Mesopotamia - Part 1 Flashcards
What does Mesopotamia mean?
“Land between two rivers”
What two rivers are around Mesopotamia?
Tigris
Euphrates
What is the nickname for Mesopotamia?
The fertile crescent
What were the Tigris and Euphrates rivers used for?
Water for irrigation
Transportation of goods
What present day countries are located where Mesopotamia was?
Iraq and Syria - (present day Middle East)
Who created city-states?
Sumerians
What is a city-state?
A city surrounded by villages on the surrounding land
What was the capital city of the Sumerians?
Ur
Define irrigation
System of diverting water from a main source to dry land
What rights did Sumerian women have?
- Legal rights
2. Could own property and run a business
What rights did Sumerian slaves have?
- Could set up a business
- Could borrow money
- Could buy their freedom
What could happen if Sumerian children did not obey?
- Could be beaten at school –> corporal punishment
- Could be sold into slavery
- Could be told who to marry
What was the religion of the Sumarians?
Polytheism - belief in many gods
What are ziggurats?
A rectangular stepped tower.
Used by Sumarians to study astronomy and be closer to the gods
Who was Gilgamesh?
Sumerian version of Hercules, hunts for everlasting life and built a boat to survive flood (Noah)
What form of writing was used by the Sumerians?
Cuneiform - writing on clay tablets
Stylus - piece of wood used to write on clay tablets
What did the Sumerians invent?
- The wheel
2. Number system based on 60 - reason why our time is based on 60 (60 seconds, 60 minutes, etc.)
Who was King of the Babylonians?
King Hammurabi
What wasHammurabi’s code?
“An eye for an eye”
Created fairness to the people
Were written down for all to seee
What was the Tower of Babel?
A giant ziggurat temple built to honor the god Marduk.
Where did the Phoenicians live?
Around the city of Canaan (Lebanon and Syria today)
How did the Phoenicians make a living?
- Ship building - land had huge forests of cedar trees
2. Sea trade - cloth, glass, metal works, ivory, slaves, wine
Where did the color purple for royalty originate?
The Phoenicians made a purple cloth using shellfish.
It was so expensive that only kings could buy it.
Where did the Phoenicians travel?
All around the Miditerranean Sea.
Who founded the colonies of Spain and France?
The Phoenicians
What did the Phoenicians leave behind?
Alphabet of 22 letters, used today
