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Answer
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Literal meaning of the Greek word Mesopotamia
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Between Rivers
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Westernmost of the two major rivers which originate in modern-day Turkey
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Euphrates
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The Eastern of those two rivers
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Tigris
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Neolithic cultural period of Mesopotamia spanning around 6500 BC - 3800 BC
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Ubaid
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Chalcolithic (copper age) period spanning most of the 4th Millenium BC, named for one of Sumer's oldest cities
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Uruk
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Oldest writing system in the world, consisting of wedge-shaped impressions made in clay tablets
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Cuneiform
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Bronze age city state located in modern-day Syria, about half way between Sumer and the Levant
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Mari
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Ensi of the city of Umma and the only King of the third dynasty of Uruk. Briefly united Sumer into a single kingdom in the 24th Century BC
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Lugalzagesi
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Monumental engraved stone slab, used to proclaim laws, mark boundaries or celebrate victories
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Stele
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Mighty founder of the Akkadian empire - the world's first true empire
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Sargon of Akkad
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Iranian nomads originating in the Zagros Mountains who ruled Sumer after the fall of the Akkadian empire
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Gutians
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Empire founded by Ur Nammu, also known as the Third Dynasty of Ur
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Neo-Sumerian
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Neighbouring civilisation based in the cities of Susa and Anshan in modern-day Iran. Destroyed the Sumerian empire.
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Elam
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Persian Gulf civilisation based around modern-day Bahrain, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Offered a trade link to India and the Indus valley cultures
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Dilmun
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Located just South of Baghdad, this city was originally founded by the Akkadians, before Amorite warlords made it a dominant regional power
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Babylon
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King of the above city in the early 18th Century BC, famous for the oldest written law code in existence
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Hammurabi
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Anatolian empire, led by King Mursili I who sacked Mari and Babylon in the early 16th Century BC
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Hittite
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Dynasty which controlled Babylon for the next 400 years
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Kassite
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Hurrian-speaking state based in Northern Mesopotamia. Succeeded Yamhad and the Old Assyrian empire
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Mitanni
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Iron-Age empire whose capital cities included Nimrud and Nineveh. Dominated the entire Middle East, becoming the largest the world had ever seen
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Neo-Assyrian
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Assyrian King famous for building a vast library
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Ashurbanipal
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Iranian people under King Cyaxares. Allied with the Neo-Babylonian King Nabopolassar to finally destroy the cities of ancient Assyria
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Medes
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Nabonidus was the final King of this dynasty, the last of the Neo-Babylonian empire.
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Chaldean Dynasty
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Powerful founder of the Persian Achaemenid empire. Captured Babylon in 539 BC ending the story of ancient Mesopotamia
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Cyrus the Great
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