Download Chapter 2 Part 1 Reading Questions Directions: On a separate piece

Chapter 2 Part 1 Reading Questions
Directions: On a separate piece of paper, answer the following questions about the assigned reading
using complete sentences.
1. Mesopotamia means “Land between 2 rivers”. Which 2 rivers? In what modern country is a
majority of Mesopotamia located?
2. How did the Mesopotamians utilize the rivers?
3. Finish this statement: Irrigation leads to ________________, which in turn leads to
____________.
4. What are semitic peoples?
5. How did Sumerian cities differ from the Neolithic villages that came before them?
6. What is a city –state? Name three Sumerian city-states.
7. What was a ziggurat?
8. What piece of infrastructure was bigger and more important than ziggurats?
9. Why did Sumerian cities have defensive problems? How did they solve these problems?
10. Briefly describe how Sumerian governments evolved.
11. Who was the first to unite northern and southern Mesopotamia into one empire?
12. Why did Sargon constantly travel around his empire?
13. How did Hammurabi improve on Sargon’s governing style?
14. What is Hammurabi’s most enduring legacy?
15. Take out your phone and google Hammurabi’s code (it’s okay…I told you to do it.). Which of his
laws sticks with you the most?
16. Who ultimately conquers the Babylonians?
17. What made the Assyrian army such a formidable force?
18. Who took over Mesopotamia after the Assyrians?
19. List 3 things that made Babylon a grand city?
20. When did the last of the great Mesopotamian empires fall?
21. Why was copper unsuitable for weapons or heavy work tools? What metal replaced it? How was
it made?
22. When did iron production begin in Mesopotamia?
23. What made iron preferable to bronze?
24. What use did people make of the wheel?
25. What travel technology did Sumerians take advantage of? Where did they go with it, and what
did they do?
26. What two ways did people have to accumulate wealth?
27. How did the early Mesopotamian kings and nobles attain their position?
28. What was the job of the priests? How did temples generate income?
29. Where did slaves come from?
30. What does patriarchal mean? Name one way Mesopotamian society was patriarchal.
31. How did women exercise their power in Mesopotamian society?
32. What is cuneiform? Briefly describe it.
33. How were most people educated in Mesopotamian society?
34. How did Mesopotamians apply knowledge of astronomy? Math?
35. What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?