World History Name __________________Middle Creek High Date __________________

Period __________________

Early River Valley CivilizationsCity States in Mesopotamia

Guided NotesMesopotamia

o __________________________ means the land between ____________________ and was home to several ____________________.

o The region between the ______________________ and the ______________________ is known as the ___________________ ____________________.

o The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flooded Mesopotamia at least once a __________. The flooding left behind _______________ on which farmers could plant ____________ and ____________ which allowed villages to grow.

o Around 3300 B.C., one of the first villages to emerge was _____________________. The villagers were called __________________________.

Environmental Challenges Sumerian Solutions Unpredictable ___________________ combined with periods of little or no rain created a _______________.

To provide water, they dug ___________________ ditches that carried river water to their fields and allowed them to produce a surplus of crops.

With no natural ________________ for protection, Sumerian villages were nearly defenseless.

They built city walls made of __________________ for protection.

Natural _____________________ were limited and building materials were scarce.

They traded their ____________, _____________, and ____________ with the peoples of the mountains and the desert in exchange for _____________, _____________, and _____________.

The 5 Key Characteristics of a Civilization

Sumero Sumer was neither a __________ nor a

________________. Rather, it was a collection of separate cities with a common way of _________ and _________________.

o Historians believe that Sumerians built the world’s first __________________________.

1. ________________ _____________ with growing ___________________________ and centers of __________ Farmers, Merchants, and Traders can bring their goods to market in these cities and trade them for different goods or services.2. __________________________________ became skilled in one particular job. For example, _________________ made quality goods by hand.3. ____________ ______________ enabled people to keep track of inventory, debts and payments, taxes, important events, and laws.

o The Sumerian professional record keepers called _________________ created ____________ ____________ around 3,000 B.C.

o This system of writing using ______________________ symbols was made by pressing a wedge-shaped stylus into wet clay.

4. ______________ __________________ like the inventions of the wheel, the plow, and the sail helped advance Sumerian civilization. The also used a mixture of ________________ and _______________ to make ______________. This started the period known as the ________________ in which people started using bronze rather than copper and stone to make tools and weapons. They also developed a number system in base 60 from which the modern units of measuring time in _________________ and a circle in ______________________ come from.

5. __________ _____________________ such as ___________________, _________________, and ____________________ systems are essential to run an advanced city.

Sumerian Culture

Government o Sumer’s earliest governments were controlled by _________________________ because farmers

believed that the success of their crops depended upon the blessings of the ___________, and the ________________ acted as go-betweens with the gods. From the _________________, the priests managed the irrigation system and took a portion of every farmer’s crop as ____________.

o In times of war ________________________ took control of the city. When the war was over they would relinquish power. When wars became more frequent, these military leaders keep their power and eventually became _____________ then passed it down to their sons and future heirs creating __________________.

Religion o The Sumerians were ___________ _____________ because they believed in more than one god. They

believed that their gods were a lot like them except they were _____________________ and _____________________________. Anu- “God of ______________” Enlil- “God of _______________________” Ea- “God of _________________________.”

o In the afterlife Sumerians believed that their souls went to “_________________________ _____________________,”a gloomy place between the earth’s crust & the ancient sea.

Sumerian Social Structure

Sumer’s Downfall

o For about 1,000 years the city-states of Sumer were at war with one another.o In about 2350 B.C., a conqueror named _______________ led his army of _______________ and defeated

Sumer. He then took control of Northern and Southern Mesopotamia, helped spread their culture beyond the Tigris and Euphrates and created the world’s first ____________. The Akkadian Empire lasted about _________ years.

o Internal fighting, invasions, and famine weakened Akkad, and in about 2,000 B.C. nomadic warriors known as ________________ conquered Mesopotamia and established ____________________ as their capital city.

o The Babylonian Empire reached its peak during the reign of ________________ (1792-1750 B.C.) o Babylon’s civilization was becoming so complex that there was a need for ____________________ to

help resolve disputes.o Hammurabi established a collection of laws that became known as “________________________”

282 specific laws dealing with community, family relations, business, crime, etc. 88 of the laws deal with marriage, family, and property 3 Fundamental Principles:

1. __________________________ Retaliation was used to punish crimes. 2. ______________________________ There were different punishments for rich

and poor and for men and women. 3. _________________________________________ The Government had a

responsibility for what occurred in society.