Download Class Notes: Chapter 4, Lesson 2

Class Notes: Chapter 4, Lesson 2
A. Sumerians
1. Among the earliest groups of importance in the Fertile Crescent.
2. Moved into the region about 4000 BC.
3. Their origins are a mystery. Legend says a fisherman named Oannes swam up from the Persian Gulf
bringing gifts of civilization.
4. Probably nomads before settling down and farming in Sumer.
B. Sumerian City-States
1. By 3000 BC the villages grew into cities of more than 10,000 people each.
2. Each city was an independent city-state, or self-governing city and surrounding lands. In each citystate everyone spoke the same language, had the same religion and customs.
3. Each city-state was not united like the cities in Egypt. Each city-state was like its' own nation with its'
own rulers.
4. Many wars broke out between the city-states.
C. Temples to the Gods
1. Like the Egyptians. Sumerians built temples, but not to the pharaohs. They built them to worship their
gods.
2. These temples were called ziggurats, intended to be a bond between heaven and earth.
3. Their leaders were not worshipped as gods.
D. Sumerian Writing
1. About the same time the Egyptians developed hieroglyphics, the Sumerians developed their own
system of writing called cuneiform.
2. Writing began as a way for merchants to keep records of business.
3. They wrote on clay tablets using a pointed reed that was called a stylus.
E. The Babylonians
1. Around 2000BC nomads moved into the city of Babylon and conquered the Sumerians.
(a) The Babylonians adopted the ways of the Sumerians, (irrigated fields, built ziggurats, and
wrote cuneiform.)
(b) By 1700BC (300 years later), the Babylonians conquered all of Sumer and Mesopotamia and
built an empire that covered the entire Fertile Crescent.
(c) They built a palace known as The Hanging Gardens, often called one of the "Seven Wonders
of the World".
2. The Babylonians were the first people to write down their laws.
(a) One of the greatest lawgivers was Hammurabi, who recorded his laws around 1780BC.
(b) He had 282 laws dealing with trade, family, work, and property.
(c) Hammurabi's punishments were very harsh, "eye for an eye" justice.
F. The Legacy of Mesopotamia
1. The people of Mesopotamia lived in a harsh environment and still their advances were great.
2. The Sumerian and Babylonian legacies are known to us because of cuneiform writing.
Babylonians had a strong government, were the first to write down laws, and created a great empire