Download Ancient Mesopotamia Vocabulary

Worksheet #______
Name:____________________________
Ancient Civilizations: Period: ______
Date:___________
Hooker
Ancient Mesopotamia Vocabulary
1. ______________________________________: a large arc of rich, or
fertile, farmland that extends from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea
2. _______________________: a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks
3. __________________________________: a way of supplying water to
an area of land
4. ____________________________: human-made waterways
5. ________________________________________: more than you need
6. _____________________________________________________:
the type of arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular task job
7. ___________________: countryside
8. _____________________: city area
9. ____________________________: consisted of a city and all the
countryside around it
10. _________________________________________: one of Uruk’s
kings who became a legendary figure in Sumerian literature
11. _________________________________: sought to extend the
Akkadian territory and built a new capital, Akkad, on the Euphrates River, near
what is now the city of Baghdad. He was the first ruler to have a permanent army.
12. ______________________________: land with different territories and
peoples under a single rule
13. ______________________________________: worship of many gods
14. _______________________________: people who performed religious
ceremonies
Worksheet #______
15. _____________________________________: the division of society
by rank or class
16. ___________________________________: the world’s first system of
writing
17. ________________________________: picture symbols
18. ____________________________: writer
19. _______________________: long poems that tell the stories of heroes
20. _____________________________________: the science of building
21. _____________________________________: a pyramid-shaped
temple tower that rose above each city in Sumer
22. _____________________________: a ruler of a kingdom or empire
23. __________________________________: a set of 282 laws that dealt
with almost every part of daily life
24. _____________________: a wheeled, horse-drawn cart used in battle
25. ________________________________: the most famous Chaldean
king who rebuilt Babylon into a beautiful city.
26. ______________________: set of letters that can be combined to form
words.
Worksheet #______
Ancient Mesopotamia Vocabulary Answer Key
1. Fertile Crescent: a large arc of rich, or fertile, farmland that extends from the Persian Gulf
to the Mediterranean Sea
2. silt: a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks
3. irrigation: a way of supplying water to an area of land
4. canals: human-made waterways
5. surplus: more than you need
6. division of labor: the type of arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular
task job
7. rural: countryside
8. urban: city area
9. city-state: consisted of a city and all the countryside around it
10. Gilgamesh: one of Uruk’s kings who became a legendary figure in Sumerian literature
11. Sargon: sought to extend the Akkadian territory and built a new capital, Akkad, on the
Euphrates River, near what is now the city of Baghdad. He was the first ruler to have a
permanent army.
12. empire: land with different territories and peoples under a single rule
13. polytheism: worship of many gods
14. priests: people who performed religious ceremonies
15. social hierarchy: the division of society by rank or class
16. cuneiform: the world’s first system of writing
17. pictographs: picture symbols
18. scribe: writer
19. epics: long poems that tell the stories of heroes
20. architecture: the science of building
21. ziggurat: a pyramid-shaped temple tower that rose above each city in Sumer
22. monarch: a ruler of a kingdom or empire
23. Hammurabi’s Code: a set of 282 laws that dealt with almost every part of daily life
24. chariot: a wheeled, horse-drawn cart used in battle
25. Nebuchadnezzar: the most famous Chaldean king who rebuilt Babylon into a beautiful
city.
26. alphabet: set of letters that can be combined to form words.