Microsoft Word Version

The Legacies of Nabonidus

(Part 1)

Key Words and Concepts

Heritage	Something of value from an older generation
Tradition	Customary systems of behavior and beliefs
Culture	A way of life involving traditions, religion, and language
Civilization	A culture with cities, divisions of labor, and organized governments
Archaeology	The study of objects to learn about human history or prehistory
Independence	Freedom from external control

Nabonidus, the last king of Babylon, lived in a time closer to our own modern times than it was to the time when his civilization was founded.

Name ____________________________ Date_______________________

The Legacies of Nabonidus (Part 1)

539 BC was a milestone year in history. Ancient Iraq, also known as Mesopotamia, lost its independence. It was absorbed into the _________________ Empire. Two hundred years later Greeks came as conquerors. Then Persians and Romans fought to control its _________________. In 637 the Muslim Arabs arrived. After converting to _________________, Iraq would again become a shining center of learning and world civilization until savage destruction by Mongols. Then Turks would rule it until just after World War I in 1919.

In 539 BC the capital of Iraq was _________________, but Babylon could also claim to be the capital city of world _________________. Only Egypt had cities that could rival its grandeur, but by 539 BC Egypt was worn out and exhausted. Although it had a thousand years of history, no great city anywhere was livelier than Babylon. _________________was 50 years away from glory. Foreign kings still ruled Rome.

Persian Athens destiny Islam civilization Babylon

The last king of Babylon was named Nabunidus. He lived nearly three thousand years ago, but his _________________goes back in time at least another 3000 years. Modern _________________have a soft spot for Nabunidus because, in a way, he was an archaeologist too. He was famous for his interest in _________________ancient shrines and temples. He prized finding forgotten documents and lost treasures of a past as distant from him as he is from us.

Nabonidus did some of his digging in the south of Iraq, in the region known as _________________. His motivation was surely religious, but religion is always difficult to separate from _______________. Nabonidus was involved in a conflict with the chief _________________of Babylon who accused King Nabonidus of trying to introduce a new god, disguised as an old, familiar one.

archaeologists Sumer heritage priests politics excavating

Nabonidus was looking for _________________ (clay tablets) buried underneath ancient Sumerian temples, called Ziggurats (mountain towers). One of the temples he excavated was the Ziggurat at Ur. Nabunidas was interested in the ancient moon god of Ur. This god had another holy place in Harran, a town in the far north of _________________, now in Southern Turkey. The moon was also worshipped in Arabia, and Nabonidus spent a lot of time there, too. The _________________mentions both Ur and Harran in the much older stories of Abraham, the patriarch of both the Hebrews and the Arabs.

For ten years before he fell from power, Nabonidas stayed away from Babylon. Without the king, important religious _________________could not take place. This was probably bad for the priests, but even worse for the _________________. When the Persians came, the followers of Nabonidus fought but were defeated. The Persians were assisted and welcomed by the priests, and by the Jews who had been held _________________in Babylon since 587 BC.

Bible documents ceremonies captive Mesopotamia king

Cyrus, the Persian king, was famous for respecting the religions and _________________of the peoples he conquered and ruled. Nabonidus would not (or could not) practice the _________________religious duties of the King of Babylon. Cyrus willingly participated in the kingly _________________. The priests must have been pleased. The Jews also rejoiced when Cyrus allowed them to return home to _________________. A generation later, the priests lead a revolt against different Persian king. In _________________, Babylon was destroyed. It never regained its former glory.

Jerusalem rites cultures vengeance traditional

The Legacies of Nabonidus Part 1

Across

2 The "Land between the Rivers". An old name for Iraq.

7 Ways of life associated with arts, technologies, religions, traditions and languages

8 Worn out, depleted, weary

10 Something of value handed down by an ancestor

13 Religious leaders able to perform official rituals or ceremonies

14 Changed. Brought over to a new religion. Adapted

15 A male ruler or monarch who rules by right of birth or divine right.

17 Honor and fame. A shining quality of grandeur and celebration.

20 Valuable or desired things

21 Prisoner, one held in a place against one's will.

24 People who live in the peninsula south of Iraq. Their most holy shrine was in Mecca even before they converted to Islam.

26 Systematic digging for construction or archaeological purposes

28 Holy places

30 The first stable multi-ethnic empire. It put an end to the independence of ancient Mesopotamia. It united Egypt, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. It was later conquered by Greeks under Alexander the Great.

31 Rituals or religious practices. Ceremonies.

32 Religious rituals

35 revenge

36 Brought into.

37 City owned by the god, Marduk. Some of its kings included Hammurabi, Nebuchadnezzar, and Nabonidus.

38 Records usually holding writing

39 An organized system of faith and rituals

40 Ancient city located in modern Israel. It is sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

41 Greatness, glory

Down

1 The time it takes for a newborn to mature and produce offspring

3 Unwritten, customary

4 Ancient wedge-shaped writing of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and others. The first known writing system later replaced by the Phoenician alphabet.

5 A monotheistic religion founded in Arabia by the prophet Muhammad.

6 Ancient Semitic people later known as Jews

9 Freedom from external control. Self rule.

11 Strife. Disagreement. Violence. Fighting.

12 Activities associated with government. Non violent competition for control of government. Calculated use of influence and persuasion.

16 Holy Book for Christians containing an "Old Testament" concerning Jewish prophets and patriarchs - and a "New Testament" concerning the acts of Jesus and his followers.

18 Something handed down from previous generations. Qualities or property that can be inherited.

19 To get again

22 People who study or discover human history and prehistory through objects usually found through excavation (digging)

23 Fate, future events that are not avoidable

25 Largest city in Greece. One of the oldest cities in Greece.

27 A system of living involving cities, division of labor, and organized government

29 Region in the South of Mesopotamia where the first monumental civilization developed

33 Competitor or enemy

34 A significant event marking a major change in the life of an individual or a culture

Word Bank for Crossword Puzzle

Nouns	Verbs	Adjectives	Adverbs
	Regain	Regained
absorption	Absorb, absorbed	Absorbed
Arabs		Arabic
Archaeologists, archaeology		Archaeological	Archaeologically
Athens		Athenian
Babylon		Babylonian
Bible		Biblical	Biblically
captive	Capture	Captive, captured
ceremonies		Ceremonial	Ceremonially
civilization	Civilize	Civilized
Conflict	Conflict	Conflicted
Conversion, convert	Convert	Converted
cultures		Cultural	Culturally
cuneiform		Cuneiform
destiny	Destine	Destined
Documents	Document	Documentary
Excavation	Excavate excavating	excavating
Exhaustion, exhaust	Exhaust	Exhausted	Exhaustedly
generation	Generate	Generational
Glory	Glorify	Glorified
Grandeur		Grand	Grandly
Hebrews		Hebrew
heritage	Inherit	Inherited
Independence		Independent	Independently
Islam		Islamic
Jerusalem
king		Kingly	Kingly
Legacy		Legacy
Mesopotamia		Mesopotamian
milestone
Persian, Persia		Persian
politics	Politic	Political, politic	Politically
Priests		Priestly	Priestly
Religion		Religious	Religiously
rites		Ritual	Ritually
Rival, rivalry	Rival	Rival
Shrines	Enshrine	Enshrined
Sumer		Sumerian
Tradition		traditional	Traditionally
Treasures	Treasure	Treasured
vengeance	Avenge	Vengeful	Vengefully

Absorbed	Brought into.
Arabs	People who live in the peninsula south of Iraq. Their most holy shrine was in Mecca even before they converted to Islam.
archaeologists	People who study or discover human history and prehistory through objects usually found through excavation (digging)
Athens	Largest city in Greece. One of the oldest cities in Greece.
Babylon	City owned by the god, Marduk. Some of its kings included Hammurabi, Nebuchadnezzar, and Nabonidus.
Bible	Holy Book for Christians containing an “Old Testament” concerning Jewish prophets and patriarchs - and a “New Testament” concerning the acts of Jesus and his followers.
captive	Prisoner, one held in a place against one’s will.
ceremonies	Religious rituals
civilization	A system of living involving cities, division of labor, and organized government
Converted	Changed. Brought over to a new religion. Adapted
cultures	Ways of life associated with arts, technologies, religions, traditions and languages
destiny	Fate, future events that are not avoidable
Documents	Records usually holding writing
excavating	Systematic digging for construction or archaeological purposes
Exhausted	Worn out, depleted, weary
generation	The time it takes for a newborn to mature and produce offspring
Glory	Honor and fame. A shining quality of grandeur and celebration.
Grandeur	Greatness, glory
Hebrews	Ancient Semitic people later known as Jews
heritage	Something handed down from previous generations. Qualities or property that can be inherited.
Independence	Freedom from external control. Self rule.
Islam	A monotheistic religion founded in Arabia by the prophet Muhammad.
Jerusalem	Ancient city located in modern Israel. It is sacred to Jews, Christians, and Muslims.
king	A male ruler or monarch who rules by right of birth or divine right.
Mesopotamia	The “Land between the Rivers”. An old name for Iraq.
Persian	The first stable multi-ethnic empire. It put an end to the independence of ancient Mesopotamia. It united Egypt, Iraq, Iran and Turkey. It was later conquered by Greeks under Alexander the Great.
politics	Activities associated with government. Non violent competition for control of government. Calculated use of influence and persuasion.
Priests	Religious leaders able to perform official rituals or ceremonies
regain	To get again
Religion	An organized system of faith and rituals
rites	Rituals or religious practices. Ceremonies.
Rival	Competitor or enemy
Shrines	Holy places
Sumer	Region in the South of Mesopotamia where the first monumental civilization developed
traditional	Unwritten, customary
Treasures	Valuable or desired things
vengeance	revenge
Legacy	Something of value handed down by an ancestor
cuneiform	Ancient wedge-shaped writing of the ancient Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and others. The first known writing system later replaced by the Phoenician alphabet.
Conflict	Strife. Disagreement. Violence. Fighting.
Milestone	A significant event marking a major change in the life of an individual or a culture