Download Mesopotamia Study Guide ANSWERS Vocabulary

Mesopotamia Study Guide ANSWERS
I.
Vocabulary- Be sure that you understand the following terms:
City-state- a political unit that contains the Cities and the surrounding territories
Ziggurat- A temple located in the center of a city-state
cuneiform - the first writing system used wedge shaped symbols
Mesopotamia –Land between the two Rivers
Code of Hammurabi – the first written laws created by King Hammurabi
Barter- exchanging goods without the use of money
II.
Geography Information

Identify the 2 rivers that surround Mesopotamia. –Euphrates and Tigris

Explain why people had to move to Mesopotamia.- B/c of an increased population and not
having a stable food supply, people moved to Mesopotamia b/c it provided fertile
soil with silt providing good farmland

Describe the climate and conditions of the land in Mesopotamia.- it was hot, fertile soil, and
uncontrollable flooding

How did the Sumerians make farming easier?- plows, canals and irrigation systems

Explain why crops grew well in Mesopotamia-farmland was fertile and water was nearby

Explain the importance of irrigation. Were there any problems?- it brought water to land
that did not have a water source. Yes, irrigation ditches would get clogged and
different groups would fight over keeping it clear.

III.
Explain why people built canals-People built canals to control the river’s flow of water.
Government Information

Describe what makes up a city-state.-ziggurat is in the center, then upper class houses ,
then middle classes, then out from that a protective wall, then farmland and
irrigation ditches

Who rules the city-states? A king-chosen by the gods

What were the responsibilities of the rulers? Collect taxes, enforce laws, lead armies,
ordered the construction of ziggurats and maintained irrigation systems
IV.
Religion Information

Describe the importance of the ziggurat. It was their temple for worshipping Gods and
also used as a tomb for Kings/Priests.

Where was the location of each city-states ziggurat? in the center of the city-state

Were the Sumerians religious? How can you tell? Yes, they had ziggurats in the center of
their cities which shows that religion was central to their lives as well as all aspects
of their daily lives revolved around religion. They also created devotional statues
and held religious ceremonies that included human sacrifices
V.
Civilization Information

Identify 7 ways to determine if a society is considered civilized. Stable food supply, system
of government, religion, social structure, highly developed culture, advanced
technology & written language

Was Sumer a civilization? Look in your Notebooks pages 70-72. Provide reasons for all
7 ways-(ie They had a Stable Food Supply b/c they invented/created irrigation and
the plow to make farming easier.)

Identify and Explain Sumerian Contributions- (Use pages 72 in your notebooks.)cuneiform, arch, ziggurat, metalworking, music, organized armies, citystates/kings, plow, sailboat, wheel
VI.
Daily Life Information

Be able to draw a diagram of the social structure. Know the 3 classes and who makes up each
class.
Kings
Priests and
Nobles
Craftspeople and merchants
Farmers
Slaves

Be able to identify what type of people live in specific houses. Upper class had elaborate 2
stories houses in the middle of the city, middle class had mud brick near the edge of
the city-state, lower class lived in master’s homes

How could you tell if a person in Mesopotamia had Power- people who could read/write
had power

Know the 1st type of writing-who knew how to write, why did they create a written language,
how did the idea of written language spread throughout the world? –Scribes learned to write
over 2000 symbols- it was created to record trade transactions-by trading with
other people in the world, they learned how important writing and keeping records
are
VII.
Code of Hammurabi Information

Describe the Code of Hammurabi & King Hammurabi. –Set of 282 Laws that King made up
to govern daily life that had severe punishments for breaking the laws; King
Hammurabi conquered lots of land but was a cruel king when it came to how he ran
the empire.

Explain why we have laws and punishments. To prevent crimes and punishments so that
people won’t do crime again as well as restore order and peace to society; protect
people

Be able to give examples of different laws that were in the Code of Hammurabi. If you steal
something, your hand is cut off

What document in the US says that We the People…..l, which is the basis of our basic rights?
U.S. Constitution

Be able to apply the form of laws and write your own laws. –
If____________then_______
________