Download Mesopotamia Guided Notes

RIVER VALLEY
CIVILIZATIONS
MESOPOTAMIA
RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS
The discovery of farming during the
Neolithic Revolution allowed nomadic
people to settle into villages and towns;
these eventually became civilizations
Ancient Egypt
The world’s first civilizations all
began in river valleys
Indus
Valley
The first civilization
began in an area known
as Mesopotamia
China
The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flooded once
per year, leaving behind fertile soil ideal for
farming (a perfect place to start a civilization)
Mesopotamia means “land between
the rivers” and is often called the
“Fertile Crescent” or referred to as the
“Cradle of Civilization”
The first civilization that developed in
the “Fertile Crescent” of Mesopotamia
was the kingdom of Sumer
Surrounding deserts and the lack of natural
barriers attracted outsiders to Mesopotamia and
made the Sumerians vulnerable to attack; this led
to other kingdoms rising in Mesopotamia
LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS
ADVANCED CITIES:
 Sumerian city-states were
protected by high walls
 At the city center was a
temple called a ziggurat
LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS
SPECIALIZED WORKERS:
At the top of society were
kings, and then priests
In the middle were skilled
workers, like merchants
At the bottom, were
common farmers and slaves
LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS
(COMPLEX INSTITUTIONS) RELIGION:
Sumerians and Babylonians
were polytheistic (many gods)
LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS
(COMPLEX INSTITUTIONS) RELIGION:
The Hebrews in Palestine were
the first monotheistic (single
god) faith in history (JudaismJews)
The holy book of Judaism is the
Torah; God gave Moses the Ten
Commandments which serve as
moral laws
Sumerians  Babylonians  Assyrians  Persians
First Empire is
created when King
Hammurabi of
Babylon takes over
Sumer around 1700
BC.
Stone carving
of King
Hammurabi
This whole region is
Mesopotamia, but
by around 1000 BC
the Assyrians take
over much of the
region.
LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS
GOVERNMENT:
Babylonian King Hammurabi
created the first legal code
Hammurabi’s Code had 282
laws based on justice and
retaliation (for example:
“an eye for an eye”)
The code had different
punishments for the various
levels of society
LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS
LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS
WRITING:
Sumerians made the world’s
first writing called cuneiform
WRITING:
–Phoenicians simplified
cuneiform to a 22
letter alphabet
–Phoenician merchants
spread the alphabet
throughout the
Mediterranean world
–The alphabet
influenced Greek,
Latin, and English
Between 1000 – 500 BC
LASTING CONTRIBUTIONS
TECHNOLOGY:
Sumerian inventions include
the wheel, sail, plow, and
bronze metalwork
Closure Activity
1) Develop a “Hammurabi’s Code” for
Cary/Raleigh/North Carolina:
–Your code should include at least
5 laws and consequences
–Think about things that are
important to keep order.
2) How do your “Codes” compare to
actual laws we have in America?