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Mesopotamia Video –NotesReview for TEST Thursday September 26Friday September 27
MESOPOTAMIA VIDEO: • Please review both videos!!
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Mesopotamia
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Mesopotamia Study Guide
• Mesopotamians (Sumerians) all relied on floods for a good harvest
• Sumerians first written symbols were pictographs
• Cuneiform was developed by Sumerians• Phoenicians are given credit for our English
Alphabet• According to Sumerians, each city-state
was ruled by its own gods
• In the Babylonian culture, Hammurabi’s Code was used to govern society.
• Hammurabi’s Code of laws were important to Sumerian society because these laws included the corresponding punishment
• Hammurabi’s Code listed 282 laws that were important because they were displayed for the public
Mesopotamia Study Guide
• Review notes from Mesopotamia to prepare for the Unit Test- TH/F
• Review study guide packets• Bring Completed Study Guide foldable• Sleep early!• Eat a good breakfast!
Homework
• Rivers made agriculture possible
• Challenges included floods, drought, and lack of resources
• “The Land Between Two Rivers” Tigris and Euphrates
Geography
• Sumerians developed the first writing system
• Pictographs- “picture writing”• Cuneiform – wedge shaped
symbols
Achievements
• Irrigation helped provide a steady source of water for crops
• Sumerians invented the wheel and the plow
Achievements
• Sumerians worshipped many gods
• The temple was called a ziggurat
• Polytheistic – believed in many gods. Poly means “more than one.”
Religion
• City-states were the form of government throughout Sumer
• First, priests ruled in Sumer. Later, powerful men became kings
Politics
• Trade with other city-states• Food surpluses, new technology, and
advanced social organization led to a complex way of life called civilization
• Specialized workers means they can do a job that has special skills
• Cities are crowded- people must learn to live and work together
Economy
• Social classes in Mesopotamia was divided into several social groups
• Unequal classes• Class systems define who has power and
who does the less desirable jobs• Upper- kings and priests- had a link to the
gods• Middle- free people • Lower- slaves
Social Structure
