Mesopotamian Empires/Cultures Groups Research Assignment
Essential Question: How did conquests bring new empires and ideas into the Middle East?
Around 2000 BC, the Empire of Sumer was defeated. Waves of new peoples swept through and ruled
different parts of the Fertile Crescent. These invasions changed the region’s culture as these new
people adopted the ways of life begun in Sumer, but also added in their own ideas.
You have been assigned to research one of the following Mesopotamian Empire/ Culture Groups. Your
task will be to research this group using the suggested/provided Internet links and bring some notes and
pictures to class to help you create a diorama which you will present in class. You will receive directions
for the actual diorama in class.
*Please note that some of these Empires/Culture Groups are known by multiple names. The various
empire names and the names of famous leaders are listed to help you in your search.
Empires/Cultures:
Akkadian Empire (Sargon was a leader)
Old Babylonian Empire or Amorite Empire (Hammurabi was a leader)
Hittite Empire
Assyrian Empire
Neo Babylonian Empire or Chaldean Empire (Nebuchadnezzar was a leader)
Persian Empire (Darius was a leader)
Phoenician Empire
Note Format:
For your group, you should take notes in your own words to answer and support the following bullets.
Please note; Just printing out information from the Internet does not qualify as “notes”!!!! You must
read and process information in this format:
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Who were these people? Where did they come from? Describe their qualities in a few
sentences.
Where was their empire? Locate on a Map. What present day country did they occupy?
What famous cities were associated with them?
Dates for their empire?
Famous Leaders of the empire? What were these leaders noted for? How did they rule?
Achievements of the empire. What new ideas did this empire bring to Mesopotamia?
Consider how they exemplified the characteristics of civilization (i.e., organinzed
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governments, complex religions, job specialization, social classes, arts/architecture and
technology, public works and writing)
Find: 2 pictures of actual artifacts, art or architecture from this empire Copy, or
actually draw copies of these and attach to your notes.
Why did the empire eventually fail?
Suggested Internet Links:
I would like you to use these sites to find information for your notes. These are academic sites, with
reliable information, maps and pictures of artifacts.
http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/menu.html - British Museum site
http://www.historylink101.com/ancient_mesopotamia.htm- History 101 Ancient Mesopotamia
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/asbook03.asp.World History Source book
http://mesopotamia.lib.uchicago.edu/- University of Chicago – Mesopotamia site
http://www.etana.org/abzubib- Abzub search engine for Ancient Near East Archives
You Tube video of Ancient Mesopotamia http://www.historylink101.com/ancient_mesopotamia.htm