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The Cradle of Civilization
One common characteristic of all of the earliest
civilizations was that they developed along
river valleys: Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and
China.
 River valleys have a steady source of water,
and fish. Flooding produces rich soil. Rivers
are also a quick way of transportation.
The Earliest civilization was Mesopotamia which
was located in the land between the Tigris and
Euphrates river. Present day this area is know
as…. Iraq
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Mesopotamia is not the most ideal place to
start a civilization.
The spring melt caused the rivers to swell
rapidly occasionally leading to catastrophic
flooding.
The area between rivers is either swamp or
desert.
They have almost no naturally occurring
minerals or trees for building.
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Produced by a
buildup of silt
provided some
protection from the
river.
Reeds that grew there
were a food source for
sheep and goats.
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People of different ethno cultural groups began
arriving in Mesopotamia.
For the most part they chose to stay with their
own kind and grew as independent states.
These states started as democratic but too
many conflicts between states led to the
appointing of Kings (usually the strongest
warrior)
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At first the Sumerians were the dominant
people. They believed that their king was
appointed by god. They were never able to
unite all of Mesopotamia.
The Akkadians did. Their chief, Sargon,
conquered the Sumerians and united the area,
giving Mesopotamia a common culture
throughout.
They were eventually brought down by
invading barbarians.
The Babylonians would later re-unite the area
under King Hammurabi.
 He conquered both Assyria and Akkad.
 He legacy is the creation of his law code that
was said to have been delivered by God to be
carved on stone pillars for everyone to see.
 His laws followed a very simple concept of eye
for an eye.
If someone were to break someone’s bones, they
must have the same bone broken.
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Study the Code of Hammurabi and complete
the worksheet on the back.
In groups of one two or three, create a new law
(Using Hammurabi’s method) for each of the
five categories that might work well in today’s
society.