Download Instructions to Produce My Mesopotamia Fact Sheet

Social Studies
6th Grade
Name: _________________
Class: ____ Date: ________
Mesopotamia Study Guide
Land Between Two Rivers
Vocabulary: silt, Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, irrigation
Possible essay questions:
1. How did major river systems support permanent settlements?
2. How did the Mesopotamians learn to deal with droughts and floods?
3. Why was the land of southern Mesopotamia good for farming?
Independent Sumerian City-States
Vocabulary: city-states, monarchy, polytheism
Possible essay questions:
1. What did a city-state look like?
2. How was a Mesopotamian city-state like Chicago?
Mesopotamian Achievements
Vocabulary: almanac, ziggurat, cuneiform, scribe
Possible essay questions:
1. What achievements allowed the Mesopotamians to produce economic surpluses?
2. How does the ziggurat show the importance of religion in Mesopotamian culture?
3. How was the creation of writing in Sumer similar to our ways of recording
information?
Daily Life in Sumer
Vocabulary: deity, specialization, taxes
Possible essay questions:
1. Why were Sumerians able to do other things than farm?
2. Draw a picture of the social structure of Mesopotamia. Was movement up to another
class possible?
The First Empires
Vocabulary: conquer, empire, emperor, standing army, Code of Hammurabi
Possible essay questions:
1. How did Sargon create his empire and how did he maintain control over it?
2. What would Hammurabi think of the laws in America? Would he agree or disagree
with our system? Why?
Miscellaneous
Study the following and you’ll be ready for success!
 Geography of Mesopotamia (review the map on page 96)
 Sumerian Social Structure (review illustration on page 118)
 Daily Life in a City-State (review pages 116-119)