Download City-State

Have you…
Ever ridden in a vehicle with wheels?
Used a clock to tell time?
Read or written anything?
Used coins to pay for something?
Flushed a toilet?
Put a letter in the mail using the post office?
What does the ancient world have to do with
you? A LOT!
We have inherited the best achievements of all
those who have come before us.
How do we define a “civilization?”
Writing system
Religious system
Art/Monumental architecture
Social hierarchy
Job specialization
Cities with large populations (+50,000)
Geography of the
Fertile Crescent
The Rise of Civilizations
How do people move from hunting and
gathering to creating complex
civilizations?
Where do civilizations arise? Why?
RIVERS=GOOD SOIL= GOOD FARMING
Mesopotamia
-Mesopotamia lies between the Tigris &
Euphrates Rivers, in the Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent - a large arc of
rich, or fertile, farmland
-Mesopotamia is Greek for “between the rivers”
Fertile Crescent
Tigris and Euphrates
The Rise of Civilization
-First people to settle Mesopotamia were
hunter-gatherers (~10,000 BC)
-What caused this area to be so fertile?
Silt- a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks
Farming & Cities
-Because of the fertile soil, farming
settlements began in Mesopotamia
around 7,000 B.C.
-Problem: rivers often flooded
Controlling Water
To combat flooding the early people of
Mesopotamia used irrigation & canals
(Geography theme?)
Irrigation- a way of supplying
water to an area of land
Canals- human-made waterways
More Food = Special Jobs
Irrigation = increased production of food
= food surplus = special jobs
Surplus- having more than you need
Division of Labor – workers specialize in a
particular task or job
Appearance of Cities
-More food=more people=cities developed
-Most people still farmed
-Cities become centers of trade, politics,
religion, and culture
The Rise of Sumer –
The World’s First
Civlizations
Sumer
Sumerians developed the world’s first
civilization
By 3000 B.C., they had
settled in southern
Mesopotamia (Sumer)
City-States of Sumer
-Centers of Sumerian societies = cities
-Sumer was organized into city-states
(Hunger Games?)
City-State- a central city and
all of the countryside around it
-City-states had their own armies and built
walls around their cities
Powerful City-States
-city-states gained and lost power over time
-more farmland=more power
-The most powerful = Uruk & Ur
Sumerian Religion
-Sumerians practiced polytheism
Polytheism- worship of many gods
-Each city-state considered one god to be its
special protector
(They believed that these gods were very
powerful & could bring huge harvests or
disastrous floods)
Priests
Priests- people who performed or led
religious ceremonies
- Very important people in Sumerian society
- Priests interpreted wishes of the gods and
made offerings to them in temples ziggurats
Sumerian Social Hierarchy
Social Hierarchy- the division of society by
rank or class
King
Priests
Artisans/Merchants
Farmers/Laborers
Slaves (3 years)
Sumerian Men and Women
Men - held political powers & made laws
Women - took care of home & children
Mostly only men were educated, but some
upper-class women were educated as well
Some educated women were priestesses in
the temples of Sumer