Download Chapter 2, Part A, Guided Notes (Key)

NAME: KEY
CHAPTER 2-THE FERTILE CRESCENT
SECTION 1-LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVERS
1. What does a scribe do? KEEP RECORDS FOR KINGS AND PRIESTS
2. Where is Mesopotamia located? BETWEEN THE TIGRIS & EUPHRATES RIVERS
3. What does Mesopotamia actually mean? ”BETWEEN THE RIVERS”
4. Mesopotamia stretches from the Mediterranean Sea to the PERSIAN GULF.
5. Why did people move to the area? FOR THE RICH FERTILE SOIL
6. Sumerians formed their own CITY-STATES which allowed them to have their own government, their own
religion, and act as an independent state.
7. The main religion of the Sumerians is called POLYTHEISM, to worship many gods.
8. What structure was built for the gods/goddesses to visit the Sumerians? ZIGGURAT
9. What were the two main causes of war between the Sumerian city-states? FIGHTING OVER LAND AND
WATER RIGHTS
SECTION 2-BABYLONIA & ASSYRIA
1. In 539 B.C., which empire fell but its capital was spared? NEW BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
2. What military invention did the Assyrians develop? BATTERING RAM
3. Who created the Babylonian empire by uniting the cities of Sumer? KING HAMMURABI
4. Which Assyrian city had a remarkable library filled with thousands of clay tablets? NINEVEH
5. Which two groups smashed the Assyrian empire in 612 B.C.? MEDES & CHALDEANS
6. Under which group of people did the Babylonian Empire excel in astronomy? CHALDEANS
7. Who was the Chaldeans powerful king? KING NEBUCHADNEZZAR
SECTION 3-THE LEGACY OF MESOPOTAMIA
1. Why is it important to develop a written code? IT HELPS PEOPLE UNDERSTAND WHAT IS EXPECTED OF
THEM AND WHAT PUNISHMENT THEY WILL RECEIVE IF THEY DISOBEY A LAW
2. Hammurabi’s Code contained 282 laws organized into which 4 categories?
1) TRADE 2) FAMILY 3) LABOR 4) PROPERTY
3. In which area did writing first develop? MESOPOTAMIA
4. Why were scribes considered to hold a job of great respect in Mesopotamia? IT WAS A VALUED SKILL
5. Who do we owe credit for the idea of written laws? KING HAMMURABI
6. What did the scribes of Mesopotamia used to write on? CLAY TABLETS
7. Where did this material come from? THE TIGRIS & EUPHRATES RIVERS FLOODED THE CLAY FROM
ITS MOUNTAINS
8. What is the oldest form of writing called? CUNEIFORM