Mesopotamia: The Culture and

Geography of Ancient

MesopotamiaHomework –Mr. Dowling’s Study Sheet -is due Monday before the quiz

7th Grade World HistoryDo Now: Mr. K’s 9/11 experiences.

Learning Targets:• I will complete Chapter

5 reading notes focusing on elements of culture

• I will understand how geography contributes to culture in Mesopotamia

• Homework packet will prepare you.

Students will be able to describe why these terms are the foundations of culture.

Review: The Seven Elements of Culture

1. Social Organization2. Customs and

Tradition3. Language4. Art and Literature5. Religion6. Some form of

government7. Economic systems of

trade and barter

Important Vocabulary- Students will be able to define why these elements were so important in MesopotamiafloodplainsiltariddroughtirrigationsurplusCultural diffusionCultural relativism

What is Culture?Culture – the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together form a people’s way of life

The development of writing is vital to building culture

Cultural Diffusion – YES, you need to know and apply this;

When two people from different cultures encounter each other, ideas tend to be exchanged which can become brand new ideas or adaptations of other ones.

This exchange of ideas and beliefs between two different cultures is referred to as cultural diffusion.

Be able to give specific examples. Hint; TRADE and Surplus

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism

Cultural Relativism – the practice of evaluating a culture by that culture’s own standards. Can you give an example?

YES, of course you can

Farmers learned how to take steps to control the water supply of early Mesopotamia. The silt left from the floodingof the rivers was deposited on the land and made theland fertile. In this arid land, the farmers were able to grow a surplus of crops. Irrigation allowed the earlypeople of Mesopotamia to survive and trade for other Items that they needed and wanted.

Mesopotamia was a land of fewresources. Homes were built outof reeds and dried mud and strawbricks. Mesopotamians had to usetheir surplus farm products to tradefor items they needed and wanted.

1. Explain the importance of our vocab words to the development of Mesopotamian culture:

2. The rivers of Mesopotamia were important because….3. Mesopotamians watered their crops by …..4. Because of the lack of resources….5. What did the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers provide for

ancient Mesopotamians?6. How did the Mesopotamian farmers obtain the right

amount of water for their crops?7. How did the lack of natural resources affect

Mesopotamians

These are the types of questions you might see on a quiz