Download Big Ideas

Objective
 Examine the impact of location and
geography on the people and culture
of the Middle East
Big Ideas
Early Civilizations of the Middle East
First Civilizations
Developments & Achievements
 Fertile Crescent: Mesopotamia – Crash Course
 Successful farming settlements had grown into
powerful city-states:
 large town that has its own gov’t and controls the
surrounding country side
 Sumer: 3500BC
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Built Ziggurats
System of writing - cuneiform
Used a wheel
Sailing ships = trade
Developed plow and accurate calendar
Built dams to control floods
System of measurement
Important to history because it was passed down
through generations!!!!!
 All Influenced later people - Rap
The Fertile Crescent
Gilgamesh is one of the oldest
recorded stories in the world. It's
about an ancient King of Uruk
who may have actually existed
and whose name - Gilgamesh - is
on the Sumerian King List
Sumer Website
Sumerian Irrigation Canal and Plow
An artist's rendition of one type of Sumerian sailboat. The rope
indicates where the sails would have hung on the wooden
mast. The body of the boat is made of bundled reeds covered
with leather
Lack of natural barriers
around the Fertile Crescent
 King Hammurabi conquered much of the
Fertile Crescent - Babylonians
 Drew up a code of law – single system of
justice - laws
 Mastery of iron: iron weapons - Hittites
 Phoenicians known as carriers of
civilization = trade
 Developed an alphabet that evolved into
ours
Persian Empire’s Influence
 Conquered the vast empire from Asia Minor to
Indus Valley – Iran – Darius I – ruled at peak
 Gov’t
 Divided into provinces
 Governor/Satrap was responsible for collecting
taxes and for keeping order
 Tolerance of other peoples and languages
 Trade/Communication
 Improved & expanded the road system
 Uniform system of coinage
Greece and Rome addition
to the Middle East
 Hellenistic civilization: 330’s BC
 Hellenism comes from the term Hellenes, which is
what the Greeks called themselves.
 Blended Greek culture with cultures of ancient
Middle East
 Alexander the Great conquered Persian Empire
thus spreading Hellenistic civilization.
 Pursued research in science mathematics, medicine
and philosophy
 Rome: by 115 AD ruled much of ME:
 trade and diffusion flowed
 split Byzantine Empire next 1,000 years from
Constantinople – 330 AD
Roman Conquest
 Eventually another Mediterranean civilization,
Rome, conquered all the lands around the
Mediterranean rim.
 Under Roman rule trade flourished throughout
the Middle East.
 Roman rule also brought with it an extensive
law system, road network, national security
force, and economic stability.
 By 395 C.E. the Roman Empire split into two
halves, the Roman and Byzantine Empires.
 The Byzantine Empire continued to ruler over parts
of Asia Minor for the next 1000 years.
Even BIGGER Idea:
 Over thousands of years, migrating
people, traders, and conquerors have
brought many ethnic groups and their
ideas to the region.