Ancient Mesopotamia Vocabulary Words Aug 13 17 Civilization

Ancient Mesopotamia

Vocabulary Words Aug 13 -17 • • • Civilization Culture Mesopotamia Fertile Crescent City-states Mummification Ziggurat Pyramid Pharaoh Hammurabi

Neolithic Revolution • A period of transition from hunter-gatherers to farming

Geography • “between the rivers” • Fertile Crescent – Valley between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers – Extended from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf – Modern Day Iraq

Fertile Crescent • https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=84 y 2 q 4 gi ih. Y

Society • cities formed • as societies became advanced, social classes developed • broken into social classes – highest were rulers and priest – Middle class were merchants – Lower class were laborers and slaves

Economics • based on agriculture • large-scale system of water control, crops could be grown on a regular basis • traded for stone, wood, and metal from other societies to build empires

Innovations • Inventions – wagon wheel, potter’s wheel – the sun dial , the arch, and bronze • • created system of writing (cuneiform) developed a number system based on 60 Geometry to measure fields charted constellations

Religion • Polytheism – believed many gods controlled different forces of nature • believed gods to do what humans do • Worship in ziggurats – Mesopotamian temple – pyramid-shaped monument

City-States • city and the surrounding countryside under one political and economic control • Sumerians created first city-states in Mesopotamia • Power passed from religious leaders to kings • Kings led armies and organized the water control projects necessary to sustain farming

Role of the City-States • Many roles: – Religious center (ziggurat) – Political center (palace) – Trading center (market) – Storage for surplus food – Walls served as defense for citizens

Leadership • Rulers were the Priest • Success of crops depended on the gods • Believed Priest to be representative to the gods • Power passed from religious leaders to kings

Rise of the Empire • a large political unit that controls many peoples and territories • Several city-states brought together • the Akkadian Empire lead by Sargon became the first in history