Download Mesopotamian Civilizations

• 9/19 Focus:
– Early civilizations developed in Mesopotamia
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
– There were few natural barriers in this region
which made it a crossroads where people
shared customs and ideas.
• Do Now
– What are the characteristics of a civilization?
Cities &
Government
Public
Works
Religion
Civilization
Social
Classes
Specialization
Of Labor
Arts
Architecture
Writing &
Record
Keeping
Mesopotamian Civilizations
Sumer and Babylon
Mesopotamia
• Fertile Crescent
• “The Land between the Two
Rivers”
– Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
– Fertile farmland from silt
left by floods
– Floods were
unpredictable
• Lack of natural barriers
allowed frequent migrations
of people and invasions
– Cultural diffusion
• First civilizations are
thought to have developed
here
Sumer
• The first civilization to develop in
Mesopotamia about 5,500 B.C.E
• City-States developed along the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers
– An independent political unit with its
own government
• Ur, Uruk, Kish, Lagesh
– Used mud bricks due to lack of other
building materials
• Cities were protected by defensive walls
• Ziggurats were found at the center of
each city
– A large, tiered, pyramid shaped structure
– Built for the god or goddess of each city
Religion
• Were polytheistic
– Enlil, the god of air and storms, was one of
the most important
– Gods controlled natural events
• Viewed their gods as hostile and
unpredictable
– Similar to their environment
• Priests held high status in Sumer
– Worked to keep the gods pleased
Government
• War chiefs often became Kings
• Kings performed rituals to please the
gods
• Dynasties developed
– A series of rulers from one family
Trade
• Traded with
people across
Southwest Asia
– Lacked many
natural
resources
– Traded for
timber, stone,
metals
Writing
• Cuneiform
– Form of writing that
used sharp tools to
make wedge shaped
symbols on clay tablets
– Scribes were paid and
had a high place in
society
Literature
• The Gilgamesh Epic
– One of the oldest
surviving works of
literature
– 4,000 year old story
of a Sumerian hero
who seeks immortality
– Originally a story that
was passed on through
oral tradition
• Babylon
• Numbers