Social Studies 3: The Fertile Crescent - The First Empires

Question 1

Meaning of empire

Answer 1

A state containing several countries or territories

Question 2

Meaning of ally

Answer 2

Independent state that works with other states to share military or political goals

Question 3

Meaning of cultural trait

Answer 3

Idea or way of doing things that is common in a certain culture

Question 4

Meaning of Hammurabi’s Code

Answer 4

A set of laws that governed life in the Babylonian empire

Question 5

Meaning of rule of law

Answer 5

The idea that all members of society (including the rich and powerful) must obey the law

Question 6

Meaning of abundant

Answer 6

Plentiful or in large quantity

Question 7

Meaning of govern

Answer 7

To control or strongly influence

Question 8

Why did city-states become rivals?

Answer 8

As they grew in size, power and wealth, each city-state wanted more control over resources, and thus they started to come into conflict and fought with one another.

Question 9

How did empires start to form?

Answer 9

The strongest city-states conquered others in their region and grew into large empires.

Question 10

What was one example of Sumerian city-states and fought each other?

Answer 10

Umma vs Lagash

Question 11

What was the result of continual fighting between Sumerian city-states

Answer 11

They kept fighting each other and ended up weakening each other.

Eventually, this opened the way for Akkadians, a new society in Mesopotamia, conquered Sumerian city-states.

Question 12

Who was the Akkadian king that conquered Sumerian city-states and built the Akkadian empire?

Answer 12

Sargon

Question 13

How were Akkadians and Sumerians similar, and different?

Answer 13

They shared some cultural traits such as religious practices and use of cuneiforms. But they were unrelated to each other, and spoke different languages and had different customs.

Question 14

How did Akkadians expand their influence?

Answer 14

They did so by both conquering enemies and conducting trade. They had fertile soil and crops but did not have other important resources, so they conducted trade with other states as far away as the Indus Valley (present day Pakistan), and thus they spread their culture and customs to trading partners.

Question 15

How did the Akkadian empire end?

Answer 15

After Sargon’s death, the Akkadian empire faced many rebellions and invasions. Eventually, warrior from another region took over.

This shows the importance of individual leaders in ancient civilizations and why some ancient empires did not survive for very long after the death of their leader.

Question 16

What was the empire that formed after the fall of the Akkadian empire?

Answer 16

The Babylonian empire

Question 17

How did the Babylonian Empire form?

Answer 17

After the fall of the Akkadian empire and continued fighting among Sumerian city-states.

At the same time, a strong king called Hammurabi took over in a small Sumerian city called Babylon. He was a strong military leader and skilled ruler. He built an army and conquered other cities to unite southern Mesopotamia.

He created a government with his own governors, tax collectors and judges to rule over distant cities in the empire.

Question 18

What was the importance of Hammurabi’s Code?

Answer 18

It governed life in Babylonia through 282 laws on everything from crimes, punishments, contracts, taxes and marriage. Hammurabi made sure the laws were made public so that everyone knew and live by these laws.

Most importantly, it established the important concept of the rule of law to maintain social order and unity in the Babylonian Empire.

Question 19

What was life like for the average person in the Babylonian Empire?

Answer 19

Most people were farmers, artisans or slaves, and were very poor. Most people’s lives still revolved around agriculture, because food had to be grown and distributed.

But there were important advances in technology, weaponry, arts and crafts and medicines, and Babylonian merchants engaged in trade with other lands.

Question 20

How did the Babylonian Empire end?

Answer 20

It fell apart after Hammurabi’s death, and after that, the great Sumer civilization also started to fade away.