ancient history: early cities

Question 1

ziggurat

Answer 1

-every major sumerian city had one
-temple on top for the worship of a city’s patron diety
-the bigger the base more impressive
-ppl brought offerings
-ppl could request help like food if they were poor

Question 2

sumerian king list

Answer 2

-sumerian sovereignty was hereditary. city-states had patriarchal royal families
-main seat of power could shift from city state to city state
-list begins w history of kingship (came from heaven)
-kings had local rulers that helped organize labor and enact justice

Question 3

cuneiform

Answer 3

-3200 bce
-likely earliest form of writing
-records important for merchants, administrators, priests
-epic of gilgamesh (based on real guy from 2700 bce)
-many stories abt environmental disasters
-not everyone could write. scribes could
-ppl learned math and used a base 60 system

Question 4

king sargon

Answer 4

-from akkad
-used the conflict in sumer to conquer all the city-states and create one of the first empires
-erected monuments to show that he built the empire and to unite all under him
-legend says his mom was a high priestess who put him in a basket in a river and a humble man raised him
-akkad was never found

Question 5

hammurabi’s code

Answer 5

-hammurabi founded the babylonian empire with an organized army equipped with bronze
-etched into stone/clay tablets
-hammurabi and the god of justice etched together at the top
-282 laws w offenses and punishments (which depended on social class

Question 6

importance of agriculture

Answer 6

-steady agriculture allowed civilizations to support people being more than just farmers
-power dynamics changed, ppl became specialized artisans

Question 7

ancient sumer

Answer 7

-cities in 3000 bce
-trade networks
-extended outward into city-states
-monumental architecture (ziggurats)
-polytheistic, had alters in homes
-the first political leaders were religious elites; later had a church state seperation
-90% of ppl were farmers, other ppl had specialized positions
-enslaved ppl worked on ziggurats, agriculture, construction

Question 8

babylonian empire

Answer 8

-founded in 1792 bce by hammurabi (he wanted to be the next sargon)
-contained what was once sumer and akkadian
-capital was babylon
-hammurabi’s code
-road system, postal service, irrigation, trade

Question 9

mesopotamia

Answer 9

-“the land between the rivers”
-located between tigris and euphrates
-major waterways supported agriculture and carried silt + minerals to make land fertile
-crop surplus let the population grow
-traded extra grain with assyra, anatolia, the levant, india
-graves of elites were given elaborate ceremonies