The 2nd Day of Taking Notes.

Yesterday in class, we almost finished the Mesopotamia PowerPoint. Here our the notes i took...

• The district known as Sumer occupied the land between the Tigris and Euphrates River.
• Population increased due to new irrigation techniques.
• Cities and towns were founded, some with as many as 40,000 inhabitants.
• Better food storage allowed for diversity in profession: Priests, tradesmen, artisans, politicians, and farmers etc..
• Kings emerged as did family dynasties and the concept of the city-state.
• Sumerians invented the earliest form of writing, known as cuniform. (difference from pre-history and history)
• A pantheon of Sumerian Gods and Goddesses emerged with many of the deities representing the natural elements of the world.
• The worlds first (surviving) epic was the Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh" which told of a great flood.
• Sumerians first divided the hour of 60 minutes and the minute into 60 second; they also organized a calendar based on moon cycles.
• The ziggurat was a Sumerian temple built on top of a "mountain" of earth.
• A Mess o' Mesopotamia. 
• Wandering nomads drove herds of domesticated animals in many areas, especially to the South of Sumer in Arabia.
• King Hammurabi of Babylon created a series of laws known as "Hammurabi's Codes" - laws that included "an eye for an eye" and regulations of marriage, divorce, and punishments for all sorts of crimes.
• The Expansion of Mesopotamian Civilization
• Indo-Europeans were people from the grasslands of the Russian Steppe who introduced the horse to the new East.
• The warlike Indo-European tribe known as the Hittites settled in Asia Minor.
• The Hittites had a lucrative trade in metals and conquered nearly all of their neighbors, even threatening Egypt. 

When and where did human beings first emerge? - 200,000 years ago in Southwestern Africa.

Why did the period known as "prehistory" end? - When Sumerians invented the first form of writing known as cuniform.

 What made the rise of civilization possible? - Increased ability to take care of young children. Also population increased to new irrigation techniques.

How did hunter/gatherers live? - They migrated to a lot of different places in search for food and other needs. Hunted, gathered, and fished for food.

Who was King Hammurabi, and why was he important? -  King Hammurabi of Babylon created a series of laws known as "Hammurabi's Codes" - laws that included "an eye for an eye" and regulations of marriage, divorce, and punishments for all sorts of crimes.

• prehistory - The time before the invention of the written language.
• Paleolithic - =Old Stone Age.
• Neolithic Age - = New Stone Age
• Agricultural Revolution - The agricultural Revolution was a shift from itinerant hunting/gathering to more permanent settlements centered on agriculture (It began in Southwest Asia).
• Cuneiform - The earliest form of writing.
• Ziggurat - The ziggurat was a Sumerian temple built on top of a "mountain" of earth.
• Indo-Europeans - Indo-Europeans were people from the grasslands of the Russian Steppe who introduced the horse to the new East. The warlike Indo-European tribe known as the Hittites settled in Asia Minor. The Hittites had a lucrative trade in metals and conquered nearly all of their neighbors, even threatening Egypt