Download MESOPOTAMIA

MESOPOTAMIA
“land between the rivers”
this area’s claim to fame…
 Several of the world’s EARLIEST regions
BEGAN HERE!
 This area is made up of today’s:
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IRAQ
SYRIA
LEBANON
ISRAEL
JORDAN
THE FERTIle crescent
 This was the land’s NICKNAME for two
reasons:
 1) The land took on a CRESCENT SHAPE
 2) The land was very FERTILE and excellent
for FARMING
 FYI: FERTILE land means that seeds can
grow VERY WELL here and thus produce
many CROPS
Welcome to civilization
The Fertile Crescent promoted civilization for
several reasons:
1) The climate was TOLERABLE – there
were very HOT summers but very COOL
winters
2) There were excellent sources for WATER
3) The soil was FERTILE and MINERAL
RICH
WeLCOME TO Mesopotamia!
 Translated as “LAND BETWEEN THE
RIVERS”
 The rivers are the TIGRIS and
EUPHRATES
two rivers worth gold…
 The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers had SILT in
its waters
 This is SOIL IN THE WATER that would
lay on the land after the rivers would FLOOD
 The silt was VERY FERTILE!!!
Dependent on disaster?
Mesopotamian civilization depended on THE
TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES RIVERS
FLOODING
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Good flood, bad flood?
 Flooding was GOOD because it left behind
VERY FERTILE SOIL, such as SILT
 Then again, flooding was BAD for many
reasons…
FLOODING
Reason #1
 Flooding was bad because THE FLOODS
WERE UNPREDICTABLE!
 The people never knew when TO EXPECT
THEM!
Reason #2
 Flooding was bad because the Mesopotamians
COULDN’T PREPARE FOR THE
FLOODS!
 Guess it’s hard to prepare for something you
don’t know is coming!
Reason #3
 Because of the strength of the floods, often
times HOMES AND FARMS WERE
DESTROYED
 This was especially devastating because THEY
RELIED HEAVILY ON THEIR FARMS
FOR SURVIVAL
ANOTHER REASON TO BE ON
gUard…
 The Mesopotamian land was very WIDE
OPEN
 The land was also surrounded by
MOUNTAINS to the NORTH and EAST
 This landscape made it EASY for
INVADERS to ATTACK