Download City-States in Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia & Egypt
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Cornell Notes: Mesopotamia & Egypt
S1
Main ideas:
Key details, vocab, & questions:
09/15/15
Regional Geographies
Regional Geography
Mesopotamia
Part of the Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia is Greek for “land between rivers”
Rivers bordering Mesopotamia are the Tigris and
Euphrates
Rivers flooded at least once per year; floods left behind
silt excellent for farming
Advantages:
• Water source for people, animals, crops, & trade
• Rich farming soil (silt from floods)
• Flat land is easy to settle
Disadvantages:
• Unpredictable floods + little rain = Periods of drought
• Few natural resources
• Flat land = No natural barriers to defend against
invaders
Egypt
Alluvial fan or delta where the Nile River is slowed and
spread out by the tidal force of the Mediterranean Sea
Beyond a narrow strip of land along the Nile, Egypt is a
rocky and hilly desert landscape
The Nile flood is very predictable so farmers know when
to plant and when to harvest
Advantages:
• Water source for people, animals, crops, & trade
• Rich farming soil (silt from floods)
• Flat land is easy to settle
• Stone and clay for building
• Direct access to trade on the Mediterranean
• Desert is a natural barrier against invaders
Disadvantages:
• Nile flood could be too high or too low
• Very little arable land for farming
Regional Human Settlement
Mesopotamia
Egypt
Evidence of settlers dates to 4500 BCE (6500 years ago)
Evidence of settlement dates to 5000 BCE (maybe older)
In c. 3300 BCE, the Sumerians arrived and built a civilization
Two kingdoms (Upper & Lower) united c. 3000 BCE
Both
Considered civilizations because they had:
Advanced cities
Specialized workers
Complex institutions (i.e., military, religion, government)
Record keeping
Improved technology
Civilization arose through organization of resources and manpower:
Irrigation ditches to channel water to fields
Walls around towns/cities to defend against attacks
Trade farm produce for wood, stone, and metal
Leaders emerged to plan and supervise construction
Laborers emerged to provide and work with raw materials
Laws emerged to govern how, where, and why resources were being directed
Sumerian Culture (Society)
•
Sumerians believed in many gods, each with power over a different force of nature
•
The worship of multiple gods is called polytheism, and is practiced throughout human history
•
In the middle of a Sumerian C-S was a pyramid-like temple called a ziggurat
•
Priests offered prayers, thanks, and sacrifices (sometimes human) to the gods
•
Sumerian culture developed four social classes:
– Elite = Kings/leaders, landowners, priests
– High = Wealthy merchants and military officers
– Middle = Workers, traders, and soldiers
– Low = Slaves, homeless/orphans, criminals, and disgraced
•
Unlike most other ancient civilizations, Sumerian women had equality with men!
Egyptian Culture (Society)
•
Egyptians practiced polytheism
•
Pharaoh (king) is a living god with absolute power
•
Sumerian culture developed five social classes:
– Elite = Kings, queens, royal family
– High = Priests, government officials, landowners, military officers
– Middle = Merchants, traders, artisans, soldiers
– Low = Peasant farmers and laborers
– Lowest = Slaves and shunned
•
Egyptians not locked into class, could move up or down
•
Egyptian women had some of the same rights as men
Egyptian Culture (Society)
•
Egyptians practiced polytheism
•
Pharaoh (king) is a living god with absolute power
•
Sumerian culture developed five social classes:
– Elite = Kings, queens, royal family
– High = Priests, government officials, landowners, military officers
– Middle = Merchants, traders, artisans, soldiers
– Low = Peasant farmers and laborers
– Lowest = Slaves and shunned
•
Egyptians not locked into class, could move up or down
•
Egyptian women had some of the same rights as men
Mesopotamian Empires
•
Sumerian city-states fought each other frequently for many reasons
•
Constant fighting led to a weakened populace and strained resources
•
Sargon of Akkad conquered and united Mesopotamia into a single empire
•
It was easier to rule the Sumerian people by allowing them to keep their culture
•
Sargon’s Akkadian Empire fell apart in time (infighting, famine, invasions)
•
Mesopotamia was conquered by a different group (Amorites)
•
Height of Akkadian power was Babylonian Empire during reign of Hammurabi
Egyptian Empire
•
Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt were once separate kingdoms
•
Kingdoms were united by either Narmer or the Scorpion King (debated)
•
Narmer built his capital in Memphis – halfway between Upper and Lower Egypt
•
Narmer combined the Upper and Lower Kingdom crowns to show unification
•
Pharaohs ruled as both head of state and religion (theocracy)
•
Egypt used agriculture, trade, and a strong military to maintain a powerful empire
•
Pyramids were built as tombs for Pharaohs; also as symbols of Egypt’s wealth and power
•
Old Kingdom era: 3000 – 2180 BCE
•
Middle Kingdom era: 2040 – 1640 BCE
•
New Kingdom era: 1523 – 1000 BCE
Science & Tech
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Sumerian inventions and innovations include:
– The wheel
– The sail
– The plow
– Bronze alloy
– Arithmetic and Geometry
– Architectural engineering
– Cuneiform characters and writing
– Ziggurat
•
Egyptian inventions and innovations include:
– Papyrus (paper-like substance)
– 12 month, 365 day calendar (track Nile floods)
– Hieroglyphs (type of writing)
– Medicine
– Written numbers & Accounting
– Stone columns & Pillars
– Pyramid
Hammurabi’s Code
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Hammurabi was wise to know a single code of laws would help control the land
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The code consists of 282 specific laws that deal with business, family, and crime
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Most of the laws regulated business and property because they were most important economic factors
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Some of the laws protected women and children from being treated unfairly
•
The laws applied to all people, but had different punishments for different people and classes
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Hammurabi’s Code set the standard for future civilizations to write and enforce laws
Your Turn
Answer all of the following in your notebook:
1. GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps, pg. 30
2. DOCUMENT-BASED QUESTIONS on pg. 33
3. Questions 3 – 7, pg. 34
4. GEOGRAPHY SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Maps, pg. 36 (two questions)
5. SKILLBUILDER: Interpreting Visual Sources, pg. 39 (two questions)
6. Questions 2 – 6, pg. 41