Download Sumer GRAPES Powerpoint

Fertile Crescent
• Lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and
the plain between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers
• Aka Mesopotamia, means “the land
betweeen the two rivers”
Geography
Advantages
• Fertile land
• Good for farming
Disadvantages
• Flooding
• Droughts
• No natural barriers
for protection (think
mountains, oceans,
deserts, etc.)
• Few natural
resources
Problems
• Can get too dry or flood
• No natural defenses like forests or deserts
• Lacked building resources like stone/wood
Solutions
• Irrigation Ditches channel river water to
the fields
• City walls for defense
• Traded their grain, cloth, tools with
surrounding peoples for stone, wood and
metal
A Visit to Sumer
Religion
Polytheism: Belief
in many gods
Primary Source 1
Background: Lagash and Umma were Sumerian cities located 18
miles apart. These documents were found on clay cylinders and
date from about 2500 BC.
“By the immutable word of Enlil, king ofthe lands,father ofthe gods,
Ningirsu [the patron deity of Sumerian city of Lagash] and Shara
[patron deity of Sumerian city of Umma] set a boundary to their
lands. Mesilim, King of Kish, at the command of his deity Kadi, set
up a stele [a boundary marker] in the plantation of that field.
Ush, ruler of Umma, formed a plan to seize it. That stele he broke in
pieces, into the plain of Lagash he advanced. Ningirsu, the hero of
Enlil, by his just command, made war upon Umma. At the command
of Enlil, his great net ensnared them. He erected their burial mound
on the plain in that place.”
Religion
• Gods were immortal
and all-powerful
• Gods behaved in many
ways like humans did
(had children, married
each other, fought with
each other, etc.)
• Temples and
sacrifices to please
the gods
• Dead souls went to the
“place of no return”
Ziggurat
• Pyramid with levels,
ramps, stairs
• “mountain of the
gods”
• Houses the citstate’s god
• Stored grain, fabric,
gems for offerings
Accomplishments
• Irrigation
• System of creating
walls (levees),
canals, and
waterways to bring
water to crops
Science & Technology
• Arithmetic & Geometry
– Number system based on 60, 360 degree
circle
Accomplishments
Sailboat
• Travel faster
• Trade goods with other lands
Accomplishment
Plow
• Tool for tilling (turning) the soil to prepare
it for planting
Accomplishment
Chariots &
Wheels
• Get
around
faster and
use in
battle
Accomplishments: Calendar
• Based on the
cycles of the
moon
• 12 months of
30 days, named
after the
constellations
– Zodiac
calendar
Accomplishment: Writing
• Cuneiform
– Wedge shaped
writing style
– For record
keeping
– Clay tablets &
stylus
– Scribe: people
who were trained
in writing
Accomplishments: Literature
• Epic of Gilgamesh
Political: City-States in Mesopotamia
City-State
*Each city sort of governed
itself, and they were basically
like little independent countries
politically (though they shared
cultural and religious ties).
Government
• Theocracy:
government ruled
by religious
leaders & where
the ruler is viewed
as a god
• Priests ruled the
government
• Ruled from the
ziggurat, which
was a temple and
a city hall
Hammurabi’s Code
• A single, uniform
code of laws
• Unified diverse
groups of people
• Engraved in stone
and posted all over
the empire
Economic
• Exports: goods that are
sold to other parts of the
world
–
–
–
–
Tools
Wheat
Barley
Fabric
• Imports: goods that are
bought from other parts of
the world
– Wood
– Stone
– Metals (copper & tin)
Social
• Hierarchy:
a social
structure
with
different
levels of
power and
authority
King
Priests,
Scribes,
Government
Officials
Farmers,
Soldiers,
Craftsmen
Slaves