Download Chapter 2 Out of the Mesopotamian Mud

Chapter 2
Out of the
Mesopotamian Mud
The Land Between Two Rivers
 Western Civilization (What is it?) came from the
cultures of the Ancient Near East
The Land Between Two Rivers
 Iran, Iraq, Israel, Syria and Jordan (Google Map)
The Land Between Two Rivers
The Land Between Two Rivers
 Mesopotamia means – “the land between two rivers”
 Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
 3500 BC would begin to give rise to the 1st cities and
nation states
 Endless plain of mud with little vegetation
 Reeds and small date palm trees
 Few rocks
The Land Between Two Rivers
 Winds and storms would bring sudden death and
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destroy crops and homes
Worst floods usually came before harvest time
Land was harsh and poor in every natural resource
Destruction came quickly and without warning
Zagros mountains were at the end of the mudflats to
the north
The Birth of the Gods
 People believed the gods lived in the mountains
 1st gods were linked to sky, rain, storms and agriculture
 Mesopotamians saw the world as controlled by the
gods and not random
 They could not predict disasters so they felt gods acted
arbitrarily
 Felt that gods were punishing them for their sins with
disasters
 Felt world was hostile to humans with distant and
uncaring gods
The Birth of the Gods
 People were very pessimistic
 “Pleasure is beer” was found on stone tablets
The World’s First Civilization
 No natural borders to divide areas into states
 Large empires could form because of no natural
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barriers
Many paths into Mesopotamia for invasions
Sumerians began to pool labor, set up irrigation
systems and develop a surplus of food
Surplus of food allows cities to form
Surplus requires administration which leads to
government
Mud and Reeds
Mud and Reeds
Mud and Reeds
 Sumerians had no wood or stone which are basic
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building materials
Mud and reeds were used for a number of things
Reeds: baskets, mats & firewood
Mud: houses, palaces, tools, pots, & storage containers
Mud was made into bricks with reeds or vegetables
and dried in the sun
Mud and Reeds
 Pictures of mud and reed items
Mud and Reeds
 Floods would dissolve the mud
 Sumerians erected temples to the gods that were made on
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top of artificial mountains
Ziggurats were the names of the temples
3000 years temples were built the same way
Represent the 1st monumental structures and the
beginning of architecture
Saddam Hussein parked planes by ziggurats to avoid being
bombed
Technology in the 2nd Iraq War let the U.S. destroy them
Mud and Reeds
The Cuneiform Writing System
 Sumerians developed the 1st form of writing on mud
tablets
 Tablets were baked if you wanted something
permanent
 Cuneiform = wedge writing = based on shapes on
tablets
The Cuneiform Writing System
The Cuneiform Writing System
 Profoundly important to develop a storehouse of
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information that could be passed down over time
Thoughts, dreams and fears could be carried forward
Oldest documents were 1st used for tax records
Oldest recipe is for beer
Earliest form was simple pictures and then symbols
Eventually symbols represent sounds that develop an
alphabet
Our language goes back to this time in some forms to
3500BC
The Cuneiform Writing System
 Cylinder seal is most common artifact found today
 Round stone inscribed with an image that represents
your signature to approve agreements
 Cylinder seal was a status symbol worn around your
neck
The Cuneiform Writing System
 Sumerians also developed a number system
 One in base 10 and one in base 6
 Base 10 is most common because of fingers and toes
 Base 6 was used for timekeeping that is still used today
The Cradle of Empires
 Earliest cities had kings who ruled city and
surrounding territory
 King Sargon becomes the 1st king of Sumeria and
founds Akkadian Empire
The Cradle of Empires
 King at the top and slaves below
 This structure lasted 1000s of years and influenced
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later civilizations for or against the system
Akkadians developed a 7 day week, Romans 8, and
Chinese 10
Future civilizations were based on Akkadian week
Constant struggle with nature as cities dissolved into
nothing
Babylonians, Hittites, Chaldeans & Assyrians followed
Akkadian Empire
The Cradle of Empires