Download Mesopotamia (land between two rivers)

Early Civilizations
• Mesopotamia=land between the rivers
• Area of one of the first civilizations
• The first Mesopotamians were mostly farmers
who irrigated their crops
• Had plenty of fresh water
• Developed a system of writing
• Sumerians developed writing, religion, and
technology
• Cuneiform writing was simpler than picture writing
• Sumerians used cuneiform to keep records of goods,
literature, medical texts, law codes, and letters
• Worshipped more than one god (polytheism)
• City-states surrounded by walls
• Ziggurats
• Mud-brick houses
• Believed that kings were chosen by the gods to carry
out the gods’ wishes (links religion and government)
• Divine kingship-God-given right to rule-invented by
the Sumerians
 Assyrians=placed a higher value on war and
conquest
 Hammurabi created the Code of
Hammurabi to protect the people
 Nebuchadnezzar II was a great and glorious
ruler
 Phoenicians’ trade spread goods and ideas
 The Lydian contribution of coins still exists today
 Abraham made a covenant with God
 Worshipped one God (monotheism)
 King David formed the kingdom of Israel when he
united the tribes
 Solomon’s Temple-housed the Torah
 Four complete sentences EACH
 Mesopotamian farming
 Challenges
 Food surpluses
 The split of the kingdom of Israel following King
Solomon’s death.