World History and Geography Test, Unit 2: River Valley Civilizations [Krouse]

Bronze Age

(c. 3000 - 1000 BCE) - Period where cultures where either using, producing, or trading bronze / marked the first time humans started to work with metal

Cradles of Civilization / River Valleys

Some of the first places where complex urban centers grew / major developments in politics, economics, and society

Hereditary Rule

Rule passed down through family or lineage

Centralized Government

Power concentrated at a higher level, power often based on religious authority.

Mesopotamia

Meaning “land between rivers” in Greek; situated in the fertile Valleys (fertile crescent) between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

Mesopotamian Irrigation

Not easy to plant in an arid climate, the Sumerians designed irrigation canals to hold the flow of water from the Tigris and Euphrates

City-state

An independent city ruled by a king who controlled the area around the city, including farmland villages, and sometimes smaller cities

Sumer

First major city state in Mesopotamia

Epic of Gilgamesh

Epic poem about a king who might have ruled 2,000 years ago / included a flood story similar to Noah’s arc

Cuneiform

Pictographic writing system on clay tablets. Pictures, sounds, ideas, and business transactions

Polytheism

Worship of many Gods

Ziggurats

Distinct temples throughout Mesopotamia

Theocracy

System of rule where religious leaders also led the government

Hammurabi’s Code

First written code of laws in 1282, laws dealing with transactions and contracts

Polytheistic

All Mesopotamian civilizations share this religious belief

Sumerians

Ruled from 4500 - 2000 BC / wheel, plow, sail, early number system with the basic 60, cities with walls

Akkadians

Ruled from 2300 - 2100 BC / conquered Assyria