Ancient Near East

High school (ages 12+)
History & Culture

Name:

Date:

Step 1 · Read the article

Open the article and read it at the level above. Then answer the questions below in your own words.

https://smallwhale.org/articles/ancient-near-east

Write what each word means, using the article.

Do not copy the article. Write two things you learned, the way you would explain them to a friend.

Answers below are taken from the article’s stored facts, so they match what the student read.

1. What is the primary geographic scope?Encompasses Mesopotamia, Egypt, Iran, Anatolia, the Levant, and the Arabian Peninsula
2. What is the chronological span?From the 4th millennium BC (Sumer) through the Bronze and Iron Ages
3. Why did people start living in cities in the Ancient Near East?The fertile river valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates let farmers grow plenty of food, which allowed people to settle and build cities.
4. How did the Ancient Near East change the world?It invented the first writing, the wheel, and the first legal code, which helped people keep records, travel, and have rules that still influence us today.

Cuneiform: One of the earliest known systems of writing, developed by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia.
Social Stratification: The division of society into different hierarchical levels or classes based on wealth, status, or power.
City-State: An independent city that functions as its own state, with its own government and territory.