SANTA MARIA INSTITUTE

Educating in love and for love

Workshop guide
Topic: Mesopotamian Civilization
NAME: ______________________________________________GRADE: _____ DATE: ___________

1. Answer the following questions:

1.1. What does the word “Mesopotamia” mean?

1.2. Where is this region located?

2. In a scheme like the following, complete the geographical aspects of Mesopotamia. To do this, take
into account the keywords

3. Despite having been governed by different peoples and empires, they all shared a similar political
structure.

3.1. Complete the following social pyramid with the social groups of ancient Mesopotamia.

a a.
b.
b c.
d.
c e.
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________

d
e
 3.2. What were the main economic activities in ancient Mesopotamia? Explain them.

4. The main artistic expressions of ancient Mesopotamia were architecture and sculpture; both at the
service of royalty (palaces) and religion (temples). What are the main characteristics of palaces in
ancient Mesopotamia?

4.1. What are the main characteristics of the temples built in ancient Mesopotamia? What were the
names of temples in ancient Mesopotamia?

4.2. Read the following text and answer:

Science in ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamian cultures achieved notable scientific advancement. They established the first notions of
astrology and astronomy, studied climate changes and developed the sexagesimal system to measure time.
This knowledge allowed them to determine precisely what the planting and harvesting dates of the crops were.
Other inventions of this community were the wheel, the plow, the sailing boat, the pulley and the development
of copper and bronze metallurgy.

What was the purpose of the study of astronomy and science in general in ancient Mesopotamia?

5. Indicate the concept that is associated with each of these phrases. Choose them from the words in
the box.
 Agricultural surpluses allowed artisans to develop____________
 The administrators and scribes of the cities. ____________
 The cities that emerged in Mesopotamia based their wealth and prosperity on their
____________
 The first written laws in history______________________________
 Wars between cities were frequent. This increased the number of ____________
 Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Eridu, Nineveh, Akad, were: _____________________
 Rivers of Mesopotamia among which the first civilizations developed. ______________ and
___________________
 Some Mesopotamian civilizations were: ________________, _________________,

______________________ , _________________________ , ___________________________ and

_____________________