Geography
___________________ means “between the
rivers”
The __________________________ – was
the land around the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
Regular _________________ provided fertile
silt for farmland but was unpredictable
Farming Advances
Farmers build ______________ and channels to
control seasonal floods
Use ______________ to bring water to their fields
Allows farmers to grow enough food (barley, wheat, vegetables) to support a __________________
Sumer
First major ___________________ in
Mesopotamia (about 4500 BCE)
Organized into independent _______________
Social Structure
Cultural Achievements
Made fine _________________ & _________________
Music using _________________ & _________________
The _______________________________ - a long poem about a ___________ who travels the
world, performs great deeds & searches for a way to live forever
Religion
_________________: belief in many gods
_________________ – religious leaders also
lead government
_________________: large pyramid-like
temple at city’s center
Cuneiform
_________________________ writing system called cuneiform
__________________-shapes
Uses symbols for ________________, sounds & ___________________
Written on _______________________
Technology
Used basic _____________ & geometry based on _______ (60-minute hour; 360° circle)
First to use ____________________________ for transportation
Invaders
Sumerians overtaken by ________________________ around 2270 BCE
Around 1900, the __________________________ rise to power
Later, the Babylonians take control of ________________________
Hammurabi
____________________________ King from 1792 to 1750 BCE
Controls all of ____________________________
Known for Hammurabi’s Code – 1st ___________________________________
“________________________________”
Later Empires
______________________ Empire rises again before the
Neo-Babylonian or ____________________________ Empire comes to power
King ____________________________ has the great Hanging Gardens of Babylon built
The Persian Empire
Founded in the 6th Century BC by _________________________
Becomes the largest ______________________ the world had seen