeding them.

5 Empires in Mesopotamia 1.) What gave the following empires the advantage in conquering the areas they did? The Akkadians A permanent army The Hittites 3-person war chariots The Assyrians Iron weapons & siege warfare 2.) What did the following empires do to maintain control in their empires? The Babylonians Law code The Assyrians Fear, separation of captives, dividing the empire into sections that local ruled controlled on behalf of the emperor, and building roads 3.) What two characteristics of Sumerian civilization did almost all of the Mesopotamian Empires adopt? Religion & Written Language

6 4.) What original cultural achievements did the following civilizations have? The Hittites Ironworking The Assyrians Library The Chaldeans Calendar The Phoenicians A language that went on to the be basis of Greek and English 5.) What made the Phoenicians different from most other civilizations in the Fertile Crescent? Rather than farming for their food they traded with other civilizations around the Mediterranean Sea by boat for their food They were rarely attacked or invaded 6.) Which Mesopotamian civilization/empire would you have rather lived in? Why