Ancient Mesopotamia

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  1. 4. (approx. 900-600 BCE) empire primarily based in northern Mesopotamia / strongest military power that ruled over the largest empire yet assembled / its war machine made use of armored archers, catapults, and battering rams / adopted iron for armor and weapons / its capital Nineveh located in northern Iraq / conquered Egypt in 671 BC
  2. 6. (c. 1894-1595) empire primarily based in southern Mesopotamia / founded by the Amorite king Hammurabi, who expanded its territory across Mesopotamia / Akkadian-speaking / Marduk plays a decisive role in this empire’s creation myth
  3. 8. distinctive temples throughout Mesopotamia / suggested eternal values and a hierarchical order / their purposes were entirely ceremonial
  4. 12. (established approx. 1753 BC) Babylonian legal text that established the principle of retaliation - “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” - and divine authority to protect the weak from the strong
  5. 15. one of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent - its more unpredictable flooding left the southern plains of what is now Iraq with some of the richest soil in the Near East / originates Taurus Mountains in eastern Turkey and empties into the Persian Gulf
  6. 17. a political system where a central power exercises control over weaker states, often through force
  7. 20. watering of land by artificial means / Sumerians designed canals, levees, reservoirs, and dams to hold the flow of water from the Tigris and Euphrates
  8. 21. Babylonian poem that stands as the oldest piece of epic world literature / the harsh and arrogant king of the city of Uruk, travels far in search of immortality after the death of his close friend, Enkidu / the king learns that humans cannot escape death, so the meaning of life comes from leaving a lasting legacy through actions and accomplishments - as such, this king is widely considered the world’s first superhero
  9. 22. often called the ‘cradle of civilization, this boomerang-shaped region curves stretches from the Persian Gulf through Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and Egypt / regarded as the birthplace of agriculture, urbanization, writing, trade, science, history, and organized religion
  10. 23. system of rule where religious leaders also led the government / priest-kings were the earliest rulers in ancient Mesopotamia, where population growth and urbanization necessitated centralized leadership
  11. 26. one of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent / slower and more navigable than the Tigris / originates in Taurus Mountains in eastern Turkey and empties into the Persian Gulf
  12. 27. modern country situated in ancient Mesopotamia / gained its independence in 1932 and invaded by the United States in 2003
  13. 28. a capital city surrounded by additional urban centers and/or the countryside / ruled by a priest or king in ancient Mesopotamia
  14. 29. patron deity of Babylon and the national god of Babylonia - featured prominently in Babylonian creation myths
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  1. 1. language family primarily spoken across the Middle East and parts of Africa / includes Akkadian, Aramaic, Arabic, and Hebrew
  2. 2. ‘land between rivers’ in Greek’ / situated between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, where regular flooding provided fertile soil for farming
  3. 3. five key traits - (1) advanced cities, (2) specialized workers, (3) complex institutions, (4) record-keeping, and (5) advanced technology - all define a…
  4. 5. (642-562 BC) prominent king of the Chaldean Empire, who rose to prominence through military conquests - defeating both the Assyrians and Egyptians at the Battle of Carchemish in 605 BC / Babylon flourished as a center of trade and culture under his rule and he is credited with grand architectural projects, including the Hanging Gardens of Babylon / legacy marred by the Babylonian captivity of the exiled Jews and the destruction of the first Holy Temple located in ancient Jerusalem
  5. 7. (also known as the Neo-Babylonian Empire / c. 626-539 BC) last polity ruled by monarchs native to Mesopotamia / defeated the Assyrian Empire / later defeated by the Achaemenid Persian Empire
  6. 9. westernmost extension of Asia / bounded by the Black Sea to the north and the Mediterranean Sea to the South / includes the entirety of Asiatic Turkey
  7. 10. historic region in southern Mesopotamia / divided into many independent city-states that were centered on a temple dedicated to a particular patron god or goddess
  8. 11. (3300-1200 BCE) period in ancient Mesopotamia when copper and tin were combined to make bronze, leading to stronger tools, weapons, and more powerful city-states and empires
  9. 13. concept that emerged under the Akkadians, whose monarchs adopted titles like ‘God of Akkad’ / the idea of the king as supreme mediator between the gods and the people was an old tradition within the Akkadian cult of kingship
  10. 14. worship of many gods
  11. 16. (2334-2154 BC) the world’s first empire / established by Sargon of Akkad / a vast region was unified under a centralized government - eventually incorporated all of the Sumerian city-states / its language became the lingua franca of the region
  12. 18. pictographic writing system that used wedge-shaped characters inscribed on clay tablets / used symbols for pictures, sounds, and ideas / most surviving examples are records of business transactions
  13. 19. body of water into which both the Tigris and Euphrates empty into
  14. 24. developed around 3500 BCE by the Sumerians originally for the mass production of ceramics / adapted the spinning concept to build the first carts and chariots
  15. 25. (died 2279 BCE) conquered the Sumerian city-states and formed the Akkadian Empire / propagated the ‘Akkadian’ version of cuneiform, which became more widely used for administrative purposes