Meopotamia Absolutely Must Know Guide:

	Rulers/People	Political	Social	Economic	Misc
SUMARIA 3500BC – 1700 BC	Tigres and Euprates	first city-states, ruled by Priestly kings	Ziggurats, Epic of Gilgamesh, cuneiform writing on clay tablets	Irrigation, specialization of occupation, the wheel, the plow, and the sailboat	twelve-month calendar based on lunar cycles,
Assyria 1800 – 600	Darius, Nineveh	conquered middle east and Egypt,	City states and eventually Empire	Irrigation, trade along rivers,
Babylon 1700- 513 BC	Nebuchadnezzar. Hammarubi; SARGON I	Hamurabi’s code	hanging gardens of Babylon		enslaved jews
PERSIA 675 - 330 BC	Cyrus the Great	conquered middle east and almost Greece, were conquered by Alexander the Great		Great Royal Road
SASSANID Persians AD 224 - 642		Brought back Persian tradition rather than Greek, centralized government, conquered by Muslims	four classes: the priests, warriors, secretaries, and commoners; Zoroastrianism	Tax system implemented, mostly agricultural	Often fought with Rome