Download City-States in Mesopotamia

City-States in
Mesopotamia
The 5 Characteristics of Civilization
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Advanced Cities
Specialized Workers
Record Keeping
Complex Institutions
Advanced Technology
•
These characteristics can be applied to all of
our Ancient River Civilizations
Mesopotamia
“Land Between the two
rivers”
Tigris and Euphratesfloods once a year leaving
silt
Fertile Crescent-arc of
land between Persian Gulf
and Mediterranean
Modern-day Iraq
Environmental Challenges
Challenge
• Little to no rain
• Unpredictable
flooding
• No barriers for
protection
• Limited
resources
Solution
• Irrigation
• Built city walls
with mud bricks
• Trade grain, cloth,
and tools for things
they lacked such as
stones, wood, and
metals
Sumerian City-States
• Government: City-State
• City and surrounding area
• Share culture but different
rulers
• Functions like an
independent country
Who Rules the City-States?
• Priests originally ruled
• Ziggurat served as temple but also as a “city hall”
• Because of frequent warfare, military leaders
eventually became the rulers
• Rulers passed down power to their heirs or sons
▫ Creates dynasties
Cultural Diffusion
• Sumerian spread their goods,
products, and ideas spread
from their culture to another
• Modern Examples?
•
Carpenters lift a coffin shaped in the form of a
Coca Cola bottle in Teshie, a suburb of the
Ghanaian capital of Accra, January 22, 2004.
REUTERS/Wolfgang Rattay/Files
• Why did the Sumerians need leadership and
organization?
• Many workers are needed to build large projects.
• Groups need a leader to organize projects.
Religion and “Pleasing the Gods”
• B uild ziggurats
• Gods control nature
• Polytheistic
▫ 3000 gods who could bring
fire, floods, enemies
• Dismal and gloomy afterlife
▫ “Dust is their fare and clay
their food”
▫ “Land of no return”
• Humans were servants of
gods
• Kings represent the gods
• Why did the Sumerians think that
ziggurats and sacrifices would keep
the gods happy?
• The sacrifices and ziggurats proved
that the Sumerians worshiped the
gods.
Literature
• Epic of Gilgamesh – ca.
2000 BC
▫ Gilgamesh is the legendary
figure (king of Uruk)
▫ Contains one of several
accounts of a universal
flood
 Older than the Hebrew
version in Genesis
• Epic: Long historic poem that
tells the story of a historical or
legendary figure
“For six days and six nights the
winds blew, torrent and tempest
and flood overwhelmed the
world…”
Standard of Ur
• This panel made of shells
and stone comes from the
Sumerian city of Ur.
• It shows livestock
captured in war being
presented to the
victorious king.
• It is part of a wooden box
found in a grave.
• It is about 4,500 years
old.
Architecture
• Ziggurats
• Arches
• Columns
• Ramps
Inventions
•
•
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•
•
•
•
•
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Wheel, sail, plow
Saw
Pulley
Sundial
First to use bronze
(copper and tin)
Number system in base
60
Hour, minute, second
Cuneiform
Astronomy
Medicine
Social Classes
Kings, Landowners,
and Priests
Merchants,
Artisans, Farmers
Slaves
Women
• More rights than many later civilizations
▫ Could hold property
▫ Could be farmers, merchants, or artisans
▫ Could be in the lower ranks of priesthood
The First Empire Builders
• 2350 BC Sargon
conquered Sumer and
captured other cities
to the north. He
built the world’s
first empire which
lasted 200 years.
Babylonian Empire
• Babylonians conquered the Sumerians
• Reached height with the king
Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC)
▫ Code of Law had 282 laws.
▫ Its goal was for the government to
take responsibility for order and
justice.
▫ Applied to everyone but the
punishments for rich and poor were
different.
▫ It helped to unify the diverse
groups in his empire.
• Why is the development of a written code of laws
important to a society?
• It reinforced the role of government in society
and clearly established uniform laws and
penalties for crimes.
• Turn to page 56 to see summary chart.