Download The Fertile Crescent

• Standard:
14.Introduce the Fertile Crescent cultures,
Sumerians, Babylonians (Hammurabi),
Assyrians and Phoenicians and their
contributions to civilization
16.Describe the decline of Egypt and rise of
other African cultures:
– Kush, Ghana, Mali, Songhai,
• including trade, products, slavery,
learning,
• beginnings and spread of Judaism and
Islam
The
Fertile
Crescent
The Geography
Located between
the Tigris and the
Euphrates Rivers
• The area once had large forests
– But they were cut down for buildings and
firewood
• Today it is mostly desert
Ancient
Mesopotamia
“The
Land
Between
the
Rivers”
Southern Mesopotamia
• The rivers
deposited silt as
they flowed
south
– It created
loose soil,
good for
farming
• The people
grew wheat
and barley
• But they were
threatened by
annual floods and
drought
– They built levees
to protect from
fall flooding
– The built canals
for irrigation
during summer
drought
Northern Mesopotamia
• It had good rainfall
– But the soil was rocky
• not always good for
farming
• Some people cut timber
and used metals and
stone from nearby
mountains
• Review
– Page 57 #1 – 5
• Use complete sentences
Sumer
• The first Mesopotamian civilization
– About 5000 BC
• They were an agricultural community
– They grew crops and stored food
• The people of Sumer were great inventors
Sumerian Inventions
Irrigation systems
Wagon
Wheel
Sailboat
Potter’s Wheel
New ideas in Science and Math
The Sumerians developed a
number system based on 60
and a 12-month calendar.
Cuneiform
Cuneiform Writing
• Made by scratching a wet clay tablet
with a sharp reed pen
– It was a form of picture writing with
about 500 symbols to represent
sounds, ideas and objects
Sumer’s Schools
• Only a few boys of
the wealthy went to
school
– They practiced
cuneiform letters
and studied
mathematics to
make accurate
records
• Some students
became scribes
– They recorded
laws, legends, and
songs
• Girls did not go to
school
City-States
• Life in Sumer was centered on its city-states
– Which were often at war with each other
– They fought
for control the
waters of the
Tigris and
Euphrates
rivers
• City-states had thick mud-brick walls for
protection
The King
• Ruled from the palace
– Operated the courts
– Ran the army
– Planned canals and other
projects
Religion
• Was the center of Sumerian
life
• They practiced polytheism
– The belief in many gods
and goddesses
• Ishtar, the goddess of
love and war, was the
most famous
The Ziggurat
• A pyramid of mud and brick
– It was located at the center of the city
and had a temple at the top
• People gave
gifts to the
temple to
please the
gods and
goddesses
Daily Life in Sumer
• Wealthy families
– Lived in large
brick houses
with servants
and slaves
• Slaves were
prisoners of war,
sold by slave
merchants
– They had
special
haircuts so
they could be
identified
• Poorer families lived in reed houses
This kind of house is still built in Iraq today.
– Everyone worked
– Parents taught children their crafts
Leisure
• The people of Sumer enjoyed playing board
games and listening to music
City-States Unite
• Sargon, king of Kish
created the first great
empire
• He united all the
independent city-states
of Sumer
• He extended the empire
north and west
• Cuneiform writing
allowed Sargon to
send his laws
across the
kingdom
• After Sargon’s death
the empire broke up
and the city-states
became independent
again.
Storytellers
• Greatest legend is the
story of Gilgamesh
– He set out on a journey to
discover how humans could
live forever
– In the stories he has many
adventures, but never finds
the secret of living forever.
• Here is one of those stories
• http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/geography/story/sto_
set.html
• Review
– Page 63 #1 – 5
• Use complete sentences
Babylon and Assyria
Hammurabi
• King of Babylon
– Built dams
across the
Euphrates River
• Which allowed
him to control
the river’s
water flow
Babylon
• Hammurabi’s capital city
– Center of trade in the Fertile Crescent
– Became wealthy and powerful
Code of Hammurabi
• 228 laws dealing with
everything
(wages, divorce, military service, etc.)
• All citizens were expected
to obey
– Not everyone was equal
under the code of laws
Hammurabi
• http://www.natgeoeducationvideo.com/film/1
011/mesopotamia
Time of War
• After
Hammurabi’s
death Assyria
fought many wars
against Babylon.
• It’s armies were feared
– Battering rams and horsedrawn chariots made them
faster and more dangerous
in battle.
Assyria
– By 600 B.C.
the Assyrian
empire
stretched
from Egypt
to the
Persian Gulf
and into
modern
Turkey
Assyrian Life
• Prisoners were brought in as slaves
– To work on farmlands and building
projects
– Some eventually became Assyrian
citizens
• Assyrian men were hunters, soldiers
and government leaders.
• Assyrian women stayed home and
cared for families
The Aqueduct
• Nineveh was located on the Tigris River
• One ruler built an aqueduct (a raised
waterway) to carry the water to 30 miles
away.
War Between Babylon and
Assyria
• The Assyrian king, threatened by
revolt in Babylon, ordered the city to
be destroyed.
– Palaces and
homes were
burned
– The city was
flooded with
river water
• Babylon
fought back
and
destroyed
Nineveh
• Assyria
never
recovered
• Babylon was a rich and important city
and had one last period of glory
• Review
– Page 71 # 1 – 5
• Use complete sentences
Next up …
The Birth of Judaism
• Evaluation
– Chapter Test