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Mesopotamia
8,000 BC
Start with a story: imagine you are a
farmer living near Southwest Asia.
The yearly flood which makes farming
possible has not come. Now the village
is fighting for it’s life…!
Let’s connect!
• Think of a time when you’ve seen pictures about
a flood on TV or in the Newspapers. Floods cause
destruction by washing away objects in their
path. Do you think a flood can also have good
consequences?
• SWBAT explain how the land between the Tigris
and Euphrates river was essential to early life.
Before & Now..
• Last week you learned…
– As people became better farmers, they settled
in large villages. Some settlements
developed complex villages with NEW ways
of life!
• This week you will learn…
– The geography of Mesopotamia influenced
where people settled and HOW they lived!
The Land between Two Rivers…
• The word “Mesopotamia” means the land
between two rivers.
– Mesopotamia is between the:
• Tigris River
• Euphrates River
Where in the world are we???
Let’s ZOOM in!
Asia
Africa
Tiny bit closer….
The Euphrates River
The Tigris & Euphrates
• Located in Southwest Asia
• Provide Water
• Good for travel
– Easier to move by boat in Ancient times
The Tigris & Euphrates
• Fertile Soil
– Every year it would rain and melt the snow in the
mountains, this caused the river to overflow!
• As the water flowed down the mountains it
picked up soil.
• When the rivers reached the plains water
overflowed onto the FLOOD PLAIN.
• A flood plain is flat land bordering the banks.
• The fine soil picked up by the overflowed river
created SILT
– Silt was fertile which means it was great for
growing crops!
Irrigation
6,000 BCE
Floods and droughts!
• A long period when too little rain falls is called a
drought.
• Mesopotamia was ARID (dry)
• Drought is BAD because durnig a drought the
Tigris & Euphrates water level would drop making
it hard for famers to water their crops!
• IF CROPS FAIL…the people Starve!
Irrigation
As early as 6000BCE Mesopotamian farmers took steps to
control water
they built walls to control water during floods
they built canals to carry water from rivers to the fields
This system of watering dry land is called IRRIGATION!
http://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAsset
Id=1E160BFC-BBCA-43F8-B10F63102046DF34&blnFromSearch=1&productcode=US#
The downside…
• Water from Tigris and Euphrates was muddy
and silt often clogged the canals
• Keeping canals clean was a big challenge for
farmers
Read up a little more
• Go to the following website and answer these
questions:
http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/economy
/farming/irrigation.htm
Let’s try a game!
• http://kids.yahoo.com/games/game/irrigation
-nation
Current Events
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGpCjPOF
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What are the downsides of this great
land Mesopotamia?
• Lack of natural resources
• No forests for wood so they couldn’t build
advanced homes
• Limited protection- not surrounded by
mountains or other natura barriers
– Built brick walls
– They did trade because they had a SURPLUS of
crops! This lead to a very diverse society.