Mesopotamia: Greek for 'between the rivers'; the land between the Tigris and Euphrates
Tigris and Euphrates: The two rivers that watered Mesopotamia
Fertile Crescent: Curved area of fertile land from the Nile through Mesopotamia
Sumer: Southern Mesopotamia, home of some of the first cities
Sumerians: People who built the first known cities and invented writing
Uruk: One of the world's first great cities
Ur: Sumerian city with a large ziggurat
City-state: A city and surrounding land with its own government
Ziggurat: Stepped temple tower of Mesopotamian cities
Cuneiform: Wedge-shaped writing pressed into clay
Stylus: Reed pen used to press marks into wet clay
Clay tablet: Slab of clay used for writing
Scribe: Person trained to write and keep records
Epic of Gilgamesh: One of the oldest known stories, about a king and his friend Enkidu
Gilgamesh: Legendary king of Uruk in the oldest epic
Irrigation: Canals carrying river water to fields
Surplus: Extra food beyond what people need
Barley: Main grain grown in Mesopotamia
Wheel: Invented in Mesopotamia about 3500 BCE
Plow: Farm tool used to turn the soil, early versions pulled by oxen
Sailboat: Used on the rivers for trade
Sexagesimal system: Base-60 counting that gave us 60 minutes and 360 degrees
Lunar calendar: Calendar based on the Moon's cycles
Sargon of Akkad: Built the first known empire about 2300 BCE
Akkadian Empire: Empire created by Sargon, joining many city-states
Hammurabi: Babylonian king famous for his written laws
Code of Hammurabi: One of the earliest written law codes, about 1754 BCE
Babylon: Major city on the Euphrates; capital of Hammurabi's kingdom
Hanging Gardens of Babylon: Famed gardens, thought to be one of the Seven Wonders
Nebuchadnezzar II: Babylonian king who rebuilt Babylon around 600 BCE
Ishtar Gate: Blue glazed brick gate of Babylon
Assyrians: Fierce warriors from northern Mesopotamia who built a large empire
Nineveh: Assyrian capital with a great library
Ashurbanipal: Assyrian king who collected thousands of tablets in a library
Persians: Conquered Babylon in 539 BCE under Cyrus the Great
Cyrus the Great: Persian king who took Babylon
Epic: A long story about heroes
Polytheism: Belief in many gods
Temple: Building for worship, also a center of business in Sumer
Priest: Religious leader who served the gods
Patron god: God believed to protect a particular city
Enlil: Sumerian god of air and storms
Inanna: Sumerian goddess of love and war, later Ishtar
Marduk: Chief god of Babylon
Mud brick: Common building material
Dynasty: Rulers from one family
Empire: Many lands ruled by one government
Tribute: Payment from conquered people to their rulers
Trade: Mesopotamians traded grain and cloth for metal and stone from far away
Silver shekel: Weight of silver used as money
Contract: Written agreement; many were recorded on tablets
Law code: A written set of laws
Eye for an eye: Hammurabi's principle of matching punishments to harm, with different rules by class
Social classes: Kings and priests, then wealthy people, then commoners, then slaves
Enheduanna: Priestess of Ur and the first author known by name
Cylinder seal: Carved stone roller that pressed a design in clay to mark ownership
Royal Standard of Ur: Decorated box found in a Sumerian royal tomb
Lyre: Stringed instrument found in Sumerian tombs
Hittites: People of Anatolia who fought Babylon and Egypt
Chaldeans: Also called Neo-Babylonians; rebuilt Babylon after Assyria fell
Sumerian King List: Ancient list of rulers, mixing history and legend
Tell: A mound formed by ruins of ancient settlements built on each other
Modern Iraq: Most of ancient Mesopotamia lies in present-day Iraq
Medicine: Babylonian doctors wrote lists of illnesses and cures on tablets
Astronomy: Babylonians kept careful records of stars and planets
Plimpton 322: Clay tablet showing advanced Babylonian math
Mathematics: Babylonians solved problems with fractions, squares and early algebra
Library: Assyrian kings gathered tablets to preserve knowledge
Victory stele: Carved stone slab recording a ruler's win
Standard of weights: Merchants used set weights to trade fairly

Free flashcards from Peabody at peabody.kids/flashcards/world-mesopotamia