1. By: Madison Eley and Summer Jones
Mesopotamia
By: Madison Eley and Summer Jones

2. Vocabulary Fertile crescent- A large arc of rich or fertile farm land.
Silt-a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks.
Irrigation-a way of supplying water to an area of land.
Canals-human-made waterways.
Surplus-more than needed.
Division of Labor- the type of agreement in which each work specializes.
City-state- consisted of a city and all the countryside around it.
Empire- land with territories and people under single rule.

3. More vocab. Polytheism- the worship of many gods.
Priest- people who perform religion ceremonies.
Social hierarchy- the division of society by rank and class.
Cuneiform- the world’s first system of writing.
Pictographs- picture symbols.
Scribe- a writer.
Epics- long poems that tell stories of Heros.
Ziggurat- a pyramid shaped temple.
Monarch- the ruler of a kingdom or empire.
Hammurabi’s code- the set of 282 laws that dealt with everyday life.

4. Geography Mesopotamia is a Greek word meaning “Between the rivers”.
The two rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates.
The Euphrates also flows through much of Syria.
Mesopotamia is made up of many regions.
Northern Mesopotamia is made up of hills and plains.
Southern Mesopotamia is made up of marshy areas.
Mesopotamia was on a fertile crescent.

5. Leaders/ Important people
Hammurabi- He was the leader of Babylonia.
He had harsh rules and punishments.
He had a set of 282 laws.
Gilgamesh- He was the first “superhero” in ancient Sumer.

6. Contributions of the Civilization
Ancient Sumer invented the sailboat and the wheel.

7. Conflict Assyrians gained control of Babylonia.
Assyria regained their strength and began to conquer the fertile crescent.
They even took over some parts of Asia Minor and Egypt.