Mesopotamian Civilization Section 2

Resources for Civilization, Achievements, and Empires

Boundaries of Mesopotamia

SE AsiaInside the Fertile

CrescentUnpredictable

floodingwater resource for

trade/transportation, fishing, freshwater, farming

Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

irrigationSupplying dry land

with waterCanalsDitchesDamsReservoirs

Mesopotamia “Land between the

rivers” in Greek language

Very fertileMade up of many

city-states

SumerSE region of

MesopotamiaFlat landMany successful

city-states located in this region

Sumerians invented many things we still use today.

City-statea city surrounded by

walls with farmland on the

outside ex. - Babylon, Ur,

Uruk, Nippur, Akkad had separate

governments

polytheismBelief in many godsStarted as a way to

explain events in nature

Ziggurat Religious temple to city-state’s most important god

Multi-layered mudbrick

Located in center of city-state

People left offerings Priests in charge

CuneiformWedge-shaped

writing system On clay with a

stylusWritten by scribes

Invented to keep track of recordstrade & government Sumerian

achievement

SargonAkkadian king (city

of Akkad)Conquered all of

Mesopotamia created world’s first

empireUnited all of Meso.

under one rule

HammurabiHammurabi’s Code

of Law282 lawsGoverned every

aspect of life“eye for an eye”Fair within same

social classes