Download Mesopotamia review answers

Review Sheet on the civilizations of Mesopotamia
People – Sargon, Hammurabi, Nebuchadnezzar, Cyrus
Groups- Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Chaldeans, Persians, Hebrews
Terms – cuneiform, arch, ziggurat, city-state, Code of Hammurabi, Epic of Gilgamesh, Hanging
Gardens of Babylon, monotheism, polytheism
Big Idea Questions
- How did the landscape/geography affect the development of the Mesopotamian Region?
- What was life like in ancient Mesopotamia?
- Why are these groups important? What did they contribute to advance civilization/society?
Review Questions for Mesopotamia
1. What are the 6 geographic conditions needed for a civilization/society to settle in one place and begin to
develop?
The six conditions necessary for the development of a society are:
- A water source
- A food source
- Natural Resources
- Strategic trade location
- Warm climate
- Natural Barriers for defense
2. For a society to grow and develop from being primitive to more advanced, there will be a continuation from
basics to more advanced things. Answer the following questions based on your “Advancement of Civilization
Pyramid”.
a) What is the most basic thing needed for a society to develop in one place? Why is this so important?
People need a guaranteed food and water source. People tend to settle near a water source. People then began
to domesticate plants and animals to ensure they had enough to survive. When plants are domesticated, people
will remain in one area to nurture and harvest their crop. This is important, because once the need of food is met,
it will allow people to develop their other skills and advance.
b) What does irrigation do to help advance society?
Irrigation provides a sure supply of water to crops. It helped because irrigation led to a food surplus, which
allowed people to trade with others, and have more time to develop other talents.
c) Why is having a food surplus so important to the rest of the pyramid?
A food surplus is hugely important as it allows societies to not spend all of their time and energy gathering food. A
food surplus allows for trading with other societies and the led to more free time so that people could develop
more advanced things in society (ex. Writing, technology, law, religion)
d) What is meant by “division of labour”? Why is it important?
Division of labour mean that people started doing specific jobs rather than trying to do everything for themselves
or their family. When people work at only one type of job, they become skilled at it, more efficient and develop
ways to do it better (including technology).
3. The geography of an area has a direct impact on how a society develops.
a) What was the key geographical feature that allowed the first societies of Mesopotamia to develop?
Explain how this was so important for the civilization to grow and prosper.
Geography plays a huge role in how and where a society develops. The key feature for early civilizations was to
be located near a fresh water source. The water source not only provides drinking water, but also transportation.
The early civilizations developed in areas where the rivers would overflow their banks and deposit silt which made
rich soil for growing.
b) Since the region of Mesopotamia lacked much in the way of natural resources (wood), what did the
people construct their buildings from?
Mesopotamia lacked wood as a natural resource. Most buildings were made from mud bricks that were dried in
the sun. (Mesopotamia video – What the Ancients did for us)
c) What one geographical condition was missing from the region of Mesopotamia? How did this affect the
peoples who lived in the area?
The major condition that was missing in Mesopotamia was the lack of natural barriers for protection. There were
many different groups that passed through this area and over its history, may different groups fought for control of
the Mesopotamian region.
4. What does the term Mesopotamia mean?
Mesopotamia means – “Land Between the Rivers”
5. What type of government existed in the region controlled by the Sumerians? Who were its leaders? What
allowed these people to become so powerful?
The Sumerians governed in a city-state. A city-state is the city and the region it controls around it. In Sumeria, the
leaders were war leaders and the priests (often a combined job). The people didn’t question their rulers/priests due
to the fact that the priests had such a powerful role, and were the people’s connection to the gods. You can’t
question your god.
6. List 4 different groups that will come in and rule in the area of Mesopotamia.
Sumerians, Akkadians, Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Chaldeans, and eventually the Persians.
7. How does the strength and power of the leader of a group affect its success in these early empires?
When a strong leader comes to power, he can inspire and lead his/her people to great things. The strong leader
can make a society great through accomplishments, military conquests and decisive leadership. We have seen that
often when a strong leader dies, the strength of the society will start to decline until another group takes over.
Examples – Sargon and Akkadians – when he dies the society falls very quickly.
Hammurabi and the Babylonians
Nebachadnezzar and the Chaldeans
8. What was Hammurabi’s Code?
- according to our play, why was the code created?
- what was the idea of punishment based on in the code?
- according to the play, why do people tend to follow laws/rules?
- provide an example of a rule from Hammurabi’s Code?
(This is also in your notes –so check their for more info)
Hammurabi created the code to unite their territories he conquered under one set of laws. He hoped this would
unify the people.
Punishment in Hammurabi’s code was based on the idea of equivalent retaliation. If you were found guilty of a
crime, the punishment would be severe to keep people from commiting the crime.
Hammurabi realized though, most people follow the laws, NOT for the fear of being caught and punished, but
because they believe the law is fair. (On a test – be prepared to show how this works. Ex. Most people don’t
steal, because they believe it is not right. Some laws take longer for people to follow because they may not believe
in them – Ex. The cell phone while driving laws)
An example of Hammurabi’s Code is – If you were guilty of murder, you would be put to death. If you stole
something, you could have your hand cut off. If a builder built a house and it collapsed and killed someone and
the builder was found at fault, the builder could be killed.
9. What was the name of the Mesopotamian form or writing? What was the writing first used for? How do you
think the invention of writing changed people's lives?
The writing of the Mesopotamians was called cuneiform. It was a picture writing done on wet clay tablets. It was
likely used for recording information about food storage and keeping records for trade. Writing greatly changed
peoples’ lives as we now have a record of past dealings in trade, a way to communicate our stories and to send
messages to each other. The written language would allow for a great expansion in learning.
10. What were the contributions of the Mesopotamian societies to the advancement of civilization ? (inventions,
new things, etc…). Explain how they changed the way of life of the people.
The Mesopotamian cultures contributed many things to the advancement of civilization. Written language
(cuneiform) was a big development as written records could now be kept and learning expanded. The invention
of the wheel allowed for the transportation of heavier objects and for horse drawn vehicles. The Mesopotamians
developed a calendar that was fairly close to our calendar through the use of astronomy. Their calendar was a
lunar calendar of 360 days. They also developed a number system based on the 60 number system. We still use
this system in our telling of time and in the measurement of angles in a circle. They developed irrigation which
allowed them to ensure that their crops had water. Other irrigation devices included the shaduf and likely the
Archimedes Screw.
There are more answers for this question that I have not included off the top of my head.