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Mesopotamia
Introduction
O In Southwest Asia, two other rivers were important. They
were the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Together they
formed a valley called Mesopotamia, or “land between
the rivers”.
O Mesopotamia was part of the Fertile Crescent. Its soil
was very good for farming. The Fertile Crescent
extended from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian
Gulf.
O Civilizations were developing in Mesopotamia around
the same time they were forming in Egypt. Around 5000
B.C., settlers began building cities in a part of
Mesopotamia called Sumer.
The Sumerians
O Unlike the Nile River, the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers did not flood at the same time every
year. When the rivers did flood, the
Sumerians were surprised. The floods
washed away their crops and their houses.
The Sumerians built canals to control the
flooding waters. They also built dikes, or
mounds of dirt, to hold back flooding waters.
Using the rich soil of the river valley, the
Sumerians became excellent farmers.
The Sumerians
O Mesopotamia had few trees or stones for
building. But there was plenty of clay.
Sumerians made bricks from clay and let
them dry in the sun. They used the bricks to
build homes and temples. Their temples
were called ziggurats. The ziggurats were
built as special places for the gods.
Sumerians believed they had to make the
gods happy in order to have good crops.
The Sumerians
O Many Sumerian cities grew into city – states,
independent cities surrounded by farming
villages. A ziggurat was usually at the center of
the city. A wall surrounded the city. There were
farms and villages outside the wall. The wall
protected the city from invaders. Each city –
state had its own ruler. Sumerians believed
that the ruler had the support of the local god.
But unlike in Egypt, the ruler was not
considered an actual child of a god.
Sumerian Inventions
O The Sumerians found a good way to use the
wheel. They connected wheels to a cart. Then
they used donkeys to pull the cart. This simple
invention changed how people and things
traveled from one place to another. The
Sumerians also invented a sail for boats. The
sail made water travel easier.
Sumerian Inventions
O Like the Egyptians, the Sumerians created a
form of writing. They did not have paper.
Instead they used soft clay tablets. Writers
used a pointed stick called a stylus to make
their marks. The tablets were then dried in
the sun to make them hard. The Sumerians
used a type of writing called cuneiform.
Sumerian Inventions
O By putting cuneiform symbols together,
the Sumerians wrote stories, poems,
and songs. They kept records of the
goods they traded. They wrote down the
names of cities and leaders. In this way,
the Sumerians wrote their history.
Akkadians and Babylonians
O Around 2340 B.C., a man named Sargon attacked and
defeated the lands of Sumer. He led his soldiers in
battles until all of Mesopotamia was united under his
rule. Sargon built a new capital city called Akkad.
Sargon saw how much the Sumerians had done. He
adopted many of their ways. For example, the
Akkadians began to use cuneiform writing. Sargon and
the kings who followed him stayed in power for about
200 years.
Akkadians and Babylonian
O Next, the Babylonians gained control of Mesopotamia.
Hammurabi became king of Babylon around 1792
B.C. He is remembered most for having all the
Babylonian laws written down around 1780 B.C.
Hammurabi knew the laws of the Sumerians and
Akkadians. He changed them a little and made them
a part of Babylonian laws. Hammurabi’s collection of
more than 250 laws is known as the Code of
Hammurabi.
O The code did not treat all people equally. Some had
more rights than others. Still, the code told people
what they could and could not do. Anyone who broke
a law knew the punishment.
Other Fertile Crescent People
O There were other people who lived in the Fertile Crescent.
The Hittites ruled lands in the northern part of the Fertile
Crescent. The Hittites knew how to make iron tools and
weapons.
O Another group, the Phoenicians, lived on the western edge
of the Fertile Crescent. They set up colonies along the
Mediterranean Sea around 1000 B.C. They built boats and
sailed as traders. The Phoenicians spread their traditions to
the people in the colonies. At first, the Phoenicians sailed
only during the day. Later, they learned to study the stars to
find their way at night.
Other Fertile Crescent People
O The Phoenicians developed a simple alphabet. The
Sumerians had used hundreds of letters. That made
cuneiform hard to use. The Phoenicians used just 22
letters. Today many languages are based on the
Phoenician alphabet.
O Many groups ruled parts of the Fertile Crescent. The
Assyrians came to power around 800 B.C. They
expanded their control over the next 150 years. By
650 B.C., they ruled all the land of the Fertile
Crescent and the Nile River.
Other Fertile Crescent People
O The Assyrian Empire was a combination of all the
groups of people who lived in the Fertile Crescent
and Egypt. The people spoke many different
languages. The Assyrian Empire controlled this
large area by being cruel. The Assyrian Empire
controlled this large area by being cruel. The
Assyrians often took people away from their homes
and moved them to a different part of the empire.
When the empire ended around 600 B.C., many
people celebrated.