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Global Studies I
Name: ________________________________________
Mr. Englert
Date: ___________
Early Human Civilization – Review Packet
The Paleolithic Era
 The term Paleolithic means “Stone Age”. It the earliest period of human history.
 Paleolithic people were nomads. This means they moved from place to place.
 Paleolithic people were hunters and gatherers. They hunted and trapped animals for food, and
also gathered berries, nuts, and grains to eat.
 Paleolithic people discovered fire. They used to provide light, heat, and to cook their food.
 Paleolithic developed spoken language and expressed themselves through art.
The Neolithic Era
 The term Paleolithic means “New Stone Age”.
 Neolithic people learned to farm. They could now grow their own food and stay in one place. This
huge change in the way humans lived was called the agricultural revolution.
 Neolithic people created settlements. These grew into villages, towns, and finally cities.
 Neolithic people also domesticated, or tamed, animals. This gave them another food source and
labor source.
 A steady food supply led to a larger population. More people means the settlements had more
security.
 A steady food supply means that not everyone needed to provide food all of the time. This gave
people the time to work on other things, such as new technologies. These new technologies
included working with metal, such as copper and tin, to make tools and weapons.
Mesopotamian Civilization
 The word Mesopotamia means “the land between the rivers” and refers to an area of the Middle
East known as the Fertile Crescent.
 It was known as the Fertile Crescent because it was between two rivers called the Tigris and the
Euphrates. These rivers would flood and fertilize the soil, making it perfect for farming.
The Sumerians – The Sumerians were found in the southern region of the Fertile Crescent.
 The Sumerians were the first major human civilization in the world.
 Sumerian cities were city-states, each one with its own government. They often fought each
other, even though they all shared the same Sumerian culture.
 The Sumerians believed in many gods. Each city-state had a huge temple known as a ziggurat to
honor the gods.
 The Sumerians developed a writing system called cuneiform. Only a few people, called scribes,
learned to write.
 The Sumerians invented the wagon wheel, the plow, and the sail boat.
 The Sumerians created a 12-month calendar and a number system based on 60.
The Akkadians – Led by their king Sargon, the Akkadians conquered all of Mesopotamia and created
the world’s first empire.
 An empire is a group of many different lands and people that are controlled by one leader.
The Babylonians – After building the city of Babylon on the Euphrates River, the Babylonians
conquered the Akkadian empire to control Mesopotamia.
 The most famous ruler of the Babylonians was Hammurabi.
 He created a system of laws called the Code of Hammurabi. It was a collection of laws covering
crimes, farming, business activities, and marriage and family.
 Many of the punishments for breaking the Code of Hammurabi seem cruel today, but the code
was still an important step in the development of a justice system.
The Assyrians – They conquered Mesopotamia about 1000 years after Hammurabi ruled.
 They were the first large army to build and use iron weapons. These weapons were much
stronger than weapons made of tin, copper, or bronze.
 They were fierce, cruel warriors who fought with spears, daggers, chariots, and soldiers on
horseback.
 They divided their empire into provinces, which are political districts. Each province was governed
by an official who collected taxes and enforced laws.
 The capital of the Assyrian Empire was the city of Nineveh.
 The people of Mesopotamia eventually rebelled against the cruelty of the Assyrians and created a
new empire of the Chaldeans.
The Chaldeans – They rebelled against the Assyrians.
 They rebuilt the city of Babylon and turned it into a major center of trade. This made it one of the
richest cities in the world.
 Because they rebuilt Babylon and made it their main city, the Chaldeans are also known as the
Neo-Babylonians.
 Their most famous ruler was called Nebuchadnezzar.
 Like other Mesopotamian cultures, they had many gods and built huge temples.
 The Chaldeans also built the Hanging Gardens, which was a huge, beautiful building draped with
green plans and covered in gardens and flowers.
 The Chaldeans were merchants, artisans (skilled craftsmen), and traders.
 The Chaldeans were astronomers, which means they studies the sky and the stars. They
mapped the stars, the movements of the planets, and the phases of the moon.