Chapter 02: Mesopotamia

Question 1

When did the last Ice Age end?

Answer 1

15,000-10,000 B.C.E.

Question 2

When was the first evidence of agriculture in the Levantine Corridor?

Answer 2

10,000 B.C.E.

Question 3

When did the Sumerians arrive in Mesopotamia?

Answer 3

5,000 B.C.E.

Question 4

When did the Sumerian city-states begin to develop?

Answer 4

3,000 B.C.E.

Question 5

Global Warming in 15,000 B.C.E. caused what?

Answer 5

Ice glaciers to melt

Question 6

The ___________ led to the first farming settlements.

Answer 6

Dryas Event

Question 7

By ___________ cereal agriculture was wide spread.

Answer 7

8,000 B.C.E.

Question 8

Who lived in lower Mesopotamia in 5,000 B.C.E?

Answer 8

Sumerians

Question 9

List the accomplishmets of the Smerians:

Answer 9

1. large cities, then city-states
2. sophisticated system of writing
3. monumental buildings
4. Probably invented the wheel
5. developed an irrigation system using gravity
6. use of a plow
7. made bronze utensils and weapons

Question 10

Effective, unified rule over Mesoptamia occurs whenever ________ takes power in 2,300 B.C.E.?

Answer 10

Sargon the Great

Question 11

What occupations in this society required an education, formal training, or apprenticeships?

Answer 11

scribes, priesthood, metalworking, shopkeepers, clerks, laborers

Question 12

What occupations in this society did NOT require an education?

Answer 12

carters, wine pressers, millers

Question 13

Who comleted the essential task of fetching water?

Answer 13

The women and the children

Question 14

What is polytheism?

Answer 14

the belief in many gods

Question 15

Who was Innana?

Answer 15

the goddess of love and fertility

Question 16

Who was Enki?

Answer 16

the water-god

Question 17

What were the Ziggurats?

Answer 17

Pyramids where gods reside and preists made offerings

Question 18

What is the most famous Ziggurat?

Answer 18

The tower of Babel

Question 19

What were the two key factors of the Mesopotamian environment?

Answer 19

Aridity of climate and the unpredicatinility of the rivers

Question 20

Religion focused on the control of these:
Mesopotamian gods were ______________
Men, women viewed as ______ of god-creators
People intended to provide ______.

Answer 20

1. cruel (like nature)
2. slaves
3. labor

Question 21

The Mesopotamians had no trace of ethics. They instead focused on:

Answer 21

offerings and acts to win regularity with nature

Question 22

Mesopotamian gods punished, but not for sins, by

Answer 22

Natural Catastrophes (drought, flood)

Question 23

Did the Mesopotamian people believe in an afterlife?

Answer 23

No clear sense of immorality

Question 24

What is the Epic of Gilgamesh?

Answer 24

Creation myth

Question 25

What was the first epic poem in world literature?

Answer 25

Epic of Gilgamesh

Question 26

List two themes of the Epic of Gilgamesh:

Answer 26

1. a king's desire for the secret of immoral life | 2. god's jealous of the king's power defeat him

Question 27

How did the Mesopotamians contribute to Chronology?

Answer 27

- discovered time was a of a cyclic nature | - developed 2 calendars: Lunar and Solar

Question 28

How did the Mesopotamians contribute to modern western societies?

Answer 28

The base unit of 60 (60 seconds and 60 minutes) | The 360 degree circle

Question 29

What is the term used to describe symbols that derived from pictures?

Answer 29

pictography

Question 30

What is the term used to describe script in wedge-shaped characters after 3,500 B.C.E.?

Answer 30

Cuneiform writing

Question 31

When did Emperor Hammurabi reign?

Answer 31

1,700 B.C.E.

Question 32

What are the two distinct principles of Hammurabi's Law/Code?

Answer 32

1. punishmet depends on the social rank of the violater | 2. offenders are subject to the same damages inflicted on others

Question 33

What is the famous quote from Hammurabi's Code?

Answer 33

"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"

Question 34

Occording to Hammurabi's law were all people equal?

Answer 34

Individuals were NOT equal before the law, husbands over wives, fathers over children. rich over poor, freemen over slaves

Question 35

Hammurabi's code believed that the governement should act as a what?

Answer 35

impatrial referee

Question 36

What is a theocracy?

Answer 36

rule by the god(s) or priest(s)

Question 37

What is a kingdom?

Answer 37

an empire, the first known began with Sargon the Great

Question 38

What is the difference between a city and a village?

Answer 38

City- king is the head | Village- social equality

Question 39

What were the three classes?

Answer 39

1. Small Groups of the Powerful 2. Freemen 3. Slaves

Question 40

Who was in the highest class?

Answer 40

priests, noble landlords

Question 41

Who was in the middle class?

Answer 41

laborers, workers, common man

Question 42

Who was in the lowest class?

Answer 42

slaves-had no political rights

Question 43

Was salvery in Mesopotamia different than slavery in colonial America?

Answer 43

Yes, in Mesopotamia slavery was a temporary condition that was seldom inherritable, and had no ties to race or ethnicity, and was accepted socially throughout

Question 44

How were women viewed in society?

Answer 44

Their sexuality was sacred, dowries and marriage contracts were common, as well as arranged marriages

Question 45

Who united Mesopotamia?

Answer 45

The Semetic-speaking "step-children' of the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians

Question 46

How far did trade expand?

Answer 46

from the Indus Valley (modern day Pakistan) to the Nile Valley and to the eastern Mediteranean

Question 47

Who replaced the Sumerians?

Answer 47

The Hittites (Indo-Europeans from modern day Turkey)

Question 48

Who replaced the Hittites?

Answer 48

The Assyrians

Question 49

Who replaced the Assyrians?

Answer 49

The Hebrews

Question 50

What did the Hittites do?

Answer 50

- first to smelt iron | - established a multi-ethnic state

Question 51

What did the Assyrians do?

Answer 51

-centered their settlement in Nineveh

Question 52

Where were the Hebrews located?

Answer 52

- orginated in Mesopotamia | - settled in Canaan (modern day Palestine)