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THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS: MESOPOTAMIA
María Jesús Campos
learningfromhistory.wikispaces.com
THE FIRST URBAN CIVILIZATIONS: THE RIVER
CIVILIZATIONS
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Some 6 000 years ago, some
Neolithic villages became
cities as a result of agricultural
and commercial prosperity.
These civilisations invented
writing.
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The first great civilizations developed along large
rivers surrounded by fertile land:
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Mesopotamia: Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
Egypt: the River Nile
India: Indus River
China: Huang He (Yellow) and Yangtze (Blue) Rivers
MESOPOTAMIA, THE LAND BETWEEN TWO
RIVERS
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The first civilizations appeared
in the Fertile Crescent, in the
fertile plains between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
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These area was called Sumer.
POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
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Thanks to agricultural and
commercial prosperity,
Neolithic villages became
independent city-states.
The most important citystates in Sumer were Ur,
Uruk and Lagash.
They had in common racial
features but they were
independent in politics.
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Need for defense led to an
increase in the importance of
military commanders and, finally,
to the creation of monarchies.
The monarch controlled the citystate and was in charge of:
 Executive power: government
 Legislative power: law
 Military power: army
 Religious power: connections to
de god
 Judicial power: justice
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He was advised by civil servants and
scribes (bureaucracy) that collected
taxes, applied the orders and the laws…
He controlled the population through the
army and the priests.
SOCIETY
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Population increased thanks
to the production of food and
the prosperity achieved
through commerce.
They were urban
civilizations. Most of the
people lived in the city-state.
The social division
increased. It was connected
to their function within the
city.
Monarch
Priests
Army and
Scribes (civil
servants)
Peasants, Farmers,
Merchants,
Traders…
Slaves
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Mesopotamian hierarchy: privileged groups and
non-privileged groups.
Privileged-groups: controlled the power and the
wealth.
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Non-privileged groups: produced the products
needed by society
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The Monarch
The priests
The army and the civil servants
Farmers, peasants, stockbreeders…
Merchants, traders, craftsman...
Slaves: group without rights. They were their master’s
property. They became slaves through conquest (war
prisoners) or debts.
MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION
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Polytheistic: their gods were similar
to human beings but they were
immortal.
Temples were the god’s residences
on Earth. They were built on stepped
pyramids called ziggurats.
Each city-state was under the
protection of a god.
They believed in life after death and
buried their dead with everything
they would possibly need.
MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE
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The Sumerian people are
believed to be the first ones
to develop a written
language.
Cuneiform writing consisted
of signs drawn on clay tablets
with a reed.
Writing made it possible to
organize the state by
recording government issues
and business transactions.
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The first schools were created
here to train scribes. Only male
children from rich families went
to school.
The Code of Hammurabi is one
of the earliest legal codes in
history.

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Engraved on a rock around 1800
BC.
Based on the law of retaliation
(“an eye for an eye”).
MESOPOTAMIAN ART: ARCHITECTURE
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Materials: brick and adobe (bricks of clay and straw)
To sustain the ceiling they invented the arch and the
vault.
Walls were decorated with brightly coloured glazed
ceramics with floral motives, geometric designs,
scenes of war…
Type of buildings:
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Palaces
Ziggurats (temples)
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Ziggurats: temples
built at the center of
the city. They were the
house of god on Earth.
MESOPOTAMIAN ART: SCULPTURE
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Materials: gold, lapis, clay,
wood…
Types:
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Statues (not attached)
Reliefs (different carving
techniques)
Themes:
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Men and women worshipping
Kings
Military or hunting scenes…
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Examples:
 King Gudea of Lagash
 Standard of Ur (2700
B.C.)
 Doorway of the
Khorsabad palace:
Lamassu (bull with
human head and wings
to protect the king from
visible and invisible
enemies)
MESOPOTAMIAN POLITICAL EVOLUTION
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Mesopotamia was divided
into 2 regions inhabited by
two different people:
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The Assyrians in the north
The Akkadians and Sumerians
who lived in the South.
The political evolution of
Mesopotamia is marked by
an alternation of power
between these peoples.
Mesopotamian empires:
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The Sumerians.
The Akkadian Empire
The Babylonian Empire
The Assyrian Empire
The Persian Empire
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The Sumerians: city of Sumer. Controlled the territory
organized in different city-states during the 3rd millenium.
Akkadian Empire: the city of Akkad controlled the cities of
Lower Mesopotamia between the year 2330 BC and the year
2200 B.C. when the empire disappeared and a long period of
division started.
Babylonian Empire: around 1800 the city of Babylon founded
an empire that was going to last until the 900 BC. (Code of
Hammurabi)
Assyrian Empire: expanded from the Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean sea. Main cities Asur and Ninive. From the 9th
century BC to the 6th century whe it was conquered by the
Persians.
WHAT DID MESOPOTAMIANS DO FOR US?
Developed by María Jesús Campos
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