Ancient Empires of the Mediterranean and Near East

Question 1

one of the first civilizations to arise in Mesopotamia; a collection of city-states including Uruk, Eridu, Ur, Nippur, Lagash and Kish

Answer 1

Sumer

Question 2

tiered, pyramid-like temples associated with the Sumerian religion

Answer 2

ziggurats

Question 3

the largest of the Sumerian city-states (with a population of between 40,000 and 80,000, at its peak around 2800 B.C.E., it was most likely the largest city in the world)

Answer 3

Uruk

Question 4

Sumer’s lone female monarch, who founded a dynasty in Kish

Answer 4

Kubaba

Question 5

king of Lagash who constructed the “Stele of the Vultures” after defeating the city-state of Umma and went on to conquer the whole of Sumer

Answer 5

King Eannatum

Question 6

Sumerian writing system consisting of several hundred characters that ancient scribes used to write words or syllables on wet clay tablets with a reed stylus

Answer 6

cuneiform

Question 7

the fifth ruler of the city of Uruk who became the hero of an epic 3000-line poem

Answer 7

Gilgamesh

(in the poem, the “Epic of Gilgamesh,” he is a demigod with Hercules-like strength who battles a monster and quests after the secret of eternal life)

Question 8

base of the Sumerian (and later Babylonian) number system

Answer 8

60 (sexigesimal)

Question 9

the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia (and empty into the Persian Gulf)

Answer 9

Tigris and Euphrates

Question 10

founder of the Akkadian Empire

Answer 10

Sargon the Great (who conquered all of Mesopotamia in the 24th and 23rd centuries B.C.E.)

Question 11

empire founded by Sargon the Great

Answer 11

Akkadian Empire