Download Chapter 3 “The Tigris and Euphrates Valley”

Chapter 3 “The Tigris and Euphrates Valley”
Lesson 1: Civilization in Sumer
Advances in Farming p. 92-93
 Needed to produce huge amounts of food to feed growing
population.
 This led to new innovations.
1. Irrigation
 Built canals to bring water to crops
 Use excess water stored in reservoirs and man made
lakes
2. Preventing Floods and Drought
 Build dikes
 Build reservoirs and man made lakes
 Use water from reservoirs to water crops
3. Division of Labor
 Cultivate the land
 Planting
 Harvesting
 Threshing
 Storing
 Distributing
4. Transportation
 Wheeled carts (first people to use!)
 Harnessed donkeys
 Other domesticated animals to pull carts
Government in Sumer p. 94-95
 Monarchy- each city-sate had its own ruler.
 King held absolute authority.
o Led the military, arranged trade, settled arguments,
direct public events and religious ceremonies.
o Believed to have been chosen by gods
 Created world’s first bureaucracy
o Most were priests/religious leaders
o Chose and made lands for farming & distributed food
to people in the cities
Absolute Ruler
Benefits
 Make decisions quickly
without discussion and
debate
Drawbacks
 People have no voice in
important matters
 Passes laws or settles
arguments to benefit
family, friends, himself
 Abuse power
Writing and Other Innovations p. 95-96
1. Writing
 Because government officials wanted to keep records
of food production and distribution writing was invented
 1st there was picture writing
 Then there was wedged shape writing
 Cuneiform- symbols
 Used clay since it was easy to write on, soft, and
widely available
2. Measuring System
 Standard unit for measuring land (acre)
 Basic measure for volume (quart)
 Time (calendar)
3. Potters Wheel
 Bowls, vases, jars from clay
4. Sailboat
 Travel
5. Bronze
 Tools and weapons
Divisions of Society p. 96-97
 Highly organized
 Divided into three social classes
Sumerian Social Classes
Ruling
Middle
Few people, including Most people:
the following and
 Lower-level
their families:
gov’t officials
 King
 Craft-workers
 Important
 Farming
gov’t officials
supervisors
 Priests
 Merchants
 Warriors
 Doctors
 Bricklayers
Working
 Slaves
 Farm-workers
Lesson 2: Conquests and Empire Building
Big Idea: Many of the methods used in Mesopotamia to gain and
keep an empire would be used by other leaders throughout world
history.
Sargon the Great p. 98-99
 Leader from central Mesopotamia who conquered Sumer and
surrounding areas
 Created world’s first empire
 Ordered boundary pillars and city walls to be brought down
 Empire ruled from capital city of Akkad
o Lands became known as Akkadian Empire
 Maintained rule by using force of army and organized
government
o Created standing army
o Created bureaucracy
 Ruled for 56 years
 Empire lasted 200 years after his death
How did the Akkadian Empire begin?
The Rise of Babylon p.100
 In 2125 B.C. leaders in Sumerian city-state of Ur rebelled
against Akkadian rule ending the empire.
 In 1900 B.C. Amorites gained control of southern and
central Mesopotamia
o Called empire the Babylonian Empire
o Created a system of taxation
Who were the Amorites?
The Code of Hammurabi p.101-102
 An important innovation was their centralized government
 In 1790 B.C. most important set of laws in the Babylonian
Empire written
o Called Code of Hammurabi- written by monarch
Hammurabi
 Based on old collection of Akkadia and Sumerian
laws
 Consisted of 282 laws that dealt with almost
every part of daily life
 Introduced “eye for an eye justice”
 Laws warned lawbreakers of consequences
 Hammurabi:
o Ended wars
o Made people more prosperous
o Kept the people of Sumer and Akkad safe
o Wrote and displayed his laws
o Provided justice for the wronged
The Hittites and the Kassites p.102-103
 In 1600 B.C. the Babylonian Empire had fallen
 Mesopotamia conquered by people from north and east
known as Kassites
o Ruled until 1000 BC
o Tried unsuccessfully to take over Babylon
o Powerful group called Hittites attacked Babylon
 Used chariots and advanced weapons
o When they left Kassites conquered Babylon
Ruler
Sargon
How Gained Power
 Served in army of Kish
 Killed the king of Kish
in battle
 Gathered his own army
and began a series of
How Kept Order
 Kept and used a
standing army
 Chose loyal officials
to govern the citysates for him
King of Babylon
conquests, starting
with the city-sate of
Sumer
 Conquered southern
and central
Mesopotamia
 Centralized
government
 Established a set of
laws
Lesson 3”Later Empires”
Big Idea: The Assyrians used both force and innovations to build
a large empire.
The Assyrian Empire p. 106-108
 Important city was named after chief god Assur
o Empire named after the city
 Learned from the Hittites:
o Warfare- skill in war
 Iron weapons, chariots
 Own Innovations
o Lance, battering rams, harnesses, armor for soldiers
and horses
o Made them a tough army
 Organized army with specialized jobs
 Chariot drivers, archers, cavalry, foot
soldiers
 By 700s BC- the Assyrian army was the largest
Mesopotamia had ever seen
o King Sennacherib conquered over 40 cities & captured
200,000 prisoners
 Attacked & destroyed Babylon
o Assyrian Empire included all of Mesopotamia and
stretched into northern Africa
Assyrian Achievements p.108-109
 Improved transportation and communication
o Built world’s first system of paved roads that linked
major cities
o This led to a postal system for carrying messages and
decrees
 Built large monuments
 Made locks that opened with keys
Magnifying glasses
Used plumbing and flush toilets
Brought running water to cities
King Sennacherib assembled first library
o His grandson King Ashurbanipal created a 2nd one
 Included Assyrian, Babylonian, and Sumerian
cuneiform
 *Important because it’s how we learned about
Assyrians today
 Organized government
o Divided lands into territories
o Local leaders governed territories



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Glorious Nineveh p.109-110
 In 701 B.C. King Sennacherib made Nineveh the capital
Nineveh
Before became the Capital City As the Capital City
 Small city
 Became beautiful city with
 Flat-roofed homes of
many new buildings
unbaked mud bricks or of
 Had wide boulevards,
stone
large squares, parks,
 Mostly single-story
gardens
buildings
 Had a magnificent palace
 Temples were tallest
 Surrounded by wall with
buildings
15 gates
 Palace built in 650 BC
o Covered in stone reliefs
 Scenes of hunting, military victories, religious
ceremonies
 Built temples
o Assur- chief god
o Ninurta- god of war
o Nabu- god of learning and protector of scribes
 Medes attacked Nineveh in 612 B.C. and killed the king and
the empire fell
The New Babylonian Empire p.110-111
 Babylon became center of civilization again
 Often called Neo-Babylonian Empire
 Nebuchadnezzar was best known king
o Ruled for 44 years
o Remembered for building projects
 Major palace, temples, and a ziggurat known as
the Tower of Babel
 Terraced garden called Hanging Gardens of
Babylon
 In time the empire fell to Persia in the east
Assyrian Empire
Capital
Important Kings
Size
Nineveh
Sennacherib, Ashurbanipal
Largest empire stretching more than 1600 miles