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Terms:

Lugal: king, tyrant. Literally "big man."

Ziggurat: stepped-pyramid. These are temples, not tombs as in Egypt.

Cuneiform: "wedge-writing." Various Mesopotamian scripts written by pressing sharp stylus into wet clay.

Sumerian: language spoken in southern Mesopotamia from beginnings of civilization until c.2000 BC. Preserved in the second millennium BC as a sacred language by Babylonian priests. Not related to any other known language.

Akkadian: language spoken by Sargon of Akkad and his people; gradually replaces Sumerian; language of Babylon. Belongs to Semitic language family (related to Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic, etc.) In late second millennium, used also as language of international diplomacy.

Chronology (all dates are BC, most are approximate):

c.5500: Agriculture and settlement in southern Mesopotamia.

c.3100: First cities.

c.2900: Catastrophic flood in southern Mesopotamia which may (according to some scholars) have been the inspiration for the Flood legend.

c.2900-2370: Early Dynastic period, independent city-states.

c.2700: The historical Gilgamesh, "big man" of Uruk.

c.2500: Boundary dispute and war between Umma and Lagash.

c.2400: Urukagina takes power in Lagash.

2370: Sargon, king of Akkad, rules other cities of Mesopotamia: first "empire."

c.2200: Overthrow of Sargon’s dynasty by invading Gutian hill-tribes; anarchy.

c.2100-2000: Ur III Dynasty. Kings of Ur bring Mesopotamia under unified rule again.

c.2000: Legends of Gilgamesh written down in epic form.

2004: Sack of Ur.

c.2000-1900: Invasion and settlement by Amorites (or Martu) desert nomads.

c.1900: Foundation of Babylon.

c.1792-1750: Reign of Hammurabi in Babylon; political dominance in Mesopotamia.

1595: Hittites sack Babylon.

c.1600-1200: Rule by Kassite invaders in Mesopotamia.

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Fun weblink:

Write your initials in Cuneiform!