City-state
a city with political and economic control over the surrounding countryside
ziggurat
a massive stepped tower on which was built a temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of a Sumerian city
theocracy
government by divine authority
empire
a large political unit, usually under a single leader, that controls many peoples or territories
patriarchal
dominated by men
polythiestic
having many gods
cuniform
wedge-shaped", a system of writing developed by the Sumerians using a reed stylus to create wedge-shaped impressions on a clay tablet
Sumerians
the creators of the first Mesopotamian civilization
Akkadians
To the north of the Sumerian city-states were the _____. We call them a Semitic people because they spoke a Semitic language
Sargon
overran the Sumerian city-states and set up the first empire in world history
Hammurabi
came to power in Babylon and gained control of Sumer and Akkad, thus creating a new Mesopotamian kingdom
Code of Hammurabi
The ________ was based on a system of strict justice. Penalties for criminal offenses were sever, and they varied according to the social class of the victim.
Mesopotamia
The land between rivers
Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia was at the eastern end of an aria known as the _______
Uruk
a city established by Sumerian people
Babylon
a city-state south of Akkad