| A | B |
|---|
| civilization | includes strong government with laws, social classes with specialized jobs, writing, cities, religion |
| Fertile Crescent | area of rich soil between the Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf |
| Mesopotamia | area of rich soil between the Tigris and Euphrates River |
| Middle East | where the first major civilization developed |
| Sumer | the first civilization in Mesopotamia |
| irrigate | to dig ditches and canals in order to bring water to plants |
| dike | a dirt wall (dam) |
| city-states | the places where the people of Sumer lived and grew their food |
| ziggurat | place where the gods lived; a Sumerian temple |
| lunar calendar | helped Sumerinas know when to plant/harvest crops |
| cuneiform | writing on clay tablets, developed by the Sumerians |
| Code of Hammurabi | complete set of laws/punishments, written for all to see |
| adopted | other cultures ___ Sumerian ideas |
| Babylonians | they used the Sumerian number system based on 60 and improved on it by creating multiplication and division tables |
| Persia | a very large empire in the Middle East |
| roads | Persians used these to move armies, messengers, and spread ideas/goods |
| coins | easier to use than the barter system of trade |
| Darius I | the Persian Empire became the greatest in the world under him |
| Iraq | location of Mesopotamia today |
| means "the land between rivers" | Mesopotamia |
| fertile land | rich soil |
| farmers/craftworkers | in the middle class in Sumer |
| slaves | in the lower class in Sumer |
| priests, landowners, merchants | in the upper class in Sumer |
| stylus | used to write on clay tablets |
| Persian Empire | its territory stretched from Egypt to the Indus River |
| crescent | half circle |
| arch | Sumerian achivement used for in construction |
| plow | Sumerian achievement used to plant fields |
| wheel | Sumerian achievement used for trasporting large/heavy things |
