The Cradle Of Civilization

Front 1

This is to organize a set of laws into a written legal code.

Back 1

CODIFY

Front 2

This is a form of writing developed by the people of ancient Mesopotamia. It used wedge-shaped marks pressed into damp clay to form symbols that represented sounds, words, and ideas.

Back 2

CUNEIFORM

Front 3

This is a region that includes the well-watered and rich farmlands of Mesopotamia, the Levant, Egypt, and parts of Anatolia.

Back 3

THE FERTILE CRESCENT

Front 4

This is a title, office, or right passed down from one generation to the next. A hereditary king, therefore, received his right to rule from his father or some other family member.

Back 4

HEREDITARY

Front 5

This is a single, powerful ruler who passes his right to rule along family bloodlines; a king or a queen.

Back 5

MONARCH

Front 6

This region includes the land between and around the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq. In Greek, it means "Land Between the Rivers."

Back 6

MESOPOTAMIA

Front 7

This is the technology of refining and producing metals.

Back 7

METALLURGY

Front 8

These are laws, customs, beliefs, or stories that are passed from one person to the next by the spoken word.

Back 8

ORAL TRADITION

Front 9

This is a belief in many gods.

Back 9

POLYTHEISM

Front 10

This is a large, mud brick pyramid that the people of ancient Mesopotamia built to worship major gods and goddesses.

Back 10

ZIGGURAT

Front 11

How did the people of the Neolithic Age view the natural world?

Back 11

1. The natural world was unpredictable.

2. Natural disasters like crop failures, droughts, floods, and plagues seemingly happened at random.

3. The ancient farmers of this age did not understand why disasters happened or how to avoid them.

Front 12

How did the People of the Neolithic Age view the human world?

Back 12

1. The human world was unpredictable.

2. Farmers lived constantly with the threat of outside attacks.

3. The strong dominated the weak in society.

Front 13

What inventions did the people of ancient Mesopotamia create?

Back 13

1. The developed monarchies.

2. They developed complex polytheistic religions.

3. They developed writing.

4. They developed codified legal codes.

5. They invented professional armies.

6. They developed metallurgy.

7. They developed the wheel and chariots.

8. They developed a numbering system, geometry, and arithmetic.

9. They charted the movements of the sun, moon, stars, and planets across the sky.

Front 14

How did the cultures of Mesopotamia change humankind's relationship with the natural world?

Back 14

1. With the cultures of Mesopotamia, humans realized that the natural world could be a predictable place.

2. Religion gave them the hope that the natural world could be influenced favorably with the proper worship of the gods.

3. Math and astronomy taught them that the natural world conformed to rules and behaved in a stable and predictable manner.

Front 15

How did people of Mesopotamia change humankind's relationship with the human world?

Back 15

1. With the cultures of Mesopotamia, the human world became more orderly.

2. The rule of strong kings protected the weak in society.

3. Written laws made court predictable, public, and fair.

4. Well-equipped professional armies protected society from attack by outsiders.