Download River Valleys Unit Mesopotamia

River Valleys Unit
Mesopotamia
Civilization Emerges along the
Tigris and Euphrates Valleys
Mesopotamia:
the Land between the rivers
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Continent:
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Asia
Rivers:
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Tigris,
Euphrates
Time:

3000 to
1500 BC
Mesopotamia: the Land
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Two rivers: Tigris and Euphrates
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Brought water for farming
Brought floods
Lots of damage
 Not on a schedule, unpredictable
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Flat land, no natural protection
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Many invaders
Therefore, people were fearful
A government is needed for the
many people
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Governments created for each city
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Called CITY-STATES
The city + the land around it
 Ruled by a king
 Priests, religious leaders, had important job: keep
the gods happy and prevent floods
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By 2300 BC, Sargon, the king of the city
of Akkad, had united all of the city-states
into an Empire under his control
Sargon and his Empire
Mesopotamia’s Religion
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Polytheistic
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“poly” = many
“theis” = gods
They believed in many gods
They feared their gods
Wanted the gods to stop the
floods
They built ZIGGURATS
to worship their gods
Mesopotamia’s Accomplishments

World’s 1st Writing
System
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Cuneiform
Used a stylus
Wrote on wet clay
tablets, which were
then dried
Men who did the
writing were called
scribes
Mesopotamia’s Accomplishments
Architecture
What kinds of buildings do you see? How do you know who is poor?
What was built for protection?
Mesopotamia’s Accomplishments

World’s first literature,
written stories

EPIC
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A VERY, VERY long poem
Title was GILGAMESH

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Story of a hero who wants
to be like the gods and live
forever
The gods tell him NO! He
must die because he is not
allowed to live forever
Mesopotamia’s Accomplishments

Mathematics

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Measured and divided
circle into 360 degrees
Divided time into hours and
minutes, each with 60
parts
Mesopotamia’s Accomplishments

Inventions

Plow

4 wheeled wagon

Irrigation systems
Mesopotamia’s Accomplishments

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Astronomy, knowledge of the moon,
planets, stars
Developed calendar
Gave the planets names as gods
Mesopotamia’s Accomplishments
Mesopotamia’s Accomplishments
Magnificent objects of Gold
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