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UNIT 2 LESSON 2
Mesopotamia
Sumer and Akkad
• In the beginnings, Mesopotamia consisted of the city-
states of Sumer (south) and Akkad (north)
• People of Sumer= Sumerians
• People of Akkad= Akkadians
• People in both city-states practiced farming and business
methods that were similar
• People bought and sold goods in the market
Sumer and Akkad
• The main difference between Sumer and Akkad was the
language they spoke
• In Sumer they spoke Sumerian
• In Akkad they spoke Akkadian (language related to
Hebrew)
• The city-states often went to war over control of land
and water
• Sumer was more powerful from about 3500 BC to about
2330 BC
Sumer and Akkad
• If Sumer and Akkad went to war, who would win and why?
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Sumer and Akkad
• Uruk was a large Sumerian city-state
• About 50,000 people may have lived there
• Outside of the city were irrigated farm fields that supplied
the city with food
• Most city-states were surrounded by a mud-brick wall
• Protected city-states from unfriendly nomads (wanderers)
• Protected city-states from armies of other city-states
Sumer and Akkad
• Why did the city-states have walls surrounding them?
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Sumer and Akkad
• People of Uruk lived in mud-brick houses
• Houses painted white to keep them cool
• (Mesopotamia was HOT- desert!)
• At the highest point of each city was the city’s temple
complex
• The largest and most impressive structures were
ziggurats
• A ziggurat consists of a series of stacked rectangular
platforms that form a pyramid-shaped structure that
was about 290 feet tall
• Mesopotamians believed ziggurats to link the
heavens and Earth
Sumer and Akkad
• Why were Mesopotamian ziggurats so tall?
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Sumer and Akkad
• What makes Sumer and Akkad different from cities today?
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Sumer and Akkad
• Quick review:
• Mesopotamia consisted of two city-states:
• Sumer
• Akkad
• Sumer and Akkad were similar except for their
languages
• They frequently went to war over land and water
Religion and Government
• Temples in both Sumer and Akkad were built as earthly
homes for the gods
• The size and magnificence of these structures reflect the
importance of religion to society (an organized community
with established rules and traditions)
• The Sumerians and Akkadians practiced polytheism
(worship of many gods)
• Believed gods and goddesses were responsible for the
well-being of the people and fertility of the land
Religion and Government
• Polytheism= worship many gods
• The gods and goddesses:
• Anu= the god of the heavens
• Enlil= the god of wind
• Enki= the god of water
• Ninhursag= mother of the gods
• Mesopotamians also believed in lesser gods, including
the god of the plow and a god of the mud-brick
Religion and Government
• How did the Sumerians’ religion reveal their belief that gods were
responsible for the well-being of people and the fertility of land?
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Religion and Government
• Each city-state worked hard to keep the gods happy
• If there was peace and prosperity, people thought the
gods were pleased
• Temple priests made offerings to the gods by burning
incense, and provided the gods with food and drink
Religion and Government
• Religion and government were closely linked
• Each city was believed to be under the protection of a
particular god
• Sumerians believed kings were chosen by the gods to carry out
the gods’ wishes.
• Practiced divine kingship= the right to rule was god-given.
• The right to rule could be passed down from father to son
• Their ideas about kingship would have a huge impact on
later civilizations
Religion and Government
• What does divine kingship mean?
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Religion and Government
• In Sumer, there was a class system
Gods and Goddesses
KING
Wealthy business-people,
landowners, government
workers (priests)
Artisans, farm workers
Slaves
Religion and Government
• Quick Review:
• Sumerians practiced polytheism
• Polytheism= worship many gods
• Religion and government were closely linked
• Believed in divine kingship (right to rule was god-given)
• Had a class system
Writing
• Sumerians participated in many business activities
• Traded in lands hundreds of miles away
• Sumerians invented a writing system to keep track of
business dealings and record information
• Earliest examples of Sumerian writing are simple pictures
that stood for objects or actions
Writing
Writing
• How does having a writing system make it easier to
conduct business?
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Writing
• By about 2400 BC, the picture writing was simplified
• A scribe (professional writer) pressed a reed (plant) into a
wet clay tablet, leaving groups of wedge-shaped markings
• These marks stood for objects, activities, or sounds
• The tablet dried, creating a permanent record
• This form of wedge-shaped writing is known as cuneiform
Writing
• What did cuneiform symbols stand for?
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Writing
• Writing was a giant leap forward in the development of
civilization
• People could keep records of trades, farming, stories, etc.
• Other city-states adopted cuneiform
• Cuneiform was used for centuries!
Writing
• Archaeologists have uncovered many clay tablets
containing cuneiform
• Most tablets were records of trade.
• Some tablets contained stories, such as the Epic of
Gilgamesh
• Archaeologists have also found medical texts, law codes,
letters, arguments, debates, and wise sayings.
Writing
• Primary source= document or object which was written or
created during the time under study
• Quote found on a clay tablet: “You wander about the
public square, would you achieve success? Go to school,
it will benefit you.”
• How might this quote compare to advice parents might
give today?
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Writing
• Quick Review:
• The Sumerians developed a writing system (cuneiform)
that helped them in business dealings
• They created works of literature (Epic of Gilgamesh)
Sumerian Mathematics
• To keep track of trade, Sumerians used symbols that
represented a good they traded and wrote that symbol the
number of items that were traded (ex: If they traded 3 cows
they would write the cow symbol 3 times)
• This strategy took up too much space on tablets, so they
developed a system where certain marks stood for certain
amounts. (ex: If they traded 3 cows they could write 3 cows)
• This was the first arithmetic system. This system was based on
the unit of 60.
• Our measurement of 60 minutes in an hour and 360 degrees in
a circle comes from the Sumerian number system!
Gilgamesh
• Historians are unsure if Gilgamesh was a real person
• He is believed to be the 5th king of Uruk and lived about
2700 BC
• So many stories were told about him that be became a
mythical figure, said to be 2/3 god and 1/3 human
• A set of 12 clay tablets tell of the Epic of Gilgamesh
(Epic= long, heroic poem)
Gilgamesh
• The story deals with themes of friendship, love,
happiness, and death.
• In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the king wants to find out how to
live forever. He travels to the ends of the earth to visit a
wise man, who is immortal (he can live forever). The wise
man offers Gilgamesh everlasting life if he can stay awake
for seven days. Gilgamesh falls asleep almost
immediately and loses his chance for immortality. The
epic ends with Gilgamesh finally accepting that he is fated
to die.
Gilgamesh
• In what ways do you think the people of Mesopotamia
related to Gilgamesh’s experience?
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The Rise and Fall of the Akkadian Empire
• About 2334 BC an Akkadian ruler, known as Sargon, and his
armies headed toward Sumer
• The Akkadians conquered (defeated) many city-states and
overthrew many kings
• Sargon united all of the city-states of Mesopotamia, forming the
world’s first empire (large territory, consisting of many different
places, all under the control of one ruler)
• Sargon’s empire extended beyond Mesopotamia
• Legends claimed his empire stretched from
“the sunrise to the sunset” (meaning he ruled the whole world)
The Rise and Fall of the Akkadian Empire
• How did Sargon build an empire?
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The Rise and Fall of the Akkadian Empire
• Sargon gave his daughter, Enheduanna, the title of high
priestess in the city-state of Ur.
• She made offerings to the moon god, Nanna
• Wrote songs dedicated to the goddess of morning and
evening star, Inanna
• Later kings followed Sargon’s practice of appointing their
daughters as high priestesses at Ur
The Rise and Fall of the Akkadian Empire
• Sargon passed his empire onto his son
• The Akkadian dynasty (ruling family) was constantly
threatened by revolts
• Remained in power only about 150 years
• By 2100 BC, Ur rose up once again
The Rise and Fall of the Akkadian Empire
• How did Sargon give power to his children?
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• What is a dynasty?
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The Rise and Fall of the Akkadian Empire
• Quick Review:
• Sargon (Akkadian ruler) conquered other city-states
• Army overthrew kings
• Sargon and his army created the world’s first empire
Sumer’s Final Days
• From about 2100 BC to 2000 BC, the city-state of Ur in
Sumer held control of Mesopotamia
• The last and most successful dynasty in Ur was founded
by the Sumerian king Ur-Nammu and his son, Shulgi.
• Under Ur-Nammu and Shulgi, farming, business, literature, and the
arts flourished
• Pieces of the oldest known written law code date from
the period of Ur-Nammu’s reign
Sumer’s Final Days
• The ziggurat of Ur was one of the largest ziggurats ever
built
• The staircases of the ziggurat led to a shrine, or a sacred
altar
• Ruins of this ziggurat can still be seen
• About 2000 BC, Ur fell to invaders
Sumer’s Final Days
• What were some of the accomplishments of the last
dynasty of Sumer?
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Sumer’s Final Days
• Sumerian civilization contributed to other civilizations
• Cuneiform, ziggurats, and the wheel were borrowed or
adapted by other and later peoples
• Sumerians used writing (cuneiform), religion, and
technology in their daily lives, which helped them advance
their civilization
Sumer’s Final Days
• Quick Summary:
• From 2100 BC to 2000 BC, farming, business, and the
arts flourished in Sumer
• A written law code was made and one of the largest
ziggurats known was built
• 3200 BC- Writing was invented in Sumer (cuneiform)
• 2334 BC- Sargon of Akkad united much Mesopotamia,
establishing the world’s first empire
• 2100 BC- Sumerian city-state of Ur took control of much
of Mesopotamia
Sargon
• Sargon is a mysterious historical figure.. not much is
known other than he built the first empire and founded the
Akkadian dynasty.
• Sargon came to power in about 2334 BC, following the
defeat of the city-state Uruk. He soon took control of all of
the other city-states in southern Mesopotamia.
• He gave himself the name Sharru-kin, which means
“Rightful King”. Some historians believe that the
Sumerians accepted his as their ruler, and he seemed to
be a fair king.
• Sargon is said to have ruled 65 cities. He expanded trade
opportunities and enriched his kingdom. Sargon held
power for 65 years!
STUDY FOR YOUR QUIZ!!
• Give details about the Sumerian civilization.
• How were Sumerian religion and government connected?
• How did the Sumerian writing system develop and
change?
• Describe an example of an idea or invention that shaped
Mesopotamia, establishing the world’s first empire.