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Mesopotamia
The land between the rivers
Mesopotamia
Civilizations
 Complex societies
– Cities
– Organized governments
– Art
– Religion
– Class divisions
– Writing systems
 “Cradle of Civilization
How did civilizations begin?
Mesopotamia
 Literally means “land
between the rivers”
–
–
–
–
–
Iraq
Begin in Turkey
Flow SE
Empty in Persian Gulf
Tigris
Euphrates
 Located in present day
Iraq
 The land between the
rivers supported a growing
population with its fertile
land
 This area is known as the
“Fertile Crescent”
Fertile Crescent
Why Were River Valleys
Important?
 Provided good farm land
 Trade becomes important in the moving of
goods and ideas
– Because of a stable food supply, people can:
 Form governments
 Develop religions
 Advancements on the arts
 Developed writing systems
 Created class structures
Advantages of Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
 Irrigation (stable food
supply)
– Control flooding
 Dams, channels,
walls, waterways,
ditches
 Trade and
communication routes
Disadvantages
 Flooding of river was
not dependable
– Could be violent and
destructive
 Harsh climate
– Hot,dry spring
 Unpredictable
flooding
– Cold winters
Rise of Sumer
3500 B.C.-1792 B.C.
 Civilization began @3,500 BC
 At Sumer’s height contained 200,000 people
 Lived in independent city-states
– Each had own god
– Each had own ziggurat
– Towns run by kings
 The first civilization
developed here
@3,500 BC and was
called Sumer
 The land was open
and invaded and
conquered often
Ziggurat: temples that were found
in each of the cities and were
believed to be homes for the gods
Sumerian city-states
 City-state
– Made up of the city and the land surrounding it.
– Had its own government and had no allegiance
to any other entity.
 Isolated by geography
– Beyond the city-states lay mudflats and desert
 Made trade and communication difficult
 Each surrounded by wall
– Sun dried mud brick medium used
Ur: capital city of the Sumerian
civilization.
Life in ancient Sumer
 Sumerians were poytheistic
– Belief in many gods
– Believed that the gods/goddesses controlled all
aspects of life
– Must be appeased
 Ruled by kings
– Probably war heroes at first
– Then position becomes hereditary
 Men headed the household and went to school
 Women did have rights, they could own property and
run businesses
Social Classes in Sumer
Skilled workers
who made
metal products,
cloth, or pottery
Free Citizens
Nobility and Priests
Traded tools, wheat, barley
for cooper, tin and wood
Artisans, Craftsmen
Traders, Fishers, Farmers
Worked on farms
or in temples.
Treated as
property. They
were POWs,
debtors or
criminals
Scribes
Slaves
A person whose
profession was
writing down or
copying
letters,contracts
and other
documents.
Cuneiform
 Earliest form of writing
Wedge shaped impressions
were made with a stylus onto
wet clay.
Developed to keep track of
business deals, births, deaths
and other transactions
Only boys from wealthy families
could learn to write (become
scribes)- these were leaders of
the community. They became
judges and political leaders
Advancement in literature
 Epic of Gilgamesh
– Epic is a long poem that tells the story of a hero
– Gilgamesh is a king who travels around the world
and performs great deeds.
– Gilgamesh tries to find a way to live
forever...figures out that is only for the gods.
– Confirms the Bible as a historical document
 In both the Bible and Gilgamesh, an epic flood is
documented
Writing in Mesopotamia
Advancements in Science and
Math
 Wagon wheel
– Help carry goods from place to place
 Plow
– Made farming easier
 Sailboat
– Replaced muscle power with wind power
 Geometry
– Cut fields and build
 Number system based on 60
– 60 minute hour, 60 second minute, 360 degree circle
 12 month calendar
– Developed based on cycles of the moon
– Used to plant, harvest, hold religious festivals
Sargon I
 King from Akkad
 2500 BC conquered city of Sumer
 Adapted Sumerian way of life and formed the kingdom of
Sumer
 Conquered all of Mesopotamia and set up the world's first
empire: a group of many different lands under one ruler
 Lasted 200 years before falling to invaders.
Babylonia
Babylonian Empire
1792 B.C. – 1650 B.C.
 Invaders from Arabian Desert region
 Hammurabi
– Leading king who established empire
 Scribes were leading citizens
– Educated, kept written records
 Women enjoyed much freedom
– Very uncommon in ancient civilizations
 Farming and manufacturing an important
part of the economy
 Mathematics was based on a unit of 60
 Made advancements in astronomy
– Able to predict lunar eclipses
– Created 12 month calendar
 Language
– Deciphered by Henry Rawlinson w/ the
discovery of the Behistun Rock
Hammurabi’ s Code
 Law code written down by Hammurabi
 282 laws
 Helped shaped daily life in Mesopotamia
– If a son strikes his father, his hand shall be cut off.
– If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be
put out
– “an eye for an eye”
– If anyone is committing a robbery and is caught, then he
shall be put to death
– If anyone steals a water wheel from the field, he shall
pay five shekels in money to the owner
Hammurabi receiving the laws from
the sun god
Stele of Hammurabi
Placed in all cities for all to see.
People were expected to follow
the laws because they had been
made aware of them.
They also were foretold of the
punishment for breaking any laws.
Hittite Empire
1650 B.C.-1200 B.C.
 Warlike tribesmen from
Asia Minor
 Conquered Babylonian
empire, but retreated
to the western Fertile
Crescent
Hittite Contributions
 1st to make widespread use of iron weapons
and tools
 Used horse drawn chariots in battle
 Had a more humane system of laws
 First to ride horseback in battle
Assyrian Empire
Assyrians
750 B.C.- 605 B.C.
 Ruthless conquerors
 Largest empire to this
point
 Terrorized and torture
subjects
 Aggressive fighters
– Iron tipped arrows and
spears
– Battering rams
– Metal helmets and breast
plates
Often known as the “land
bathed in blood”
Assyrians use siege machine
to attack walls of city.
Contributions of Assyrians
 First to set up an effective system for
running an empire
 Set up a great library in the capital city of
Ninevah which held thousand of clay tablets
Near modern
day Mosul
Chaldean Empire(Neo-Babylonian)
605-550 B.C.




Conquered the Assyrian Empire
Established the 2nd Babylonian Empire
Led by King Nebuchadnezzar
Rebuilt Babylon-the most impressive city in
the ancient world
Nebuchadnezzar
The capital city of Babylon
Ishtar Gate: entrance into the city
of Babylon
Babylon at the time of
Nebuchadnezzar
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
 One of the 7 wonders
of the ancient world
Phoenicians
1000 B.C.-700 B.C.
 Skilled shipbuilders
and sailors
 Greatest seafaring
traders of ancient
world
 Established many
colonies, one of the
greatest was Carthage
in northern Africa
Contributions of the Phoenicians
 Credited with
spreading culture
throughout the
Med.Sea world
– Purple dye and cedar
– 22 letter alphabet
 Eventually adopted by
the Greeks
Phoenician 22 letter
alphabet
Lydians
 Located in the northern Fertile Crescent
 Created an economy based on money
 No longer would people use barter: the
trading of one item for another
 Croesus: Lydian king thought to be the
richest king of the ancient world
 Conquered by the Persians: they were
traders not fighters
Persians
525 B.C.-331 B.C.
 Boundaries from the Indus River to Med Sea
(3000 miles)
 Highly organized government
 Empire divided into provinces ruled by local
kings
 Reached its height under the leadership of
Darius I
Persian Empire
Contributions of the Persians
 The Royal Road
– Allowed all of the empire to be connected
– Allowed for quicker travel (ideas and goods)
 Conquered people were treated well
– Allowed to keep own religion, laws & customs
 Cultural Diffusion
– The exchange of ways of living
 Teachings of Zoroaster
Zoroastrianism
 Ahura Mazda: god of
justice, kindness, and
thoughtfulness
 Held the belief that the
world is a battlefield for
good and evil
 Belief in good reflection,
good work, good deeds.
– The deeds that you do will
come back to you whether
good or bad
Symbol of Zoroastrian faith
Economy of Mesopotamia
 Economy was based on farming,
craftsmanship and trade
 Their laws indicated a high importance on
regulation of money, interest and the paying
back of debt. ie: Hammurabi’s Code
 Economy was overseen by priests and kings
 Land was divided among the people
Hebrews