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Mesopotamia and
Ancient Eygpt
Chapter 3 section 1
Mesopotamia
 One of the first civilizations grew in the
fertile crescent of land between Tigris and
Euphrates river.
 Mesopotamia means “between the rivers”
 This area is rich soil for farming. Why they
use the term fertile crescent to describe the
land.
 Mesopotamia era was in the Bronze age.
 Bronze age was the age when cultures
discovered and used bronze for making
weapons, tools, and sculptures.
Mesopotamia
Government
There were towns and cities with the
population of 40,000
Each city was considered a small state, or
nation also known as city-state.
The city state where a theocracy, meaning the
ruler of the land was also the religious leader.
Mesopotamia Farming
 Around 4500 b.c. hunter and g athers
discovered that the land had rich soil
because of the yearly floods.
 Over the next 500 years these people
dug ditches an irrigation system.
 Irrigation systems are design to control
the flooding.
 The 12 month calendar was developed
based off the moon, it was developed
to better predict the flood.
Mesopotamia: Sumer
The earliest of these city-states
rose in a area called Sumer, near
the Persian gulf.
Sumerian created a form of
writing known as cuneiform.
It was written with wooden
triangular shaped sticks. On moist
clay tablets.
Mesopotamian
Akkad
 Around 2300 b.c. Akkad
conquered Sumer and
several other city-states
to create the first empire.
Babylon
 Around 1800 b.c. the
Babylon conquered
Akkad.
 Hammurabi the great
leader of Babylon pushed
the empire to the
Mediterranean Sea.
 Hammurabi created the
Hammurabi codes.
Ancient Egypt
•
Egypt also grew out of a
river valley.
•
They settled near the Nile
river.
•
The river flowed into the
Mediterranean Sea.
•
The hunter and gathers
began to settle in 5000 b.c.
Ancient Egypt
Pharaohs and Gods
 Pharaohs means “great house”
 Famous Egyptians gods
 It refers to his lavish palace.
 Horus- the god of light, Hapi- the
river god, Re- the sun god, Osiristhe god of the harvest and eternal
life.
 Pharaohs were both kings and
gods in the Egyptians polytheistic
religion.
 Polytheistic means many gods.
 They created tombs for the dead.
They created big tombs called
pyramids for the pharaohs.
 The Egyptians believed in a form of
life after death.
 They would embalmed the body to
preserve the body for the next life.
Ancient Egypt
Egyptian Writing
 Hieroglyphics was the way of writing for the ancient
Egyptians.
 They would write into stone, or paint on walls and
papyrus.
 Pharaohs kept hundreds of royal officers known as
scribes to record the government business
 French found a tablet called Rosetta Stone.
 Rosetta Stone had three translation: hieroglyphics,
modern Egyptians and Greek.
 Scientist translated the greek language to understand
hieroglyphics.