Mesopotamia

Physical obstacles created by nature. They prevent people from getting through to a place. For example: mountains, deserts, oceans, seas.

Belief in many gods. Poly = many

Stepped pyramid shaped temples built by Sumerians to honor the gods and goddesses.

A small independent state consisting of an urban area and the surrounding farmland. A characteristic political form in early Mesopotamia, Archaic and Classical Greece, Phoenicia, and early Italy.

A way of supplying fresh water to an area of farmland.

The two rivers that surround Mesopotamia. These rivers would flood and provide silt that made the soil fertile.

Curved, like a half moon or a croissant.

An arc (crescent) of rich farmland in Southwest Asia, between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.

How people are organized in a society. There is often a hierarchy (rich, middle class, poor) which forms layers—the most powerful on top, the less powerful towards the bottom.

Production of plants (farming) and raising animals.

A system in which people make, exchange and trade things that have value. For example, grain for pottery. Today we use money.

An ancient region of southern Mesopotamia which rose around 3300 B.C. The first empire that ruled in Mesopotamia and is credited with inventing writing.

A system of writing developed by the Sumerians around 3,000 BC, using a wedge shaped stylus and clay tablets.

Babylonian king who codified the laws of Sumer and Mesopotamia (died 1750 BC).

A collection of 282 laws which were enforced under Hammurabi's rule. One of the first examples of written law in the ancient civilizations. Known as the "eye for an eye" laws that had harsh punishments.