Download Sumerians and Babylonians

SUMERIANS AND BABYLONIANS
WG1.3
THE SUMERIANS
 The
first great Mesopotamian civilization
was the Sumerian, which developed
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
(3000-1600 B.C)
POLITICAL
Power of the Priests
 Sumer’s
earliest governments
were controlled by temple
priests
 Farmers believed they
needed blessings for success
of their crops
 Priests were the middle man
for the Gods and priests
demanded portion of farmer
crops as tax
POLITICAL
Later
followed
Hereditary rulers:
when the power is
passed down to
family members
Sargon
POLITICAL
 The
Sumerians developed city-state, which
were independent cities that only united
when there was a common threat.
ACHIEVEMENTS:
 Through
these city-states the Sumerians
were able to tackle the problem of the large
scale flooding from the Euphrates and
Tigris rivers.
 They used math and science skills to
build a system of dikes and reservoirs to
control the floods.
 Cities were built with clay bricks not wood
(no forests) and high walls
RELIGION
Polytheistic:
Belief in Many Gods
(3,000!!!)
Gods could be angered at any
moment and to keep them happy
Sumerians:
 Built
impressive ziggurats or
temples to sacrifice food, wine and
animals
 Souls of the dead
wandered in the land
of no return
SUMERIAN SOCIETY
Kings and Priests
Wealthy merchants
Ordinary Sumerian people
Slaves
WOMEN
 Could
hold property
 Join
lower ranks of
priesthood
 There
were few women
scribes

Scholars think that girls
were not allowed to
attend schools
INTELLECTUAL
Epic of Gilgamesh
Myths and
legends recorded
in this long poem
One of the
earliest works of
literature in the
world
Gilgamesh was a real man,
ruling in the city-state of Uruk.
The Epic is a tale about his
adventures with his half-brother
Ekindu. He searches for answers
from the gods about the
meaning of life and death.
Gilgamesh
WRITING:
 Sumerians
developed the world’s first writing
system using:
 Pictograms were simple pictures that were
limited in their uses.
 Cuneiform used symbols to symbolize spoken
sounds, which was developed to keep track of
their complicated governments
 They used a stylus (a writing tool) made from
sharpened reed and clay tablets that were
baked in a kiln or dried in the sun
THE FERTILE CRESCENT
Arc
of land
between the
Persian Gulf
and the
Mediterranean
Sea in
Southwest
Asia
ONE LAND…TWO RIVERS
 Mesopotamia
means =
“land between the
rivers”
 Tigris River and
Euphrates River
 Both rivers flooded once
a year and left thick bed
of silt.
 Silt: rich, new soil
farmers could plant
and harvest enormous
quantities of wheat
and barley
THE BABYLONIANS
 The
Babylonians conquered the
Sumerians around 1800 B. C. and
adopted much of the Sumerian
culture.
POLITICAL:
 The
Babylonians were ruled by hereditary
rulers
 The most famous is King Hammurabi,
who developed one of the first code of
laws called The Code of Hammurabi.
LAW CODES
 This
was a collection of 283 laws.
 The code established different legal classes and
specified the rights of his subjects.
 The code included legal ideas of the time, like:
 Punishments based on social classes
 Retribution- “an eye for an eye”
LAW CODES
important rights extended to women
women were not equal to men in the eye of
the law but they were granted fundamental
rights
this was very unusual for the time
 The most advanced feature was that the laws
were clearly stated and also how the laws were
to be applied

SOCIAL:
 Babylonians
were divided into
classes by birth
 Rulers, high priests, middle class,
farmers and slaves
 Hammurabi’s code strongly
protected the nobles, even at the
expense of all others
SHARED:
Religion:
 Both the Sumerians and the Babylonians
religion was polytheistic, meaning having
many gods
 These gods:
 kept the cycle of seasons going
 maintained the world’s existence
 Because of this priests were honored and
religious leaders were very important
political leaders.
III. CHARACTERISTICS SHARED BETWEEN
THE SUMERIANS AND BABYLONIANS:
Ziggurats:
 A stepped pyramid, with flat stacked terraces
made with clay bricks
 They had ramps leading to the top either
straight up the side or by going around the
entire structure
 These structures were dedicated to the gods
or goddesses to watch over the cities
 There are two famous ruins:
 Ur
 Khorsabad