Transcript Warm Up: Key Terms Chapter 2.1

 Fertile
Crescent (p. 33)
 Mesopotamia (p. 33)
 City-state (p. 34)
 Polytheism (p. 34)
 Dynasty (p. 35)
 Cuneiform (p. 35)
 Indo-Europeans (p. 40)
The Ancient Near East
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Understand how the first known civilization in
Mesopotamia influenced later civilizations in
the region
Explain how Indo-European invaders both
shaped the cultures of the Fertile Crescent
and adapted to the civilizations they
encountered there
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Watch the following video clip about the rise
of civilizations in Mesopotamia and copy the
questions to answer during the video:
Video: From Nomads to Farmers
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1. What does the word “Mesopotamia” mean?
2. What two rivers was it located between?
3. How did Mesopotamian’s control the river water?
4. How did people become slaves in Mesopotamia?
5. What group has the highest/most important job
in Mesopotamian society?
The Cradle of Civilization
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The Fertile Crescent
◦ a band of fertile land that
forms an oasis in the
midst of deserts and
mountains between the
Mediterranean Sea and
the Persian Gulf
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Mesopotamia
◦ Area between Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers
◦ Means “between the
rivers”
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Developed the first
civilization
Large cities appeared by
3000 B.C.
◦ Eventually formed city-states
 A political unit with its own
government
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Religion shaped life in citystates
◦ Sumerians practiced polytheism
 The worship of many gods
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Sumerians developed the
world’s first known writing
system
◦ Known as cuneiform
◦ Produced using sharp tools
called stylusses to make
wedge-shaped symbols on
clay tablets
◦ Used to keep business
accounts and other records
◦ Paid scribes to create written
documents
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Tribe called Amorites settled in
Babylon on the Euphrates River
near modern day Baghdad, Iraq
Hammurabi became king in
1792 B.C.
◦ Most famous for his code of laws
◦ Important because it was written
down for all to see
 No one could lie about it or make up
laws
Hittites, Assyrians,
Chaldeans, Phoenicians
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As the Babylonian Empire declined, IndoEuropeans took over
◦ Several tribes from the north that spoke related
languages
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The Hittites
◦ Warlike Indo-European tribe
◦ Settled in Asia Minor, present day Turkey
◦ Used horse-drawn chariot
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Originally from northern
Mesopotamia, near the city
of Assur along the upper
Tigris River
Built a large empire that
included all of Mesopotamia,
some of Asia Minor, and
Egypt
Relied on military strength
Produced great cultural
achievements such as library
at Nineveh
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Took over after Assyrian
collapse
Made Babylon their
capital
Nebuchadnezzar II
became king
◦ Rebuilt Babylon
◦ Famous for building the
Hanging Gardens (one of
the seven wonders of the
ancient world)
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Built a wealthy trading
society
Founded trading colonies,
including Carthage
Greatest achievement was
their alphabet
◦ Consisted of 22 letters
◦ Later modified by the Greeks to
create their own alphabet on
which our own is based