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Iraq Look Back
Resource Packet
Directions: Read the passages below. Use the information in each passage to help you complete
the corresponding articles in the Iraq Look Back magazine. In each ‘article’ your will see this
symbol [ ]. In those areas, insert the word from the passage that best fits.
For example: Natural resources are [m ] that come from nature that are used for [h ] needs.
Natural resources are [materials] that come from nature that are used for
[human] needs.
Note: Sometimes you will move items on the page by accident. Please remember, you can
always “undo” an error by using Ctrl-Z.
Section #1: The Fertile Crescent
Civilization developed slowly in different parts of the world. People began to
settle in areas with many abundant natural resources. A section of the Middle
Natural resources
East is called the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is a rich food-growing
are materials that
area in a part of the world where most of the land is too dry for farming. The
come from nature
Fertile Crescent is a boomerang shaped region that extends from the eastern
that are used for
shore of the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf.
human needs.
Some of the best farmland of the Fertile Crescent is on a narrow strip of land between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers. The Greeks later called this area Mesopotamia, which means “between the rivers.”
Many different civilizations developed in this small region. First came the Sumerians, who were replaced
in turn by the Assyrians and the Babylonians. Today this land is known as Iraq.
Section #2: Who Was Hammurabi? An Editorial
Hammurabi was the sixth king of Babylon. He ruled from 1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C. At first, he only
ruled the city of Babylon, but as his army and power grew, he eventually controlled all of Babylonia.
Hammurabi recognized the need for laws to govern the many people who were now living together
because of the development of agriculture. The invention of farming and domesticating of animals meant
that people no longer had to migrate with the animals they used to hunt. They now lived in cities as
civilizations continued to develop. He recorded a system of laws called the Code of Hammurabi. The 282
laws were engraved in stone and placed in a public location for everyone to see. Hammurabi based his
Code of Laws on those of the Sumerians who came before him. However, his were the most elaborate,
fair, and complete of this time period. It protected all people including slaves, the poor, and women. It
even included the price doctors could charge and how much an animal could be sold for.
The Code of Laws states that all people should be responsible for their actions, If a Babylonian
citizen did something wrong they should be honest about it and accept their punishment. However,
Hammurabi wanted the punishment they received to fit the crime they committed. For example, if a man
damaged the property of another man, he would only have to pay to have the damages repaired. He would
not be killed for this crime. This same idea can be called “An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” It
means that whatever was done to one man, the same thing could be done to the other as punishment.
According to King Hammurabi, if a man outs the eye of one man, his eye should be put out; if one man
breaks the bone of another, his shall be broken; if he knocks out the tooth of a noble, his tooth shall be
knocked out, too.
While this may seem harsh or unfair, Hammurabi knew that people living and working together
need ways of settling disputes. So, he had the laws carved to see and then live their lives by.
Section #3: Under Attack
Several other civilizations developed in and around the Fertile Crescent. As their armies battled
each other for Mesopotamia’s fertile land, control of the region passed from one empire to another. The
Hittites of Asia Minor capture Babylon in 1595 BC with strong iron weapons and the skillful use of the
chariot on the battlefield. After the Hittite king as killed, the Kassites captured Babylon and ruled for
almost 400 years.
The Assyrians were the next group to conquer all of Mesopotamia. They ruled from Nineveh, a
city in the north. The Assyrians collected taxes, enforced laws, and raised troops thorough local
leaders. The Assyrians also build roads to link distant parts of the empire. In 612 BC the Chaldeans, a
group from the Syrian Desert, conquered the Assyrians.
Nebuchadnezzar, the most famous Chaldean king, rebuilt Babylon into a beautiful city. According
to legend, his grand palace featured the famous Hanging Gardens. The Chaldeans revived Sumerian
culture and made notable advances in astronomy and mathematics.
The Phoenicians
Phoenicia, at the western end of the Fertile Crescent along the Mediterranean Sea, created a
wealthy trading society. Fleets of fast Phoenician trading ships sailed throughout the Mediterranean
and even into the Atlantic Ocean, building trade networks and founding new cities. The Phoenicians’ most
lasting achievement was the alphabet, a major development that has had a huge impact on the changing
world and on our own world.
Section #5: Civilized? Finally?
The Sumerians
The Sumerians moved to the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers about 3500BC, but we do not know where
they came from. They were probably nomads (wandering groups) who discovered the fertile land
between the rivers. Nomads travel in small groups until they have eaten the food that grows wild and
hunted the animals in the area. When food is no longer plentiful, they move to a new area. Some people
continue to live like this in remote parts of the world to this day.
Eventually the Sumerians developed a civilization. They learned that by planting seeds and
plowing their land, they were able to grow crops. They learned to domesticate, or tame animals to help
them plow their lands. The Sumerians learned to use irrigation. Irrigation is a system of watering crops
to grow more food. The Sumerians also made a very important invention--the wheel. The invention of
the wheel made it possible to pull heavy loads.
Sumeria was composed of several city-states, or nations the size of cities. Walls around each
city-state protected the citizens from outside invaders. Farmland was usually outside the city walls, and
people would seek protection from the walls of the city when under attack.
The Sumerians were polytheistic, which means they believed in many gods. They worshiped their gods at
huge temples they called ziggurats. Each ziggurat was dedicated to a specific god, whom the Sumerians
believed ruled over their city. When one city was conquered, the invaders would force the conquered
people to accept their gods. Most people in the Western Hemisphere today practice monotheism, which
means they believe in only one God. Christianity, Islam, and Judaism are all monotheistic faiths
The Babylonians
By 1800, BC, a powerful city-state had grown in Babylon, and old Sumerian city on the Euphrates.
Babylon’s greatest monarch Hammurabi, conquered all of Mesopotamia.
During this 42-year reign, Hammurabi oversaw many building and irrigation projects, improved the
tax collection system, and brought prosperity through increased trade. He is most famous, however, for
Hammurabi’s Code, the earliest known written collection of laws. It contained laws on everything from
trade, loans, and theft to injury, marriage, and murder. Some of its ideas are still found in laws today.
The code was important not only for how thorough it was, but also because it was written down
for all to see.
Section #5: Planning a Trip
Slide the symbols in your magazine to the proper location on the map. Use this URL to help you:
http://www.classzone.com/webquest/AC_interactives/AC_02/mesopotamia/AC_03_079_mesopotamia.html
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Fertile Crescent
Persian Gulf
Mediterranean Sea
Caspian Sea
Section #6: And Now a Word from our Sponsors
The civilizations that settled in the Mesopotamian region were considered the most advanced societies
that the world had seen so far. Not only did they move the ancient man out of a hunter-gatherer
lifestyle, but they also invented MANY things that we still use today in one form or another. The items
they invented have influenced our society in many ways. Some items they invented are:
Irrigation
Division of Labor
Cuneiform
Taxes
Astronomy
Hammurabi’s Code
lunar Calendar
bronze tools
Scribe
wheel
axel
chariot
Clock
the arch
cylinder seal
alphabet
Plow
a circle = 360
jewelry making
Sewers
Area of a rectangle
area of a triangle
2 story homes
monarchy
epics
Potter’s wheel
lyre
ziggurats
medical treatments
written records of illnesses
Check over the Iraq Look Back publication for the ‘red’ sections. Insert photos,
photo credits, your opinion, URLs and a QR Code where indicated. To create a QR
code, use the site: http://qrcode.kaywa.com/. Copy the Gilgamesh URL and paste it. Click
Generate Free. When the QR code is created, copy it and paste it into your document.