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Chapter 4 - Mesopotamia
Study Guide
Definitions:
 Irrigation- a system that supplies dry land with water through ditches, pipes, or streams
 Polytheism – a belief in more than one god
 Ziggurat- a pyramid-shaped structure with a temple at the top
 Cuneiform –a system of writing developed by the Sumerians that used wedge-shaped marks
made in soft clay
 Epic- a long poem that records the deeds of a legendary or real hero
 Empire – a large territory or groups of many territories governed by one ruler
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Key Points:
 In Mesopotamia, floods deposited silt, which made the soil fertile
 The Sumerians middle class was also know as merchants, artisans, farmers and fishers.
 Sumerians developed a 12-month calendar by recording the position of planets and stars
 Hammurabi developed the first empire in Mesopotamia
 The astronomers of Babylon mapped the stars and the planets
 The Chaldeans rebelled against the Assyrians
 The first Sumerian kings were assumed to be war heroes
 Sargon conquered all of the peoples of Mesopotamia, creating the world’s first empire that
lasted more than 200 years
 Mesopotamia in Greek means “land between the rivers”
 The few Sumerians who learned how to write often held high positions in society as scribes
 The Assyrian Empire’s capital city is called Nineveh
 Nebuchadnezzar is a Chaldean king who rebuilt Babylon
 The Hittites taught the Assyrians how to use stronger metals such as iron for weaponry and it
helped make their army stronger
 Hanging Gardens in Babylon was known as one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
 Babylon became rich from trade because it was located on a major trade route between the
Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf
 In 612 B.C. the Chaldeans defeated Assyria
 The Persians “mountain people” captured Babylon in 539 B.C.