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The Mesopotamians
Pre-requisites for Civilization
 Agriculture developed in the Fertile Crescent
around 9000 BCE
 Mining- use of tools
 Growth of villages and towns
 Division of labor
THE FERTILE CRESCENT
Aswan Dam
Draining of the Marshes
Characteristics of Mesopotamian
Civilizations
 City states
 Each city had its own king and patron god or goddess
 City states often warred with each other
 Theocracy -- king as god’s representative
Highly legalistic
 Law Codes
Contracts
Judicial proceedings and appeals processes
 Extensive trading networks
Architectural Marvels of Ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Empires
Writing
Origin and the Development of Writing in Mesopotamia
Tablet of pre-cuneiform script
South Mesopotamia
Uruk III, end of 4th millenium BC.
Clay (?sun-baked clay)
Louvre
Writing: Pictograms
Cylinder Seals
Cylinder Seal with Watergod, Birdman, and Deities
Mesopotamia, Akkadian Period, 2300 - 2200 B.C.
Emory University
Writing: Cuneiform
Cuneiform Cylinder of Nabopolassar Recording Repair of the City Wall of
Babylon, Mesopotamia, Babylon
Neo-Babylonian Period, Reign of Nabopolassar, 625 - 605 B.C
Emory University
Sumerian Schools
 Literacy was a highly valued skill
 Sumerians set up first
institutions of formal education:
edubba- boys only
 Education included writing and
mathematics
 Tuition paid for education
 Educated were privileged elite:
government officials, scribes, etc.
Sumerian Inventions
 Cuneiform writing
 The wheel
Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur
 Potter’s wheel
 Sailing ship
 Pick-axe
 Brick mold
 Glass
 60-based counting system: 60 minutes to
an hour, 360 degrees to a circle
 Number positioning
 Beer
 Epic poetry
Akkad
• Sargon the great and
his people the
Akkadians conquered
the region of
Mesopotamia.
• They tore everything
down.
• They were also very
good artisans.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
• Nebuchadnezzar II
whom ruled Babylon
from 605-562 BCE
made the gardens for
his wife who missed
the lush gardens she
was used to in Mede
• It had an elaborate
irrigation system
THEOCRACY:
Kings: Servants of the Gods
The powerful gods communicate their desires to
humanity through the medium of a powerful
priestly class or autocratic king who serves as the
intermediary.
- Government of the gods/priest class
- Ruler may be divine himself, or chosen by the
god/gods
- Each city had its own gods
This system centralizes power in the hands of a
small group of people and gives political
decisions a religious authority
Sumerian King List
The City Center
 Temples served civic
and religious purposes
 Daily sacrifices and
rituals
 Storage of surplus
grain and other foods
 Dwelling of priests
and priestesses

Locale where
craftsmen and artisans
could practice their
trades
Ziggurats: Temples to the Gods
Flood Myths
Flood myths are present on every continent
The flood myth…reminds us that life depends on death, that
without death there can be no cycle, no birth.
 Floods connected with cleansing, washing away of
blunders or evil
 Spared survivors are heroes of a new life
Continual warfare among Sumerian
city states and against invading
tribes eventually led to the downfall
of Sumerian civilization. But the
influence of Sumerian civilization
was felt in throughout the Near East,
Egypt, India, the Mediterranean
civilizations: Crete, Mycenae,
Greece, Rome, and in JudeoChristian traditions.
A stele is a monument that commemorates an
historical event.
Victory Stele of Naram Sim
c. 2300- 2200 B.C.E.
61/2' tall, sandstone