MesopotamiaCritical Vocabulary

MesopotamiaFrom the Greek

meaning "land between the rivers“) is the area of the Tigris and Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern Iraq where civilization began.

AgricultureThe raising of domesticated animals and

plants to provide a

steady supply of food. (i.e.:

farming)

Agricultural Revolution

When a civilization recognized the ability to

stay in one place and survive from the planted

ground.As a result we see….•Growth of the family• Towns and cities

•Domesticated animals•New technology

Artifact• An artifact can be

any object made or modified by humans which then tells what those people were like.

BC/AD TimelineA graphic

organizer or outline that illustrates events in

chronological order.

City-States• The territory of the city-state corresponds

to the city limits and has one government that is independent from any other government entity, i.e. Athens or Sumer.

Civilizations• A civilization is a

society or culture group normally defined as a complex society characterized by the practice of agriculture and settlement in towns and cities.

Class System•Groups of

people having the

same social, economic, or educational

status.

Code of Hammurabi

One of the first known written set of laws in history written by King Hammurabi in Mesopotamia.

Culture It is the way a

civilization of people…•Talk•Sing•Dance•Worship•Recreation

…or the way people live.

Cuneiform Cuneiform is the one of the world’ first known written languages. This began as pictographs by the Sumerians of Mesopotamia.

DomesticationDomestication is the taming of a population of

animals or plants that

become accustomed to an environment such as a farm.

Empire• An empire is an extensive group of states or ethnic peoples united and ruled over by a single monarch or ruling authority.

Language•  Communication

of thoughts and feelings through a system of arbitrary signals, such as voice sounds, gestures, or written symbols.

Nebuchadnezzar•The king of Babylon in Mesopotamia who built the Hanging Gardens for his wife.

SpecializationSpecialization is the separation of tasks within a system or

civilization. Farmers grow crops, bakers

make bread, potters make pottery and then trade or sell

their goods for the things they do not

have.

Settlement• Settlements are the

places where people settled to build permanent homes. This was the beginning of villages and towns and “urban development.”

Technology•The tools that we use to make life easier.

Traditions• refers to beliefs,

objects or customs performed or believed in in the past, originating in it, transmitted through time by being taught by one generation to the next.