Download Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia
Tigris-Euphrates River Valley
Learning Outcomes
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There are two rivers in Mesopotamia: Tigris and Euphrates
Mesopotamia is the land between two rivers: Tigris and the Euphrates.
The area of Mesopotamia where cities first rose is referred to as the Fertile Crescent.
The Fertile Crescent was named because of the fertile (nutritious) soil and twin waterways, plus the shape is in a
crescent moon!
o Present day location: Middle East (Iraq, Iran, Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, and Israel)
 Mesopotamian land/weather was very hot, dry with sun-baked clay like soil.
 Farmers used irrigation to water their crops.
 Irrigation is the system of dams, dikes, ditches and canals to move water to dry areas.
 Silt-is a rich mixture of bits of rock and soil. It makes the soil fertile.
 Surplus- extra or over abundance of something.
 A city-state is a city and its surrounding farmlands, with its own government and leaders.
 Scribe- A professional writer.
 One of the civilizations greatest innovations was writing system called cuneiform.
 Cuneiform- Writing system using a stylus to create wedge-shaped symbols on clay tablets.
 Sumerian cities-states: Ur, Eridu, Nippur, and Uruk.
 Sumer was located in the southern region of Mesopotamia.
 Religion: Sumerians believed in many gods (polytheistic).
o Sumerians thought gods controlled all of nature
 Ziggurats are huge mud-brick temples that are located at the center of each city.
 Ziggurats are temples/shrines to the gods.
 The people who lived in Sumer were known as the Sumerians.
 Sumerian cities’ populations reached thousands.
 Division of labor developed because of the food surplus (over abundance) in Sumer.
 Specialization is the same as Division of Labor.
 Sumerian city-states protected themselves from neighboring attacks by building large walls and moats around
their cities.
 Wars were fought over: water and land rights.
 Trade routes allowed people to exchange with one another their goods, ideas, culture, & technology.
 Monotheism: Belief in one god.
 Abraham is known as the father of Jewish people through his son Isaac and the father of Arab people through his
son Ishmael.
 Monarchy- . The system in government in which a king or queen rules.
 Authority- The right to command or influence.
 Empire-A conquered land of many people governed by one ruler.
 The world’s first empire was the Akkadian Empire.
 The Babylonian King, Hammurabi, was most remembered for compiling a set of written laws.
 Hammurabi’s written laws are called “Code of Hammurabi”.
 Phoenicians were excellent shipbuilders and excellent at navigation. They also contributed to an alphabet.
 Lydians used coined money to set prices for various goods and services, thus developing a money economy
(economy based on the use of money).
Be able to correctly locate these places on a map:
Fertile Crescent (Mesopotamia)
Tigris River
Red Sea
Euphrates River
Mediterranean Sea
Persian Gulf
Arabian Peninsula
Sumerian Achievements: Know & be able to explain at least 4 Sumerian achievements in detail: wheel, sailboats, etc.
*Be able to know the Empires from first to last are: Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Chaldean, & Persian.
*Be able to explain why the Middle East is historically a continuous area of conflict.
Quizzes: Study the past quizzes and learning outcomes. There will be review questions on this test.