Chapter 2.1Dexter Breunig

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Fertile Crescent • Fertile Crescent is an

arc of land from the Mediterranean sea to the Persian gulf.

Sumerians

• The creators of the first Mesopotamian civilization.

Polytheistic

• To have beliefs in many gods.

City-states

• The basic units of Sumerian civilization

Uruk

• The country gained control of the countryside

Ziggurat

• A temple built atop a massive stepped tower.

Theocracy

• A government by divine authority

Cuneiform

• A system of writing

Gilgemesh

• An epic poem that records the exploits of a legendary king named Gilgamesh.

Scribe

Boys that are copyists, teachers, and jurists.

Akkadians

They spoke a Semitic language.

Sargon

• Leader of the Akkadians

Empire

• A large political unit or state.

Babylon A city-state south of Akkad.

Hammurbi

• King of Summer and Akkad.

Patriarchal

men dominated the society.