Fertile Crescent
Area that stretches in an arc from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea
irrigation
Man-made canals built to transport water to farms
Empire of Akkad
Around 2300 BCE Sargon of Akkad conquered neighboring Sumer to establish world's first empire. He appointed rulers in different regions to help him.
Sumer
worlds first civilization developed in south east mesopotamia
polytheism
belief in many gods
Hierarchy
System of ranking groups
The Epic of Gilgamesh
first story written down
Ziggurat
Pyramid like temples that held high priests and other high ranking people
cuneiform
earliest form of writing
babylon
Most famous ruler is hammurabi code of Hammurabi is the civil and criminal law
mesopotamia
also known as the Tigris-Euphrates Valley; means "between the rivers
Assyrians
developed warrior society. First to collect books
Chariots
Horse-drawn carriages that allowed for a drive and passengers to quickly be moved around a battlefield
Codified Law
writing down a system of laws
Bronze
first medal
hitties
developed iron and chariots
empire
small group of people united under one monarchy or oligarchy
iron
stronger and cheaper than bronze
community
All the different populations that live together in an area
literature
created by sumerians