Download The Fertile Crescent

Bell Work Contest!
You will have 2.5 minutes to spell
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Making the word plural does not
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Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent
Land Between Two Rivers
Fertile Crescent
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Is the name given to the area between
the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean
Sea
The Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers run
through the middle of this region
This region is in present day Iraq
Mesopotamia
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In Greek = land between the rivers
Location
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Is inside of the Fertile Crescent
Tigris and the Euphrates
Rivers
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Rivers of life and death
Flood waters brought topsoil from the mountains in
spring
The floods were unpredictable and swept away
people and animals
Sumer
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Cities
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Surplus allowed for the growth of cities
The first cities had about 10,000 people but
as time passed they grew to about 100,000
City-States
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The amount of farmland controlled by a
city-state depended on the size of its
military strength.
Buildings and walled cities began to
appear
Large deserts kept the cities of Sumer
from uniting under one rule
They acted as individual countries even
thought they were cities
City-States
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City-states would continually fight over
who had controlled the farmland and the
rights to trade on the river
3500 BC the kingdom of Kish was the
most powerful
Uruk and Ur fought for dominance as well
Uruk’s king Gilgamesh became a
legendary figure in Sumerian Literature
Rise of the Akkadian Empire
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Akkadians lived to the north of Sumer
Spoke a different language
The two civilizations lived in peace for
many years UNTIL
Sargon king of the Akkadians tried to
expand his empire
Sargon
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Built a new capital of Akkad
Near present day Baghdad
1st ruler to have a permanent army
1st to use soldiers with arrows
Defeated all the cities of Sumer and
Northern Mesopotamia
Sargon
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1st Empire- land with different territories
and peoples under a single rule.
Ruled for 50 years
The Empire fell after his death and the
area went into Chaos
Ur eventually regains power and
reestablishes Sumer as the most powerful
civilization in the region
Sumerian Religion
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Polytheism
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Myths
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The belief in many gods
Stories about the gods that explain people’s beliefs,
warned that the god’s would punish people who
angered them
Priests
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People who performed or led religious ceremonies
Sumerian Religion
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Ziggurats
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Were structures that were built by the Sumerians to
act as a ladder for the god’s
They are terraced with ramps that lead to the top
where a temple is located
Sumerian Social Order
KING
Priests
Skilled Craftsmen,
Merchants, and traders
Farmers and laborers
Sumerian Achievements
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Invention of Writing
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Cuneiform
Pictographs or picture symbols
Scribe
Epic- long poem that tells the story of heros
Sumerian Achievements
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Technical Advances
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Wheel- used in carts for trade and
transportation
Potters wheel used to make round pottery
Plow- pulled by ox to break up the soil before
planting
Water clock
Sewers
Bronze for tools
Makeup and jewelry
Sumerian Achievements
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Math and Science
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Developed a math system which used a 60 as
a base
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This led to the understanding of 12 months in a
year, 60 seconds in a minute and 60 minutes in an
hour
Scientists studied the natural world to develop
medicine
The Arts of Sumer
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Architecture-the science of building
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In Sumer the buildings were made of clay
bricks
Some of the houses were small and built for
single families
While others were large and had many rooms
Palaces were large and multileveled
Ziggurat- was a pyramid shaped temple
Sumerian Art
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Many statues of their gods, jewelry, and
carvings from wood or ivory are common
Cylinder Seals- Carvings on round stones
that were rolled onto wet clay and left an
imprint
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Showed ownership or famous scenes
Music was also an important part of religion
and life
The Sumerian’s Downfall
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Constant fighting between city-states
weakened them
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Water rights / who owned the rivers
Money
Babylonians eventually took over in 1759
BC
Babylonia and Assyria
Empire
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An empire is an area of many territories
and people that are controlled by one
government
Babylonian Empire
The Babylonian Empire
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The beautiful city of Babylon was the
center
Valued
 Conquest: victory in war
 Wealth
 Built cities where learning was valued
from the vast wealth they had
acquired
The Babylonian Empire
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Trade
Babylon’s location made it a center of
trade
 Caravans,
or groups of travelers, coming
and going from other cities stopped in
 Bazaars,
or markets, existed in these cities
to trade goods from all over the world
The Babylonian Empire
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Hammurabi- Became King
 Created Babylon by uniting the cities of
Sumer and conquering parts of Asia
Minor
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One of the most influential leaders in
the region
Developed laws and conquered territory
The Code of Hammurabi
Hammurabi’s Code
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Existed in Babylonia and told people how
to settle problems in all areas of life.
The punishment changed depending on
the importance of the victim
Accidents were punished as crimes as well
The Legacy of Mesopotamia
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Legal System
Code- organized list, of laws helps
make sure laws are applied fairly
Babylonia was the first civilization to
write their laws down so everyone
new what was expected
The Assyrian Empire
Started as a small city on the Tigris River
 Nineveh
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had little to no protection from invaders it
was out in the open
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Developed a strong military
 After
defending themselves for years they
became strong
 The best defense is a good offense
The Assyrian Empire
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Advances
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Nineveh became a city of great learning
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Famous library that held tablets from Sumer and
Babylonia
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This library provided much of the information that
we have on early life in Mesopotamia
Experts in war
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Battering Ram, slinger, helmets, armor, archery
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Armored chariots were their major advantage
The Assyrian Empire
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Downfall
 They had few friends in the area
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Many small rebellions from with in
weakened them/ People they had
conquered
The Medes and the Chaldeans joined
together to crush them in 612 BC
Babylonia Rises Again
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Chaldeans reestablished Babylon (New
Babylonian Empire)
Nebuchadnezzar II
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Rebuilt Babylon
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A beautiful city with massive decorations
Palace was 350 feet tall
According to legend he built the “Hanging
Gardens of Babylon” for his wife who was
from the mountains and hated the dry
climate of Mesopotamia
Babylonia Rises Again
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Advances
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Science and learning were very important
Developed an accurate calendar
Began to raise bees for honey