Download How does the development of culture impact history? Mesopotamia

Name: KEY – keep in mind there are many more and different answers depending on
the discussion in each class period
Period:
Date:
World History – Mrs. Schenck
How does the development of culture impact history?
Mesopotamia 3500 B.C.E
1. How many years ago was 3500 BCE? 5515 years ago
3500 + 2015 = 5515 years ago
2. The Fertile Crescent describes the area between the two rivers in Mesopotamia
known as the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. This place was good for agriculture or
farming.
3. In what region of the world is ancient Mesopotamia located?
Middle East (Iraq)
4. Sumerians were people of the city of Sumer in ancient Mesopotamia.
They built ziggurats to worship the gods.
A. What was the function of religion in ancient Mesopotamia?
- to help people make sense of the world
- to help people understand why things happened in nature since they did not
have the science we have today
- to keep the gods happy to avoid punishment (i.e. natural disasters like floods or
earthquakes, bad fortune like disease or death, etc.)
- to provide comfort and a sense of community
B. How do we use inferences and connections from reliable sources to build
understanding about ancient Mesopotamia?
- the reliable source we used was a Sumerian prayer/poem (primary source) -> it
gives us a first-hand account so we can understand people’s thoughts and
feelings at the time
- the inferences and connections we made about Mesopotamia from the
prayer were about the relationship people had with the gods -> fear/respect,
master/servant, lack understanding, desire to appease/keep happy, easily
change their minds, etc.
C. How does geography influence myth in ancient Mesopotamia?
- MYTH = traditional or legendary story with no determinable basis in fact
- the creation myths in Mesopotamia explain how the gods created or were part
of nature (geography) -> they used myth to understand and explain the world
around them
example: the Sumerian myth describes how humans were made from clay or
that the sky and Earth were gods that were separated
D. Who had power in ancient Mesopotamia, and how did they use it?
- based on the Code of Hammurabi, we can infer the king, gods, wealthy,
adults, and men had power
- most people used their power to maintain control of others and/or their status
E. How does learning about ancient Mesopotamia impact how you understand parts of
our culture today?
- discuss the insights learning about Mesopotamia gives you into the origin of
things in our culture today (i.e. writing, the flood story, hero stories, etc.)
F. How does the development of culture in Mesopotamia impact history?
- discuss how things the Mesopotamians invented impacted history and our lives
today (i.e. writing, agriculture, wheel, glass, hero stories, law, etc.)
- example: Without the Mesopotamian discovery of agriculture, we would not
have been able to stay in one place and develop civilizations. Agriculture
meant humans could build permanent shelters and create a surplus of food to
help us survive. Cities led to the need for government, specialized jobs,
technology, etc.