Download Ancient Civilizations Of the Middle East

Paleolithic Age
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“old stone age”
Nomads
Person who moves from place
to place to search for food.
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Cultural Diffusion
the exchange of ideas,
customs, goods, and
technologies among cultures
The Baby Years
What is a Revolution?
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a radical and pervasive change in society
Examples:
Neolithic Revolution
What is so “new “about the “new stone age”?
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From Hunter Gatherers to
Farming (Agriculture) & domestication of animals
Impact of Agriculture
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Permanent Settlements
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New Social Classes
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New Technology
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From Hunter Gatherers to
Farming (Agriculture) & domestication of animals
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Growth in villages
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Growth in cities
More complex forms of government
4 Cradles of Civilization
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Indus River Valley (India)
Yellow River Valley (China)
Nile River Valley (Egypt)
Mesopotamia: Tigris-Euphrates River
Valley
Ancient Civilizations
Of the Middle East
Sumeria
Babylonia
Fertile Crescent
a stretch of fertile land between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf
Mesopotamia
a narrow strip of land between the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
Why do people settle in river
valleys ?
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Rivers provided water and fertile soil.
Unlike the Nile River, Tigris & Euphrates
Rivers flooded unpredictably
People of Mesopotamia adapted to their
environment
The World’s First Civilization
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1st civilization ever: Sumeria (Sumer)
Created large city-states; each governed
independently
The Sumerians shared a common culture,
language, and religion
Each city-state had a ziggurat (temple), where
the Sumerians worshipped and performed
religious activities
Ziggurat
Life in Sumeria
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Patriarchal society
Wife & children owned by husband
Religion was the center of life
Writing on Clay Tablets
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Trade and business
created need for
writing system
World’s first writing
system, cuneiform
First pictograms 
evolved into a
system of alphabetic
symbols
Sumerian Religion
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Polytheistic & Nature-based
Each city-state claimed its own god or
goddess – prayed, offered sacrifices
Gods should be kept happy
Relied on the gods to bring them
happiness and fulfillment
Sumerian inventions
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Wagon wheel
The arch
The potter’s wheel
The sundial
12-month calendar
Bronze
Mesopotamian Empires
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Sumer was conquered by
another group in
Mesopotamia, the
Babylonians
The most powerful of the
rulers, Hammurabi,
controlled the city of
Babylon.
Hammurabi’s Babylonian
Empire
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Organized the Babylonian government
Made Babylonia into a major trading
center by producing valuable grain and
cloth in exchange for silver and gold
Created a written system of law known as
Hammurabi’s Code
Hammurabi’s Code
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The first written code of law
282 laws written on tablets
Clearly outlined actions that were considered
violations and identified punishments
Punishments were very harsh
“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”
Unequal Punishments –Poor were given very
harsh punishments, rich paid fines.