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Anahi Barajas
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It was one of the world’s two oldest
civilizations.
 Mesopotamia is a Greek term meaning
“land between the waters”.
 The Euphrates and Tigris Rivers gave life
to this region.
 Mesopotamia lies mostly within modern
Iraq.
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The first domestication of
plants and animals took
place in the “Fertile
Crescent”.
 Agriculture did not come
to Mesopotamia until
5000 B.C.E
 Agriculture that
depended on rain
required annual rainfall
of at least 8in.
 In the hot and dry
Mesopotamia,
agriculture depended
on irrigation.
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People constructed
canals to supply water
and to carry water to
land.
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Barley was the main cereal
crop, because it was able
to tolerate the hot, dry
conditions of Southern
Mesopotamia.
Reed plants could be
woven into
mat,baskets,huts, and
boats.
Sheep and goats provided
wool and milk.
Cattle and donkeys carried
or pulled burdens later they
were joined with camels
and horses.
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They invented the plow,
wheel, irrigation system
and sailboat!
The first major civilization
in Mesopotamia was in a
region called Sumer.
 Sumerians were the first
people living in
Mesopotamia in the
historical period
 They created the main
framework of civilization
 Sumerians were the first
to develop a written
script: cuneiform.
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Leader: Sargon the Great
He would call himself “king
of Sumer and Akkad”
Established capital at
Akkad
He was the first to unite
many cities under the
control of one king and
capital.
Short-lived dynasty as
Akkadians were
conquered by the invading
barbarians by 2200 BCE
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The regions first empire
was formed by sargon.
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Hammurabi was the
king.
Hammurabi is best
known for his Law
Code that was
inscribed on a
polished black stone
pillar.
Babylon was later
named the “Old
Babylon”
The Assyrians first rose to
power when the
Akkadian Empire fell.
 One of their strongest
leaders during this time
was King Shamshi-Adad.
 After Shamshi-Adad's
death in 1781 BC, the
Assyrians grew weak and
soon fell under control of
the Babylonian Empire.
 The Assyrians formed one
of the largest of the
worlds early empires.
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They conquered parts of
the Middle East,
including Mesopotamia
and Egypt.
 They used chariots, iron
weapons, and siege
equipment to dominate
their enemies.
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Wood, metals, and
stone were imported
Wool, cloth, barley,
and oil were
exported.
Items could be
traded for one
another (bartered).
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Writing originated from a
system of tokens used to
keep track of property.
The pictures written on the
tokens were the first written
symbols.
The most common method
of writing was to use a
sharpened reed to incise a
moist clay tablet.
The Mesopotamians
became skilled in
metallurgy.
The most common form of
dishware and storage
vessel was pottery.
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There was innovative
developments in
organization, tactics, and
weapons and other
machinery.
They used a base-60
number system in which
numbers were expressed as
fractions.
Advances in mathematics
and observations of the
skies made
Mesopotamians
sophisticated practitioners
of astronomy.
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Mesopotamia believed in a
multitude of gods.
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gods were worshipped at
huge temples called ziggurats.
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Each god had control of
certain things and each city
was ruled by a different god.
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People believed that gods
were anthropomorphic—like
humans in form and conduct.
Amulets and representations
of a host of demons suggest
widespread belief in the value
of magic.
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Mesopotamians feared the
gods.
Temples were regarded as the
residence of the god, and the
cult statue was believed to
embody the life-force of the
deity.
Priests were paid in food taken
from the crops raised on the
deity’s estates. The amount an
individual received depended
on his rank.
Great festivals such as the
twelve-day New Years Festival
held each spring in Babylon to
mark the beginning of a new
agriculture cycle.
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Society was divided into
three classes:
The landowning class which
included royalty, high
ranking officials, warriors,
priests.
The class of dependent
farmers and artisans
The class of slaves.
Slaves came from the
mountain tribes and had
either been captured in war
or sold by slave traders.
Slaves were not chained or
constrained but they had to
wear a distinctive hairstyle.
 Food surpluses permitted
families to have more
children, and bearing and
raising children became the
primary occupation of many
women.
 Women were able to own
property, maintain control of
their dowry, and engage in
trade.
 Non elite women stayed
home and helped with
harvest and child care while
the elite women worked in
factories.
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