Cyrus The Great Dbq

Babylon’s thick walls and strong gates were not able to keep the Persians. In 539 B.C.,Babylon and the rest of Mesopotamia fell under control of the Persian empire. Within a few decades, the Persian empire became the largest in the world,so far.

Cyrus the Great

Persia formed to the east of Mesopotamia, in what is now Iran. For years, the Persians had been ruled by their neighbors to the north, a people called the Medes. The Medes controlled an empire stretching from the Zagros Mountains. 3

But in 550 B.C., Cyrus the Great led the Persians to the destruction of the Medes. The Persians won an empire.

Cyrus dreamed of building an even larger empire. He began in Asia Minor(now known as Turkey) where he went to war with the Kingdom

They loaded goods onto large rifts. Traders on land used ropes to pull the large boats along the river.

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Social Classes

The Sumerians developed a social order with 3 classes. People of each class had different roles within the society.The highest class included the ruler, his top officials, powerful priests, wealthy merchants, and owners of large plots of land. The middle class had farmers and skilled workers.The lowest class was mostly slaves. The city-states’ governments and Sumerian religious beliefs, which were connected, helped support this social order.

Religion

The Sumerians practiced polytheism, the belief in more than one god. Sumerians believed these gods controlled every aspect of life, including rain, wind, and other elements of nature.

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In larger Sumerian cities, temples were pyramid-shaped brick towers known as ziggurats. They rose upward in steps, with each level smaller than the one below. The largest ziggurats were 7 stories tall.

Development of Kingship

As city-states grew, people in different cities began to argue with one another over the control of land and water. These conflicts sometimes led to

Before reaching Egypt, the river in ancient times roared through 6 cataracts, or groups of rocky rapids. The rocky cataracts made it impossible for people to travel by ship upstream from Egypt.

Upper and Lower Egypt

Below the cataracts, the Nile flows through a narrow valley lined with cliffs. This region is known as Upper Egypt because it is upstream from the Mediterranean Sea.

The river carries silt-fine mineral particles that can form fertile soil-from it sources in East Africa. Near the end of its journey, the Nile slows down and fans out into many streams and marshy areas. As it slows, the river drops its silt. Over thousands of years, this silt has built up to form a large river delta. A delta is an area of sediment-soil or minerals carried by water-deposited at the mouth of a river.

Growing a Surplus

Egyptian farmers built walls around fields to trap the Nile’s flood waters. The water soaked in the soil and allowed grains to grow. This form of crop irrigation allowed farmers to produce a food surplus(amount of food greater than the their family’s needs).

The Birth of Cities

These local rulers used this surplus to buy rich cloth and other goods. These were supplied by merchants and artisans, or skilled workers who practice a