Download River Valley Civilizations - East Penn School District

Chapter Two,
Sections 1, 2, and 3
River Valley
Civilizations
Chapter 2 – The Fertile Crescent
Section 1 – Land Between Two Rivers
1. The first schools were set up in the land of __________________________ over
4,000 years ago. They taught mostly boys the new invention of writing.
2. Graduates became scribes – __________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
3. Why do you think scribes were important?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4. Writings left behind by scribes help tell us the story of their civilization.
The Geographic Setting
1. Sumer was located in a region called
_________________________________.
2. Why did Mesopotamia attract settlers? _____________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
______________________________________________________
3. People who settled in Mesopotamia became
________________________ and
_______________________________________. Other people
came to trade goods from other regions.
The Location of Mesopotamia
1. The word Mesopotamia comes from the Greek word meaning,
“_______________________________________________________________.”
2. Mesopotamia lies between the ______________________ and
_____________________________________ Rivers.
3. Mesopotamia is part of the ________________________________________ – a
region in Southwest Asia that was the site of the world’s first civilizations.
4. It is one of the world’s best places for growing crops.
Rivers of Life and Death
1. The Tigris and Euphrates were the source of life for people in Mesopotamia.
2. In the spring, melting snow picked up tons of __________________________ as
it rushed down from the mountains and flooded the land.
3. The floods left the topsoil on the plain below. Farmers could use this soil to
_________________________________________________.
4. The river also supplied ____________________, ______________________ for
building, and tall, strong _______________________________ to make boats.
The floods did not always happen at the same time each year. What were some
consequences of this?
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
The First Cities / Independent Cities Form
1. As farming succeeded in Mesopotamia, communities began to build up surpluses
of food. These surpluses encouraged the growth of cities.
2. By 3500 B.C., some of the earliest known cities rose in the southern region of
Sumer, along the Tigris and Euphrates.
3. Although these cities shared a common culture and language, they did not unite
under a single _____________________________.
4. Instead, they remained politically independent city-states.
5. City-state - ________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
6. Each Sumerian city had ______________________________________________,
___________________________________________________, and eventually,
its own ___________________________________.
A Brief Tour of a Sumerian City
1. Describe a public square of a Sumerian City? What types of activities could be
found there?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Sumerian houses faced away from the crowded streets, onto inner courtyards
where families ate and children played.
3. Oil lamps supplied light for Sumerian homes.
Sumerian Religion / Sumerian Temples
1. The center of a Sumerian city was a large, stone temple called a
_______________________________, which were temples to the main god or
goddess of the city.
2. _________________________,
_____________________________, and
_______________________________ activities all took place at
the temple sites.
3. Ziggurats were pyramids made of terraces (levels on top of each other) linked by
ramps and stairs. Why was this shape important for their religion?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Ancient Religious Beliefs / Honoring the Gods
1. The people of Sumer worshiped many gods and goddesses.
2. Polytheism – ______________________________________________________.
3. Sumerian myths warned that the gods would _____________________________
people who angered them. They also promised __________________________
to people who served the gods well.
4. Myth – stories about gods that explain people’s beliefs.
5. The Sumerians honored their gods in religious ceremonies.
6. Temple priests _______________________________ the statues of gods before
each meal was offered.
7. ________________________________ played and incense was burned as huge
plates of food were laid before them.
8. ________________________ was often eaten after it was presented to the gods.
The Fall of Sumer
1. Sumer’s wealth eventually became its downfall.
2. Sumerian city-states fought each other over __________________ and the use
of _______________________________________.
3. Rulers from various city-states won and lost control of all of Sumer.
4. Around 2300 B.C., Sumer was conquered by the armies of neighboring Akkadia.
Their ruler was named ______________________________________ – he was
responsible for uniting the Sumerian city-states and improving Sumer’s
government and its military.
5. Sumer remained united for about 100 years until it dissolved once more into
independent city-states.
6. Sumer was no longer a major power after 2000 B.C., as it was conquered by
_______________________________________ in the 1700s B.C.
Section 2 – Babylonia and Assyria / The Two Empires
of Mesopotamia
1. The biggest and most important Mesopotamian civilizations were the empires of
_________________________________ and ____________________________.
2. Empire – __________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. The center of Babylonia was the city of _____________________________. The
Assyrians centered around the northern city of ___________________________.
4. The Assyrians began expanding their lands in the 1300s B.C. and controlled a
large empire by the 600s B.C.
5. The Babylonians and Assyrians had two things in common:
a. ____________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________
b. They built grand __________________________ where culture and
learning were highly valued.
The Babylonian Empire
1. The Babylonian king named _______________________________ created the
Babylonian Empire by uniting the cities of Sumer.
2. He then conquered all the lands all the way to
___________________________________ – modern-day Turkey.
A Crossroads of Trade
1. The Babylonians created a system of roads throughout the empire. What
important roles did the roads play?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Caravans stopped in Babylon on their way from Assyria to Sumer. There, they
could go to bazaars to buy cotton cloth from India and spices from Egypt.
3. Caravans – ________________________________________________________.
4. Bazaars – __________________________________________.
Wealth Through Conquest
1. In about 1760 B.C., Hammurabi conquered the city of Mari, and seized
___________________________________, _______________________, and
___________________________, which were the best in the world.
2. In about 1600 B.C., the Babylonian empire shrunk and was destroyed.
The Empire of the Assyrians
1. The kingdom of Assyria was in open land. What challenges did this present?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
2. Since they were always defending themselves, the Assyrians became skilled
____________________________________.
3. In about 1365 B.C., the Assyrians began attacking other areas around them. By
650 B.C., Assyria had conquered a large empire, which stretched across the
Fertile Crescent, from the Nile River to the Persian Gulf.
Assyria’s Contributions / Assyria Overthrown
1. They invented the ___________________________________ – a powerful
weapon having a wooden beam mounted on wheels. Battering rams were used
to pound city walls into rubble.
2. Warriors used ____________________________ to hurl stones at enemies.
Expert _________________________ were protected with helmets and armor.
3. Armed ________________________________ slashed their way through the
enemy troops.
4. As Assyria grew, their capital city of _____________________________ became
a great city of learning. They had large libraries with thousands of clay tablets
with writings from Sumer and Babylon.
5. Conquered peoples attempted a number of __________________________
against the Assyrian rule. In 612 B.C., the Medes and the Chaldeans joined
together to defeat the Assyrians.
6. After reading through these notes on the Assyrians and their inventions, list a
few adjectives that you think would describe them.
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
Babylonia Rises Again
1. Under the Chaldeans, Babylon rose to even greater splendor. It became the
center of the New Babylonian Empire.
2. King ________________________________________________ rebuilt the city
of Babylon, which the Assyrians had destroyed.
3. He put massive ___________________________ around the city for protection.
He also built a gigantic palace on many terraces, containing many gardens.
Advances in Learning
1. The New Babylonian Empire became a center of _________________________
and __________________________.
2. Chaldean astronomers charted the paths of the stars and measured the length of
a year.
3. Chaldean farmers raised honey bees.
4. In 539 B.C., the new Babylonian Empire fell to the Persians. The city of Babylon
was spared.
Section 3 – The Legacy of Mesopotamia
Hammurabi’s Code
1. Written code of law – _______________________________________________
_________________________ that helps people know what is expected of them
and what ____________________________ they will receive if they break a law.
2. Hammurabi ruled Babylonia from about 1792-1750 B.C., and was famous for his
written code of laws, called _________________________________________.
3. Hammurabi’s Code told the people of Babylonia how to settle conflicts in all
areas of life.
4. Hammurabi’s Code contained _______________ laws dealing with trade, labor,
property, and family.
An Eye For An Eye
1. According to Hammurabi’s Code, a punishment should be __________________
_________________________________________________________________.
2. In what way could Hammurabi’s Code be unfair for citizens?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
3. A person who ____________________________ broke a law was just as guilty as
someone who meant to break a law.
Laws for Everyone
1. With written laws, everyone could know the _______________________ and
the __________________________________.
2. Hammurabi’s laws are the first ___________________________ and
_________________________________ set of laws that we have found.
The Art Of Writing / Ancient Scribes
1. Writing first developed around 3100 B.C. by the Sumerians to help them keep
__________________________________.
2. The Sumerians’ earliest written documents are records of farm animals.
3. Why were scribes treated with such great respect?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
4. The scribes of Sumer recorded sales and trades, tax payments, gifts for the gods,
and marriages and deaths.
5. Military scribes calculated the amount of food and supplies that an army would
need.
6. Government scribes figured out the amount of diggers needed to build a canal.
7. Written records during this time were written on ____________________, since
paper was not invented.
A Record in Clay
1. Clay came from the _________________________________________________.
Each spring, the rivers washed down clay from the mountains.
2. Letters were marked into the clay with sharp tools. When the clay dried, it was a
permanent record.
3. Larger tablets were used for official record keeping (reference). Smaller tablets
were used for personal messages.
How Writing Was Invented
1. At first, written words were ____________________________ that represented
specific objects. For example, grain, oxen, water, or stars had their own symbols.
2. Symbols often changed overtime, as people learned to record ideas as well as
facts.
3. Cuneiform - _______________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________.
4. Cuneiform was very flexible, meaning it could be used to represent different
languages.