Tigris and Euphrates River Valley

What religions originate in the ancient Middle East?

Judaism, Christianity, and Islam

Where is the fertile crescent?

from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Zagros Mountains in the east, bordered in the north by the Taurus Mountains and in the south by the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Desert

What first happened in the fertile crescent?

people began farming and herding

When did farming and herding first take place?

around 8,000 B.C.E

What did farming and herding allow people to do?

settle into permanent villages and begin accumulating a surplus of food

What did having a surplus of food allow people to do?

have different jobs (like merchant, teacher, and scribe)

Why was the middle east an important location?

it is the merging point of three continents, so travellers often passed through it

What language replaced Sumerian?

Akkadian

What was Sumerian still used as?

a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language

What were Sumerian workers paid in?

barley

How did Sumerians write?

with a reed pen on a clay tablet

Who was Gilgamesh?

a legendary king of Uruk who likely lived about 2700 B.C.E

Where was the oldest evidence of a law code found?

the ancient city Ebla (a city in modern-day Syria)