Download Chapter 2: The Ancient Middle East: 5000 B.C. – 600 B.C. As early

Chapter 2: The Ancient Middle East: 5000 B.C. – 600 B.C.
As early as 7,000 years ago, civilization began to develop in the Middle East. Many people
settled along the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers there. We call this area Mesopotamia, a word
that means “land between the rivers.?? Mesopotamia and the land to its east form the “Fertile
Crescent.?? In this chapter, you will learn about the people who lived along the Fertile
Crescent. You will also discover the gifts they gave to us.
Goals for Learning
To describe life in Sumer and identify the Sumerians’ contributions to the world
To describe Akkadian and Babylonian civilizations in Mesopotamia and analyze the rule of
Hammurabi
To evaluate the role of the Phoenicians and the Hebrews in world civilization
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Ancient Mesopotamia
Map Skills: We have given Mesopotamia, the “land between the rivers,?? many names. Since
the first great civilizations developed there, we called it “the cradle of civilization.?? We also
called it the “Fertile Crescent.?? Why? Because Mesopotamia and the land to its west is shaped
like a crescent, or quarter, moon. Also, it is fertile, or able to provide plentiful crops.
Because of the oil in this area, the Fertile Crescent is important to the whole world today.
Study the map, then answer the following questions:
1. What are the names of the five seas shown on the map?
2. What four cities appear on the map?
3. What two great rivers flow in Mesopotamia?
4. About how many miles long is the Fertile Crescent?
5. In what direction is Mesopotamia from the Mediterranean Sea?
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Reading Strategy: Questioning
Asking questions as you read will help you understand and remember more of the information.
Questioning the text will also help you to be a more active reader. As you read, ask yourself:
What is my reason for reading this text?
What decisions can I make about the facts and details in this text?
What connections can I make between this text and my own life?
Key Vocabulary Words
Lesson 1
City-state: A city surrounded by smaller villages
Military: Having to do with the army
Temple: A place in which to honor gods
Worship: To honor and praise a god
Priest: A religious leader
Cuneiform: The writing invented by Sumerians
Lesson 2
Translate: To change the words of one language into those of another
Reign: To rule; the period of time a king or queen rules
Lesson 3
Fertile Crescent: The area in the Middle East shaped like a quarter moon (crescent) where one
of the earliest civilizations developed
Bible: The Hebrew and Christian book that is thought to be holy
Famine: A time when crops do not grow and there is no food
Commandment: A rule, or a way to act
Judaism: The religion of the Hebrews that Jews practice today
Covenant: An agreement
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Lesson 1: The Sumerians
Objectives
To describe life in Sumer
To identify four things the Sumerians added to world civilization
City-state
A city surrounded by smaller villages
Military
Having to do with the army
Reading Strategy: Questioning
What do you think you will learn about by reading this lesson?
About 7,000 years ago, several groups of people settled between the Tigris and the Euphrates
Rivers. The place where they settled is called Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia means “the land
between the rivers.??
Every spring the rivers flooded their banks and made the land fertile. The rivers helped people
raise crops and care for their goats, cows, and sheep. Few trees grew there, and there was little
stone for building. Yet in this place, an unusual people—the Sumerians—began to build a great
civilization. Their civilization is called Sumer.
Who Were the Sumerians?
At first, the Sumerians lived in the hills northeast of Mesopotamia. Gradually they moved into
the river valleys. The Sumerians shared a common language and religion. They were one of
many different tribes that lived in this area.
The Sumerians built several large city-states, or cities surrounded by smaller villages. More
than 20,000 people lived in the largest cities. They built strong, protective walls around the
cities. They also built canals and dikes—banks of earth that keep out water. Then they drained
the nearby water-soaked land and irrigated the farmlands.
Each city had its own government. In the beginning, the people chose their leader. But then the
city-states began to fight with each other. Leaders of the military, or army, became their rulers.
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Temple
A place in which to honor gods
Worship
To honor and praise a god
Priest
A religious leader
What Was Life Like in Sumer?
Sumerians lived far better than prehistoric humans had. Even the poorest citizens owned their
own farm or house. Women had many legal, or lawful, rights. They could own property and run
a business. Sumerian slaves could set up a business, borrow money, and buy their freedom.
Children had to obey. If they disobeyed, their parents could sell them into slavery! In school,
teachers could beat children who made mistakes. The children’s parents chose whom they
would marry.
What Was a Sumerian Home Like?
The Sumerians learned to make bricks by putting clay in molds. Then they baked the bricks in
the hot sun. They used these clay bricks to build one-story houses. Each had several rooms
surrounding an open patio.
People with more money built larger, two-story houses. They coated the walls with a mixture
of water, sand, and perhaps other materials. Then they painted the inside and the outside of
their house white.
What Were Ziggurats?
The main building in each Sumerian city was its temple. There, the people worshiped, or
honored, their gods. Each temple was in a ziggurat, or pyramid, shape with four sides. A temple
ziggurat was up to six or seven stories high.
Inside the temple, the Sumerians built rooms for their priests, or religious leaders. The priests
made sure that the workers built the ziggurat correctly. Building was expensive, so the priests
asked for and received a part of each farmer’s crop.
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Cuneiform
The writing invented by Sumerians
What Were the Sumerian Gods Like?
Like most people at that time, the Sumerians believed in gods who had human feelings. They
believed that when the gods became angry, they punished the Sumerians. They made rivers
flood and crops fail.
To keep their many gods happy, the Sumerians built ziggurats in which to worship them. They
kept statues of the gods in these temples. They also sacrificed animals daily to their gods.
What Is the Most Important Sumerian Invention?
The Sumerians invented writing. We call their writing cuneiform. Writing probably began
when the priests started to keep records. Later, the Sumerians made cuneiform more simple by
creating a different symbol for each sound or word. They created about 600 characters, or
symbols.
The Sumerians had no paper. They wrote on soft clay tablets with a sharp, pointed tool called a
stylus. Then they baked the tablets to make them hard.
History in Your Life
The Story of Gilgamesh
The story of Gilgamesh is the world’s oldest known written literature. It is a long poem, or
epic, that tells Sumerian myths. It is on clay tablets written about 4,000 years ago. The story
itself is even older. Gilgamesh was a real person. He probably ruled Uruk, a city in
Mesopotamia, before 2500 B.C. The myth makes him a hero king. He is part god and part
human. The poem centers on his hunt for a way to live forever. There are battles with spirits
and divine animals. Enkidu is another character. He lived in the forest with animals.
Gilgamesh beat him in a fight. Then Enkidu became his friend and companion.
Some stories in the Gilgamesh epic are similar to those in the Bible. One story tells about a
great flood in Mesopotamia. A man tells Gilgamesh how he built a boat and lived through the
flood. This is similar to the story of Noah and the Great Flood from the Bible.
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Reading Strategy: Questioning
Ask yourself: “Did I understand what I just read about the Sumerians??? If not, read the
material again.
Archaeologists have found many of these tablets. Most of them are legal and business records.
About 5,000 of them, however, contain our oldest known writings—hymns, stories, and poems.
Some tablets list the names of cities, trees, insects, and many other things. This means the
Sumerians were the first people to write down history.
What Other Gifts Did the Sumerians Give Us?
The Sumerians may have been the first people to use a plow and a sailboat. They were the first
to put wheels on carts. They also invented the potter’s wheel. On this wheel, they could make
more useful pottery shapes.
Sumerians created arches and ramps. These curved openings and smooth stairways helped them
build taller and stronger buildings. To do this, they needed to know arithmetic. They based their
arithmetic on the number 60. Even today, we use this number to measure time. For example,
we have a 60-second minute and a 60-minute hour.
Lesson 1 Review
On a sheet of paper, use the words from the Word Bank to complete each sentence correctly.
Word Bank
bricks
cuneiform
Sumerians
temple
20,000
1. The _____ were one of many different tribes that lived in the Middle East.
2. The largest Sumerian cities had more than _____ people.
3. A ziggurat is the name for a Sumerian _____.
4. The Sumerians built with _____.
5. The Sumerians invented writing called _____.
What do you think?
What do you think was the most important invention of the Sumerians? Why do you think this?
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Lesson 2: The Akkadians and the Babylonians
Objectives
To describe how the Akkadian and Babylonian civilizations became powerful
To identify Sargon I
To identify the system of laws that Hammurabi created
Translate
To change the words of one language into those of another
Years after the Sumerians built their city-states in Mesopotamia, Sargon I united them. He
ruled a kingdom north of the Sumerians called Akkad. Because his Akkadian army used bronze
weapons, they were stronger than other armies.
In time, Sargon’s kingdom spread from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea eastward. It
covered all of the Tigris and Euphrates River Valleys to the Persian Gulf. For the first time in
history, one person ruled all this land. He ruled for about 35 years, from around 2340 B.C. to
2305 B.C.
What Did Sargon I Borrow from the Sumerians?
Sargon I borrowed many ideas from the Sumerians. The most important was their way of
writing. The Akkadians had their own language, but they used the Sumerian cuneiform to make
written records.
Scribes translated many Sumerian writings. That is, they changed the Sumerian words into
their own Akkadian ones. In this way, the Akkadians discovered many of Sumer’s ideas about
religion and government.
Sargon I was a strong leader. He repaired dikes and made the irrigation systems longer. His
army protected important trade routes. Sargon I died in 2305 B.C.
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Reading Strategy: Questioning
Think about the purpose of this text. Ask yourself: “Am I finding out that information I
expected to when I began reading???
Who Were the Babylonians?
Around 1800 B.C., a new city-state called Babylon arose. People feared its powerful army.
Hammurabi, the king of Babylon, fought both the Akkadians and the Sumerians and won. His
kingdom stretched from the Persian Gulf northward through Mesopotamia.
Hammurabi built a giant ziggurat to honor the god Marduk. He also built a wall around
Babylon to protect it. The wall was 11 miles long and nearly 80 feet wide. He improved roads
and helped develop trade. Merchants, or traders, from as far away as India and China came to
Babylon to do business.
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Reign
To rule; the period of time a king or queen rules
Then and Now
“An Eye for an Eye??
Hammurabi’s Code shows what life in Babylonia was like. Property was important. Ordinary
people were valued less than nobles. Harming a common person brought a small fine. Harming
a noble meant harsh punishment. This code was important because the laws were written out.
Written laws were fairer because people knew what the law was. A ruler could not change laws
without telling people. Laws were the same from case to case. People could defend themselves.
Today nearly every modern country has a written code of laws. Ideas about the laws have
changed over time, though. In general, penalties for small crimes are not harsh like those in
Hammurabi’s Code.
Why Do We Remember Hammurabi?
People today remember Hammurabi because he created the first system of laws. We call these
laws “Hammurabi’s Code.?? He looked at the laws of all the lands he ruled. Then he collected
what he thought were the best ones. Hammurabi put these into a code, or group of laws. He
expected everyone in his kingdom to obey them. He also expected his government to carry out
these laws.
Hammurabi ruled, or reigned, for almost 40 years. He was proud of all he had done during that
time. Near the end of his reign, he ordered a scribe to carve his record on a large block of stone.
In this way everyone knew his laws. The scribe carved nearly 300 laws on the stone.
Archaeologists found it buried in the sands of Iran in 1902.
We call Hammurabi’s reign the Golden Age of Babylon. After his death in 1750 B.C., the
Babylonians lost their power. Then Mesopotamia was again divided into small city-states.
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What do you think?
What made Sargon I and Hammurabi great leaders?
Map Study: Kingdoms of Mesopotamia
This map shows the kingdoms of ancient Mesopotamia. What three kingdoms does it show?
Which is the oldest? Which is the largest?
Lesson 2 Review
On a sheet of paper, use the words from the Word Bank to complete each sentence correctly.
Word Bank
Akkadians
Babylon
code
Hammurabi
Sargon I
1. The first ruler to unite the city-states of Mesopotamia was _____.
2. He was the leader of the _____.
3. Around 1800 B.C. a new city-state called _____ came to power.
4. One of its great leaders was _____.
5. He collected laws from many groups of people and put them into a _____.
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Lesson 3: The Phoenicians and the Hebrews
Objectives
To identify some advancements made by the Phoenicians
To understand what led to the birth of the Jewish religion
Fertile Crescent
The area in the Middle East shaped like a quarter moon (crescent) where one of the earliest
civiliations developed
Geography Note
The rich soil in the Fertile Crescent provided those who lived there with foods such as wild
wheat, barley, and nuts. Gazelle were among the wild animals available for food.
The Fertile Crescent is a part of the Middle East where one of the earliest civilizations
developed. It is shaped like a quarter moon, or crescent, and it provides plentiful crops.
Historians call its western tip Canaan and its eastern end Mesopotamia.
Why Did the Phoenicians Become Sailors?
Around 1100 B.C., a people we call the Phoenicians built a number of city-states in Canaan.
Phoenicia was a narrow civilization squeezed between the mountains and the Mediterranean
Sea. It had little land for farming.
The Phoenicians did, however, live in an area with many tall cedar trees. The Phoenicians used
these to build ships. Soon they became sea traders. The merchants and traders became rich and
built the great cities of Tyre and Sidon.
These traders sold cloth, glass, wood, and beautiful metal objects to people in other lands.
Phoenician sailors carried this cargo in their ships. Then they sailed back home with ivory,
metals, weapons, slaves, and wine.
Where Did the Phoenician Sailors Travel?
Phoenician sailors traveled to places no one else had been. They sailed to England in search of
tin and copper. They traveled to Africa to trade for ivory. During their travels, they founded
colonies in places such as France and Spain.
About 814 B.C., some Phoenicians settled in Carthage in northern Africa. Around 600 B.C.,
Phoenician sailors may have sailed around the tip of Africa. Some historians believe they even
sailed across the ocean to America!
Phoenicians sailed in ships with a single sail. Many sailors pushed and pulled the oars that
moved the ship forward. Phoenician sailors could sail far and wide because they mapped sea
routes. They also used the North Star to navigate, or steer, their boats. They were the first
sailors to do this.
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Bible
The Hebrew and Christian book that is thought to be holy
Reading Strategy: Questioning
Think beyond the text. Consider your own thoughts and experiences as you read about the
Phoenicians.
Map Study: Phoenicia and the Hebrew Kingdoms (c. 900 B.C.)
This map shows Phoenicia, Philistia, and the Hebrew kingdoms. Which kingdom is farthest
south? What river is important to these kingdoms? In what direction is Israel from Judah?
What Gifts Did the Phoenicians Give Us?
We remember the Phoenicians for two important reasons: First, they developed a simple
alphabet of 22 letters. These few letters took the place of the nearly 600 letters of the cuneiform
alphabet. The Greeks and Romans used this alphabet to build their own. The English and
Spanish languages also use it. Second, the Phoenicians spread the culture and the products of
the Middle East to many places. They did this through their trade and their colonies. Because of
this, important ideas spread around the world.
What Is the Holy Book of the Hebrews?
The Hebrews are another Middle Eastern people. For many centuries, Hebrew scribes wrote
books to tell their story. These books have been collected into one large book that we call the
Bible. Jews and Christians believe the Bible is holy. We find the story of the Hebrew people in
the first part of Christian Bibles.
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Famine
A time when crops do not grow and there is no food
Commandment
A rule, or a way to act
Judaism
The religion of the Hebrews that Jews practice today
Reading Strategy: Questioning
What details are important to understanding what this lesson is about?
Where Did the Hebrews Come From?
Abraham was the first leader of the Hebrew people. The Hebrew part of the Bible says that God
called Abraham’s family out of Mesopotamia. With his family and relatives, he was to go to a
new country. Historians think that this happened sometime between 2000 and 1500 B.C.
For many years, they wandered the deserts as nomads. During a famine—a time when crops do
not grow and there is no food—they traveled to Egypt. Years passed, and the Hebrews grew
large in number. The Egyptian rulers made them slaves.
Who Led the Hebrew People Out of Slavery?
A Hebrew leader named Moses led his people out of Egypt sometime between 1300 and 1200
B.C. According to the Bible, the people wandered in the desert to the east of Egypt. There
Moses climbed Mount Sinai to pray.
There, the Hebrew god—Yahweh—gave Moses the Ten Commandments. These rules told the
Hebrews what to do to live peacefully with God, themselves, and other people. The
commandments became the roots of the religion of the Hebrews. Today, we call this religion
Judaism. We now call the Hebrew people Jews.
Biography
Solomon: Ruled c. Mid-900s B.C.
Solomon was the son of King David and the greatest king of ancient Israel. According to the
Bible, he ruled for 40 years. Solomon became a famous ruler.
To keep the throne, Solomon had his enemies killed. Then he made Israel a rich empire. His
ships traded with other countries for gold and silver. The king had new cities built in the lands
he ruled. His most famous building was the magnificent temple in Jerusalem. Thousands of
workers cut cedar wood for it. They brought huge blocks of stones. The temple was richly
carved and covered with gold.
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Covenant
An agreement
Writing About History
Think about ancient laws, such as Hammurabi’s Code and the Ten Commandments. Then write
a code of laws for your school. In your notebook, list ten laws to govern people’s behavior.
What do you think?
Why did the Phoenicians turn to the sea to make a living?
What Covenant Did the Hebrews Make?
The Hebrew people believed that their god had made a covenant, or agreement, with them.
They promised to honor Yahweh’s commandments and worship him alone. In return, God
promised to protect the Jews. The land of Canaan would belong to them forever.
After many years of wandering, the Hebrews came to Canaan. There they fought the people
who lived in Philistia, along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. In time, the Hebrews settled
two kingdoms in Canaan—Judah and Israel. Later, invading armies destroyed both kingdoms.
Today, we call this land Palestine. A large part of Palestine is the Jewish state of Israel.
What Gifts Did the Hebrews Give Us?
The Hebrews were the first people to believe in one all-powerful god. They set a high standard
of behavior toward others. The Ten Commandments still influence many people.
Lesson 3 Review
On a sheet of paper, write the letter of the answer that correctly completes each sentence.
1. The Phoenicians lived in _____.
A Egypt
B Sumer
C Babylon
D Canaan
2. The Phoenicians became famous as _____.
A sailors
B soldiers
C painters
D lawyers
3. The Phoenicians were the first people to use the _____ to help them navigate.
A North Star
B compass
C astrolabe
D Orion
4. The holy book of the Hebrew people is called the _____.
A Vegas
B Bible
C Ziggurat
D Cedar
5. The Hebrews differed from other ancient people because they believed in one _____.
A commandment
B Marduk
C god
D Sanskrit
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Document-Based Reading
Hammurabi’s Code
Hammurabi was very concerned about justice. Having a written code of laws was fairer to his
people. The laws applied to everyone. They dealt with all parts of daily life. Some laws set rules
for business and trade. Others listed punishments for crimes. Still others protected women’s
rights. Hammurabi’s Code was an important step forward in government. Many systems of
laws that came later were based on Hammurabi’s Code.
1. If a man destroys the eye of another man, they shall destroy his eye.
2. If he breaks a man’s bone, they shall break his bone.
3. If he destroys the eye of a common man or breaks a bone of a common man, he shall pay
one mina of silver.
4. If a man knocks out a tooth of a man of his own rank, they shall knock out his tooth.
5. If he knocks out a tooth of a common man, he shall pay one-third mina of silver.
6. If a house falls in and kills the owner’s son, the son of the builder shall be put to death.
7. If a man strikes his father, they shall cut off his hand.
8. If a man is robbed and the robber is not caught, the governor of the city shall give the victim
the value of the stolen goods.
9. If a man has stolen goods from a temple or house, he shall be put to death.
10. If a man has broken into a house, he shall be killed in front of the place where he broke
through and buried there.
11. If a man wishes to divorce his wife who did not bear him children, he shall return to her the
dowry [the property a woman brings to the husband at marriage] that she brought from her
father’s house and then he may divorce her.
Document-Based Questions
1. Compare the third law with the first and second. How were laws different for ordinary
people and people of high rank?
2. Think about the saying “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.?? How do these laws fit with
Hammurabi’s Code?
3. What did Babylonians seem to value more—human life or property? Explain.
4. How was a careless builder punished? Do you think this punishment fits the crime?
5. How was a childless woman protected in a divorce?
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Spotlight Story: Technology Moves Ahead
Technology is the use of knowledge to solve practical problems. Before 1500 B.C., technology
was moving ahead in the ancient Middle East. People learned to control floods. They built
impressive buildings. Clever, curious people have always made inventions and discoveries.
One giant step was learning to work with iron. Much earlier, people had mixed copper and tin
to make bronze. Iron, however, was stronger than bronze. It made better knives and tools. Iron
swords had a sharper edge. But it was harder to work with, too. It took a very hot fire to melt,
or smelt, iron out of the rock. Then a worker called a smith hammered it into shape while it was
red-hot.
We know little about the Hittites. Their craftsmen, however, were the first in the Middle East to
work with iron. Hittites probably came from central Europe to what is now Turkey. Iron swords
and horse-drawn war chariots helped them conquer their neighbors. The Hittite empire fell
about 1200 B.C. After that, the secret of iron spread to others. Iron could then be used for new
purposes. In Israel, farmers had iron-tipped plows. They used iron sickles to harvest grain.
Carpenters had sharper iron tools.
Trade also encouraged the development of new technology for better transportation. For
example, tin was scarce. People had to travel long distances to find it. Trading ships of the time
had both a sail and oars. Most of the time, human crews rowed the ship. Large crews, however,
were not practical for long trips. Then the Phoenicians turned a problem into an advantage.
They did not have much good farmland, but they did have tall cedar trees. Phoenicians used
them to make sturdy wooden ships. Instead of rowers, their ships had one large, square sail.
The Phoenicians had developed the technology to sail long distances.
In the 1300s B.C., traders sailed all over the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Usually they stayed
within sight of land, the stars their only navigation tools. Traders from different cultures
exchanged goods. Caravans brought goods to the coast from far inland. Hardwoods and gold
came from Africa. Amber came from the Baltic Sea. Traders might bring a new ship into a
region. Then others would copy it, further spreading the technology.
Wrap-Up
1. Why was iron more useful than bronze?
2. Describe how iron tools were made.
3. What people in the Middle East were the first to work with iron?
4. How did Phoenicians change the way ships were made? Why?
5. Describe how trade and technology worked together.
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Chapter 2 SUMMARY
Civilization developed in Mesopotamia about 7,000 years ago. People settled the land between
two rivers—the Tigris and the Euphrates. Floods made the land good for farming. People built
canals and dikes to control the water.
The Sumerians were a tribe in Mesopotamia. They built walled city-states. Most people in
Sumer could own property. Women and slaves had legal rights. Sumerians built houses out of
baked clay bricks.
Sumerians feared their gods. A ziggurat, or temple, was the most important building in a city.
Their buildings had ramps and arches.
Sumerian inventions included a writing system called cuneiform. They used a stylus to make
symbols on clay tablets. They were the first to use the wheel on carts. Their counting system
was based on the number 60.
Sargon I was the ruler of Akkad in about 2340 B.C. He made the Sumerian city-states part of
his lands. The Akkadians learned cuneiform.
Hammurabi ruled the city-state of Babylon from about 1800 B.C. to his death in 1750 B.C. He
organized his laws into a system, or code. They applied everywhere in the kingdom. This time
is called the Golden Age of Babylon.
The term “Fertile Crescent?? refers to an area in the Middle East. It is a crescent shaped area of
land from Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean Sea.
The Phoenicians built city-states in Canaan. They became shipbuilders and sea traders. Their
main cities were Sidon and Tyre. Phoenicians also built the city of Carthage in North Africa.
They made maps of the seas. They used the North Star for navigation.
The Phoenicians developed a 22-letter alphabet. It is the ancestor of the alphabet we use today.
They took ideas from the Middle East to many places.
The first books of the Bible tell the history of the Hebrews. Their first great leader was
Abraham. He led them out of Mesopotamia, probably between 2000 and 1500 B.C.
The Hebrews were desert nomads for many years. Then they became slaves in Egypt. A leader
named Moses led them out of Egypt.
The Hebrews settled in Canaan. They believed God had promised them this land. They divided
it into the kingdoms of Judah and Israel.
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Chapter 2 REVIEW
On a sheet of paper, use the words from the Word Bank to complete each sentence correctly.
Word Bank
Hammurabi
Hebrews
Marduk
Mesopotamia
Phoenicians
Sargon I
Sumerians
wheels
Yahweh
ziggurats
1. The Sumerians built _____, which were pyramid-shaped buildings.
2. We call the region between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers _____.
3. _____, the king of Akkad, united the city-states of the Middle East.
4. _____ developed the first code of law.
5. The _____ were the first great sailors and traders.
6. The _____ were the first people to believe in one all-powerful god.
7. The _____ invented writing.
8. The name of the chief Babylonian god was _____.
9. The name of the Hebrew god was _____.
10. The Sumerians were the first people to put _____ on carts.
On a sheet of paper, write the letter of the answer that correctly completes each sentence.
11. The Sumerians built _____.
A city-states
B boats
C the Bible
D a code
12. The Akkadians _____ Sumerian writings into their own language.
A translated
B cuneiform
C stylus
D painted
13. The Babylonian king Hammurabi collected laws into a _____.
A Bible
B Vedas
C ziggurat
D code
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14. The Phoenicians built boats of _____.
A jade
B marble
C clay
D cedar
15. The Hebrews became slaves in _____.
A Egypt
B Canaan
C Phoenicia
D Palestine
On a sheet of paper, write the answer to each question. Use complete sentences.
16. What gifts did the Sumerians give us?
17. Why do we remember Hammurabi?
18. In what way did the Hebrew people differ from other ancient people?
Critical Thinking
On a sheet of paper, write your response to each question. Use complete sentences.
19. Which country or group of people in the ancient Middle East gave us the greatest gifts?
Explain your answer.
20. Why is the invention of writing an important step in world civilization?
Test-Taking Tip: When a teacher announces a test, listen carefully. Write down the lessons
that will be included. Write down any specific topics the teacher says to review.
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