HST103A World History | Unit 1 : Civilization Begins | Lesson 10

Student Guide
Lesson 10: The First Empires

Lesson Objectives
• Analyze the significance of Hammurabi's written code of law.
• Define empire.
• Identify the Indo-European peoples and the reasons they migrated successfully to other areas.
• Identify the Indo-European peoples.
• Identify the methods Sargon and other early empire builders used to unite and control vast
territories.

PREPARE
Approximate lesson time is 60 minutes.

Materials
For the Student
Lesson Answer Key
World History: Our Human Story
History Journal
Keywords and Pronunciation
Agade (uh-GAH-day)
Anatolia (A-nuh-TOH-lee-uh)
Hittites (HIH-tiyts)

LEARN
Activity 1: Lesson Checklist (Online)
Instructions
• Read Chapter 3, Section 1, pages 48–56, and answer the questions.
• Complete the Code of Hammurabi activity online.
• Complete the Checkpoint.

Activity 2: Hammurabi Codifies the Law (Online)

Instructions
Read
Read Chapter 3, Section 1, pages 48–56, and answer the questions.
 
 

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 HST103A World History | Unit 1 : Civilization Begins | Lesson 10

Study the picture on pages 48 and 49. What position or role do you think the person sitting in the chair held or
played?
 
Think about the following questions as you read:
• How are empires different from other types of government?
• Why was Hammurabi’s Code significant?

 
1. Define the term empire:
 
 
 
 
2. The mixing of ideas, products, and cultural practices is called cultural ____________________.
 
 
3. How did Sargon unite the independent city-states and different peoples of the Fertile Crescent into an empire?
 
 
 
 
4. What two things did Sargon do that enabled him to buy the loyalty of his supporters and pay his army?
 
 
5. How did Hammurabi unite the Amorite cities to create the Babylonian Empire?
 
 
 
6. Fill in the ovals below to identify the actions Hammurabi took that resulted in increased trade across greater
distances:
 

    
 
 
 
 
Use the Mesopotamian Empires map to answer questions 7–11.

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 HST103A World History | Unit 1 : Civilization Begins | Lesson 10

7. Which empire was created first?

 
 
 
8. Which two large bodies of water might Akkadian merchants have used to transport their goods?
 
 
9. Which direction would travelers from Ashur have to travel to reach the Persian Gulf?
 
 
10. Which empire included mountainous regions?
 
 
 
11. About how many miles did traders have to travel from Babylon to Ur?
 
 
12. Hammurabi’s Code is important for several reasons. Complete the following to describe its importance:
 

    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
13. Who sacked Babylon and set the stage for the decline of the Babylonian Empire?
 
 
14. Name the Indo-European group that migrated south and east from what is now southern Russia.
 
 
 
15. What attracted (pull factor) the Indo-Europeans south to the Fertile Crescent?

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 HST103A World History | Unit 1 : Civilization Begins | Lesson 10

 
 
16. What probably drove (push factor) the Indo-Europeans from southern Russia during the 2,000 years they
migrated?
 
 
 
 
17. How were the Akkadian, Babylonian, and Hittite empires similar? How were they different?
 
 
 
 
Code of Hammurabi
Complete the Code of Hammurabi activity online.
Checkpoint
Complete the Checkpoint.
 

ASSESS
Lesson Checkpoint: The First Empires (Online)
Enter the word you received when you completed the Code of Hammurabi activity.

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