Mesopotamia Scavenger Hunt

1. Mesopotamia Scavenger Hunt By Lexie and Zoe

2. Why were the river valleys the first place for complex societies? • There was fertile soil. • There was good farming conditions. • The rivers supplied fish and freshwater. • The rivers made it easy to get from one place to another and it was easier to trade. • By being able to trade, they could get more supplies.

3. How were farmers able to control seasonal floods and bring water to their fields? They were able to control floods because they had irrigation systems. Irrigation is a process where you can store water to use it another time.

4. What are pictographs and logographs? • Pictographs are pictures that represent things, but they are often drawn more abstract than needed. • Logographs are pictographs that symbolize something, but they are drawn a different way. For example, to say “I” you might draw a picture of an eyeball. • It was important to develop a writing system because they could communicate in a different way than talking.

5. How do we use three inventions that the Sumerians founded and three mathematical ideas? Three Inventions • They invented wagon wheels. We use them in bikes and cars. • They invented the sailboat. We use them to get places and to fish. • They invented the plow to make farming easier. Three Mathematical Ideas • They used geometry to measure fields and put up buildings. • They created a number system based on 60. That’s how we got 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an hour. • They used a twelve month calendar.

6. What is a ziggurat and what is its function? Ziggurats were massive structures that were often shaped like a pyramid. They were built in Mesopotamia, Iran, and Iraq by the Sumerians, Babylonians, Elamites, Akkadians, and Assyrians. Ziggurats were built for religious purposes, and each ziggurat was part of a temple complex which included many other buildings. They were known as dwelling places for the gods. Each city had its own patron god.

7. What is your favorite part of the story of Gilgamesh? My favorite part of the story of Gilgamesh is when Gilgamesh and Enkidu become best friends and they go off to search for adventure. That is my favorite part because it brings Gilgamesh out of his despair and he gets a new friend.

8. Who was Hammurabi? • He was a famous leader. • He came up with two hundred eighty two rules for the society called Hammurabi’s Code. • He inscribed these rules onto stone tablets. • He was the sixth king of Babylon. • He became the first king of the Babylonian Empire.

9. Who developed a way to use iron weapons within their armors? The Assyrians began using iron weapons in their armies. While everyone else was using bows and arrows, they began using spears and daggers.

10. What is one of the 7 wonders of the world? Why was it constructed? Babylon is a nation in Mesopotamia. Babylon was

11. The End!