text book notes pg. 26-34

• regions curved shape and the richness of its land led scholars to call it the fertile crescent
• land facing the mediterranean sea and a plain that became know as Mesopotamia
• mesopotamia in Greek means "land between the rivers"
• each city and the surrounding land it controlled formed a city-state
• a series of rulers from a single family is called a dynasty
• the process in which a new idea or a product spreads from one culture to another is called cultural diffusion
• the belief in more then one god is called polytheism
• an empire bring together several peoples, nations, or previously independent stats under the control of one ruler
• the Babylonian empire reached its peak during the reign of emperor Hammurabi, from 1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C.
• the earliest civilization formed on fertile river plains, these lands faced challenges such as seasonal flooding and a limited growing area
• projects such as irrigation systems required leadership and laws, they were controlled by priests, military, leaders, and/or kings
• early civilization developed bronze tools, the wheel, the sail, the plow, writing, and math, these spread through trade, wars, and the movement of peoples
• early river valley civilization, 3500 B.C. - 450 B.C.
• 3000 B.C. city-states form in sumer Mesopotamia
• 2660 B.C. Egypt's old kingdom develops
• 1792 B.C. Hammurabi develops a code of laws for Babylonian empire, code hold people responsible for their actions
• 1750 B.C. Indus valley civilization declines
• 1027 B.C. Zhou dynasty forms in China
• someone who steals from the temple must repay 30 times the cost of the stolen item