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Mesopotamia Study Guide Mesopotamia means “The Land Between Two Rivers” Mesopotamia surrounded the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Mesopotamia is also called the Fertile Crescent because the land was fertile The floods were unpredictable, overflowed, and led to famine and drought Mesopotamian farmers learned to irrigate, leading to a surplus, and then to trade (barter) Sumerians were the first to make important contributions to Mesopotamia Sumer had no central government but was made up of independent city-states Sumerians were polytheistic – believed in many gods Sumerians built ziggurats – temples to honor their gods and goddesses Sumerians developed a system of writing called cuneiform – wedge shaped writing – as a way to keep account of business deals Scribes wrote on clay tablets with a stylus made from reed Babylonians conquered Sumer Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar II built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon – one of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World - for his wife Babylonian ruler Hammurabi created The Code of Hammurabi which was the world’s first effort to record laws. It was a harsh set of laws known as “an eye for an eye” justice system. It had 3,600 lines of cuneiform and was carved on a stone column. On the top sat Shamash (the god of the sun and justice) handing the laws to Hammurabi. This made it seem that Hammurabi was given the laws by the gods.