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Civilization Characteristics of Mesopotamia
Geography:
Developed:
When, Where,
How, Why
River valleys- made for good farming so could feed large
numbers of people, provided fish and freshwater for drinking,
crops, bathing, could use rivers for trade and transportation
(also helped with spread of ideas)
Mesopotamia- “land between 2 rivers”, meso means middle or
between
Climate,
Land,
Environment
Located in eastern part of Fertile Crescent (curving strip of
land that extends from Mediterranean Sea to Persian Gulf
Located in what’s now known as Iraq
Sumer- city-state in the southern part of Mesopotamia,
invented wheel, cuneiform (writing), irrigation
Babylon- city-state near Euphrates River, center of trade,
created by King Hammurabi, became one of world’s largest and
richest cities
Assyria- empire started in north, near Tigris River
Mesopotamia was located between 2 rivers, the Tigris and the
Euphrates
Tigris- river in southwestern Asia that flows through the
eastern part of the Fertile Crescent
Euphrates- river in southwestern Asia that flows through the
southern part of the Fertile Crescent
Rivers were used for trading, used guffa boats to travel along
river, can only travel with flow of river (downstream), had to be
taken apart and carried back upstream
Hot, dry climate
Spring flooding of Tigris and Euphrates left behind rich soil for
farming
Flooding was unpredictable and undependable- because of
this, farmers learned to use irrigation (use of canals and dams)
Government,
Laws,
Punishment
City-state- self-governing city, often with surrounding lands
and villages, each city state had own government and was not
part of a larger unit
City-states often went to war with each other, fighting for glory
and to gain control of more territory, to protect themselves
each city-state surrounded itself with a wall
1st kings were probably war heroes, led armies and organized
building projects, was an inherited (hereditary) position (when
father died, son took over)
Empire- group of many different lands under 1 ruler
Each city-state ruled by a king- king in charge of everything,
made all decisions- got help from priests and governmental
officials
Taxes helped take care of needs of city-state
Men had to pay a burden- which meant they had to do work to
help the city-state
Had army to protect city-state
Religion
Code of Hammurabi- over 200 laws and punishments, created
by Babylonian King, Hammurabi, 1st written laws in the world,
all other laws stem from these
Polytheism- belief in many gods and goddesses
Believed their gods had power over a natural force or a human
activity
Worked hard to please gods, believing they controlled
everything
Built grand temples, called ziggurats to honor gods- ziggurat
means “mountain of god” or “hill of heaven”
Ziggurat- Large temple located in the centers of ancient
Sumerian cities, built to honor gods
Priests took care of gods, and made them happy, held
ceremonies to honor the gods, offered them food and other
sacrifices
Believed in 7 great gods
Writing
Spent lots of time praying to gods, made small statues of
themselves which showed them praying to gods (this allowed
them to pray to gods all day even while they were doing other
things)
Cuneiform- system of writing using wedge-shaped symbols to
represent sounds, ideas, and objects, 1st form of writing
Scribe- person who writes, scrib means to write, usually
wealthy boys (had to have money to pay to go to school and
only boys went to school), trained for many years
Took 12 years to learn how to write
Allowed people to keep records: trade, births/deaths, offerings
to the gods, amount of crops, amount of taxes, 1st written laws,
stories
Stable Food
Supply, Food,
Farming,
Agriculture
Used stylus, made from reed plants, and wrote on clay tablets
Originally nomads (people who moved from place to place),
hunter-gatherers (people who hunted animals and gathered
food)
With farming, able to stay in one place and start villages
Irrigation allowed for better farming, flooding of Tigris and
Euphrates left behind rich soil for farming
As they could grow enough food to feed their people, allowed
for job specialization, people could train to do other jobs
Grew wheat, melons, apples, dates, figs, grains, barley
Fish from rivers
Very fertile land, Fertile Crescent
Had extra food supplies, so were able to trade with other cities
Domesticated (training plants and animals to be useful to
humans) sheep, goats, oxen
Got milk and cheese from animals
Arts, Artisans, Artisans- skilled workers who made metal products, cloth, or
Literature,
pottery
Architecture,
Music
Epic of Gilgamesh- world’s oldest known story, epic poem that
tells the story of a war hero
Had musicians who played music as their job
Ziggurats had pictures representing important gods, people,
events
Social
System,
Social Classes
3 social classes:
Upper- kings, priests, government officials
Middle- artisans, merchants, farmers, fishermen
Lower- enslaved people who worked on farms or in temples
Slaves- thought of as property, some were prisoners of war,
other were enslaved because they had to pay off debts, did
most of house work for wealthy people
Men were head of household and could go to school
Women cooked, cleaned, took care of kids, could buy and sell
property and run businesses
Technology,
Inventions,
Achievements
Irrigation, calendar, writing, Code of Hammurabi, wagon
wheel, plow, sailboat, used geometry to measure fields and put
up buildings, created number system based on 60 (60 minute
hour, 60 second minute, 360 degree circle), 7 day week,
sundial, dominoes
Used mud bricks, made from clay, to make buildings
Calendar helped Sumerians know when the floods would come
Education,
Artisans, farmers, scribes, priests, merchants, traders
Jobs, Training
Boys could go to school
Girls- spin yarn and make cloth, learned to take care of house
and family
Potters, weavers, artisans, musicians, scribes, priests,
governmental officials, farmers
People could learn to specialize in other types of jobs because
farming provided enough food to feed their people, and didn’t
need everyone for farming
Specialization- training to do a particular kind of work- able to
do other types of jobs because farming allowed them to feed all
people- didn’t need everyone hunting-gathering
Trading- difficult jobs, could carry things, use donkeys, or go
by boat, had to worry about thieves
Important
People
Trade center- central place where people meet to trade goods
King Sargon- king of Akkadians, conquered all of Mesopotamia
in 2340 BC, set up world’s 1st empire, lasted more than 200
years before it fell to invaders
King Hammurabi- King of Babylon, known for his Code of
Hammurabi, created Babylonian Empire by conquering cities
to the north and south, about 1800 BC
Assyrians- had fertile valleys that attracted outside invaders,
so they had to build large armies to defend themselves, by 900
BC, began taking over rest of Mesopotamia, were strong
because they had well organized army and were 1st large army
to use iron tools, once they captured a city they would set fire
to its buildings and carry away its people and goods, lived
much like Mesopotamians, had one of world’s 1st libraries, by
612 BC, empire collapsed due to rebellions of people (caused
by cruelty of leaders)
Nebuchadnezzar- Chaldean King, Chaldeans controlled
Mesopotamia from 605- 562 BC, many of descendants were
Babylonian people
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