Download Ancient Mesopotamia

Ancient Mesopotamia
Geography
 Fertile
Crescent
 Fertile
area located in the Middle East
 Made fertile by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
 Mesopotamia
 The
land between the two rivers
Geography
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The Rivers
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Both begin in the Taurus Mountains and end in the
Persian Gulf
They flood every year and deposit fertile silt
Farming
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Farming was difficult, especially in Southern
Mesopotamia, because of droughts and irregular
floods
Farmers built canals, with gates, to irrigate their fields
Grew many fruits, grains, and vegetables
Because of mountains and deserts, most people live(d)
around the rivers
City-States
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Sumer
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Is a region located in Southern Mesopotamia
Made up of many city-states
They invented the wheel, boats, and one of the first
systems of writing called cuneiform
The king of Kish, named Sargon, expanded his empire
and united the city-states
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He expanded the empire to the North end of the Fertile
Crescent
The Sumerians traded with many other people
City-States
 Life
A
in a City-State
city-state is a self governing city that rules
over surrounding villages
 People fought for control of the rivers
 They built walls around their city
 The people had many gods and worshipped
them at a temple called a ziggurat
 They had a hero named Gilgamesh
City-States
 Babylon
 In
1800 B.C. Syrian people took over the area
around the city-state of Babylon
 Their king, named Hammurabi, attacked the
Sumerians and took over almost all of the
Fertile Crescent
He made the empire rich and powerful
 He wrote the world’s first code of laws
 Under his rule, Nineveh became the capital of
Babylonia
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Judaism
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Beginnings of the Religion
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Started in ancient Mesopotamia by Abraham
He made the Covenant, or agreement, with God
Additional Information
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The Torah is the Jewish holy scripture
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Jews left the Holy Land to go to Egypt for food
They were led out of Egypt by Moses
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It’s the first five books of the Bible
Born and raised in Egypt and known as the Prince of Egypt
Parted the Red Sea and presented the 10 Commandments
On the Sabbath, they rest, pray and study
Jerusalem is the center of religious and political life
Today there are Jews all over the world because of the Diaspora