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Mesopotamia
The Worlds First Civilization
What is a civilization?
Civilizations (SIH•vuh•luh•ZAY• shuhns)
are complex societies. They have
cities, organized governments, art,
religion, class divisions, and a
writing system.
Why were river valleys important?
Farming - large amounts of people
could be fed
Trade - goods and ideas to move from
place to place.
Cities - grow up in these valleys and
became the centers of civilizations.
Indo-European Migrations: 4m2m BCE
The Middle East: “The Crossroads of Three
Continents”
Mesopotamia
The land between two rivers.
Mesopotamia
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Area was first settled about 45004000 B.C.
These people were originally
farmers, herders, and fishermen.
They made tools, bricks, clay
figures, and pottery.
Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent =
moon-shaped strip of
land from the
Mediterranean Sea to
the Persian Gulf that is
excellent farm land
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Located in modernday Middle East
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia was
the worlds first
civilization.
The two rivers that
allowed
Mesopotamia to
succeed were the
Tigris and
Euphrates.
The fertile crescent
In the spring, the rivers
often flooded, leaving
behind rich soil for
farming. The problem
was that the flooding
was very unpredictable.
It might flood one year,
but not the next. Every
year, farmers worried
about their crops.
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia = located
within the Fertile Crescent,
between the Tigris &
Euphrates Rivers
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Rivers were NOT a reliable
source of water (unlike the
Nile)
Ran dry in summer; flooded
in spring
Villages joined together to
build dams, canals, and
ditches
Irrigation
Over time, the farmers learned to build
dams and channels to control the
seasonal floods. They also built walls,
waterways, and ditches to bring water
to their fields. This way of watering
crops is called irrigation. Irrigation
allowed the farmers to grow plenty of
food and support a large population.
THE MANY PEOPLE OF MESOPOTAMIA:
1. Sumerians (ancient Sumer’s city-states)
(3000 B.C. - 1800 B.C.)
2. Babylonians (Babylonian Empire)
( 1800 B.C. - 1200 B.C.
3. Assyrians (Assyrian Empire)
(1200 B.C. - 539 B.C.)
4. Persians (Persian Empire)
(539 B.C. - 330 B.C.)
Sumerians
The Sumerian
Civilization
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People from Asia arrived in
Mesopotamia
Formed 12 city-states =
the city and the land
surrounding it
Considered the world’s
1st cities
Created ziggurats =
stepped pyramids with a
temple at the top
Sumer
The first major civilization in Mesopotamia
was in a region called Sumer.
Food in Sumer
The Sumerians grew several kinds of
crops. The most valuable one was barley,
which was used to make flour and bread.
Dates were also very valuable to the
Sumerians. They were eaten once ripe or
else they were dried for future
consumption. Dates also made an
excellent wine.
Barley and dates
City-states
Each Sumerian city and the land
around it became a separate city-state.
Each city-state had its own
government and was not part of any
larger unit.
Social Classes in Sumer
Upper class - kings, priests, warriors,
and government officials.
Middle class - artisans, merchants,
farmers, and fishers. These people
made up the largest group.
Lower class - enslaved people who
worked on farms or in the temples.
The Sumerian
Civilization
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Sumerians shared common culture,
language, and religion
City-states governed themselves
Were theocracies = kings served as both
government leaders AND high priests
Laws regulated the roles of women & men
 men had far more rights
Sumer
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The people who lived there were called
Sumerians
The first known civilization around 3500
B.C.
The Sumerian people made wagon wheels,
used copper and bronze, made sail boats,
used plows, wrote laws, and studied
astronomy.
Board Game From Ur
Sumer
Important city states developed
Built strong walled cities for
protection from outside invaders
Important Sumerian cityUr (capital of Sumer) had a
population of around 200,000
Most cities were unattractive- no
public services available to remove
garbage and sewage. This was left
to pile up on the streets.
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Religion
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Sumerians constructed shrines or temples
called Ziggurats.
Ziggurats were to serve as a pedestal for
the gods to descend to Earth.
On top was a shrine room where people
would pray or hope to entertain a divine
visitor.
Ziggurat at Ur
 Temple
 “Mountain
of
the Gods”
Sumerian Religion Polytheistic
Enki
Innana
Anthropomorphic
Gods
Religion
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Public was not invited to engage in
temple rituals, but they needed to
constantly pray or the gods would not
bless their lands.
Around the ziggurat were courts where
artisans worked, children went to
school, and people traded and stored
goods there.
Sumerians believed that all of nature
was controlled by gods
Sumerian Cities
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Streets were narrow, unpaved, winding
Houses were one story mud brick
structures with flat roofs.
Members of the upper class had 2 story
houses with many rooms that included
sleeping quarters and servants quarters
and burial plots below the house
Household utensils made out of stone,
copper and bronze
Merchants supplied the townspeople with
material items
Writing
The most
important
invention of the
Sumerians was
writing.
The writing of the
Sumerians was
called cuneiform.
Writing
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Writing helped man maintain a
complex economic and political
society
Sumerian writing dates back as
early as 3100 B.C.
Dried Mud tablets with a sharp
pointed reed called a stylus was
how they wrote the cuneiform.
This writing was adopted by their
conquerors and used for about
2000 years.
Cuneiform: “Wedge-Shaped”
Writing
The Sumerian
Civilization
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Cuneiform
= Sumerian
system of
writing
The
symbols
represente
d complex
ideas
Cuneiform alphabet
Sumerian Scribes
“Tablet House”
Education
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The Sumerian schools were called “tablet
houses” and were used to educate scribes
for various religious, governmental, and
commercial jobs.
Schools at first were mostly religious and
were for rich children
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Male only
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Classes went from morning until sunset
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Curriculum included- grammar,
penmanship, science, and math
The Sumerian
Civilization
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Scribes were
trained to read &
write documents
and stories
Epic of
Gilgamesh =
oldest story in
the world
Gilgamesh
TheEpic of Gilgamesh
The most famous piece of literature from
Sumer is the Epic of Gilgamesh.
An epic is a long poem that tells the story
of a hero. The hero Gilgamesh is a king
who travels around the world with a
friend and performs great deeds. When
his friend dies, Gilgamesh searches for a
way to live forever.
Gilgamesh Epic Tablet:
Flood Story
The Sumerian
Civilization
Practiced
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polytheism = belief
in more than one
god
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Each city-state had
its own god
Negative outlook on
life and the afterlife
Believed gods were
selfish and had no
regard for humans
Sumerian Inventions
wagon wheel
plow
sailboat
number system based on 60
geometry
12 month calendar
Sumerian Inventions
1.
Wagon Wheel
2.
Arch
3.
Potter’s Wheel
4.
Sundial
5.
6.
12-month
Calendar
Metal Plow
Inventions and Contributions
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Developed a 12
month calendar
based on the cycles
of the moon
It marked the times
for religious
festivals and
planting
wagon wheel
plow
sailboat
Mesopotamian Harp
Sophisticated Metallurgy
Skills
at Ur
Family Life
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Woman had rights in Sumerian society
They could buy and sell property and
could run businesses
The husband was the head of the
household
He could divorce his wife or rent out his
wife and children for up to three years
Children were expected to support their
parents when they became old
Priests and Kings
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Priests were also the kings of the city-states
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Gilgamesh was the most famous
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Received advice from an assembly of free
men
During wars, the assembly chose a military
leader to serve until the war was over
Eventually, these leaders stayed in charge
and became kings.
Kingship became hereditary
Sargon
In about 2340 B.C., Sargon
conquered all of
Mesopotamia creating the
world’s first empire.
An empire is a group of
many different lands under
one ruler. Sargon’s empire
lasted for more than 200
years before falling to
invaders.
First Mesopotamian Empires
The Akkadians
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Empire under Sargon I
Kingdom was called
Akkad
Conquered & united all
of the Sumerian citystates
Empire fell apart after
his & his grandson’s
death
Sargon of Akkad:
The World’s First Empire
[Akkadians]
Sargon I
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Ruled an area called Akkad
Began to conquer city-states one
by one and became king of all of
them
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Created world’s first empire
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Ruled for 50 years
First Mesopotamian Empires
Babylon
Ruled by Hammurabi
Strict Code of Laws = Hammurabi’s
greatest achievement
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Rules and consequences that addressed
daily life
Law code covered entire region of
Mesopotamia
“Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” type of
laws
Government assumed the responsibility of
protecting its citizens
People now had laws to protect their
rights & didn’t need to resort to violence
Hammurabi of Babylon
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Hammurabi was king of Babylon
who conquered Akkad and Sumer
The Babylonians took on the
language and religion of the
people they conquered
Hammurabi improved irrigation
systems and changed the religion
Developed his own set of laws
called the Code of Hammurabi
The Babylonian Empires
Hammurabi’s
Code
[r. 1792-1750 B. C. E.]
Hammurabi
Hammurabi is best known for his law code,
or collection of laws.
Law 5: If a judge makes an error through his
own fault when trying a case, he must pay a
fine, be removed from the judge’s bench,
and never judge another case.
Law 195: If a son strikes his father, the son’s
hands shall be cut off.
Hammurabi, the Judge
Hammurabi
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Appointed judges to carry out the code
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Judges were punished if not honest
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He believed people were innocent until
proven guilty
During Hammurabi’s rule, Babylon
became a trade center
Hammurabi’s reign is known as the
Golden Age of Babylon
First Mesopotamian Empires
Babylon
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Social classes were similar to the Egyptians,
but they had far more slaves
Hammurabi’s empire fell apart after his death
Babylonian Math
Babylonian Numbers
INTERNET
SOURCES:
www.slideshare.net/patricehigh/mesopotamia-powerpoint
www.flushinghighschool.org/.../Review%20_2%20meso
potami...
www.pptpalooza.net/PPTs/GlobalStudies/AncientMiddl
eEast-1.ppt
schools.nycenet.edu/region4/...%20Mesopotamia/03%
20-%20Mesopotamia.ppt