Download Mesopotamia – The Sumerians

• The name Mesopotamia means ____________________________________
• Mesopotamia lies within the
_________________________________
– an area of rich, fertile farmland in
Southwest Asia where the first
civilizations began
• It is bordered to the north by the
___________River, and to the South by the
____________________River.
• These were the rivers of ________ and _________
• Flood waters brought beneficial ___________________ from the
mountains in spring
• The same floods were unpredictable and swept away people and animals
• Floods on these rivers left behind Silt:
________________________________
________________________________
• This ________ made the land of
Mesopotamia extremely
_________________ for growing crops
• When you have excellent conditions
for growing crops (warm climate, good
soil, access to plenty of water)
what is possible.....?
_______________________________
• Surplus made it possible for the growth of _____________
• The ________________ established the world’s first permanent
_____________________________ right here in Mesopotamia
• Their first cities had about
10,000 people but as time passed
some grew as large as _________
• These____________________
acted as individual countries even
though they were cities
• What kept city-states from
uniting under one government
or ruler? __________________
• Unfortunately, not all of the Sumerian city-states were BFFs
• City-states would continually
fight over who had controlled the
___________________ and the
rights to ___________ on the river
• By 3500 BC, __________ was the
most powerful of the city-states
• Uruk and Ur fought for
dominance as well
• Uruk’s king ___________________________ became a legendary
figure in Sumerian Literature
• In Sumer_____________________ was a central part of life in the city-states.
• Sumerians practiced Polytheism:
________________________________________________________________
• Ziggurats:
_________________________________
_________________________________
_________________________________
• The Ziggurats were terraced with
__________ that lead to the top where
a ___________was located.
SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS
• Writing – Evolved from a series of pictures/symbols called ________________,
to Cuneiform: ___________________________________________
• Math – Developed a system
that used _____ as a base.
• This led to the understanding of
12 ____________ in a year;
60 _______________in a minute;
and 60 ___________in an hour.
• Technology
• Wheel: ______________________________________________________
• Plow: _______________________________________________________
• Sewers
• Bronze for tools
• Makeup and jewelry
• Constant ______________ between City-States in Sumeria weakened them
• They manly fought over the rights to ___________, _________, and money
• Because they were weak, the _______________________ were able to
conquer them by the year 1759 BC.
• Empire:
_________________________________
_________________________________
•The center of the Babylonian empire
was the beautiful city of ____________
• Its central location made it a center for trade for:
Caravans: _______________________________________________________
Bazaars: ________________________________________________________
• ____________________became King and created
the Babylonian Empire by uniting the cities of
______________ and conquering parts of
________________________
• As one of the most influential leaders in Mesopotamia
he conquered territory and developed a set of laws to
govern it = _____________________________________
• There were _______ laws; its creation allowed
______, __________, _________, and all others to
read and understand the laws that governed their lives
in Babylon
Examples:
• Code 21: If a man has broken into a house he shall
be killed before the breach and buried there
• Code 196: If a man has knocked out the eye of a
patrician, his eye shall be knocked out.
• The Babylonian Empire was eventually conquered by the Persians,
paving the way for the rise of....
_________________
ADVANCES
• The ________________________
_____, ____________, slingers,
_____________, and ____________
• _____________ ___________ were
DOWNFALL
• Very______________________,
so had few ________
• Many small _________________
from within weakened them
their major advantage over foes
• The city of ______________ became
a city of great learning and housed
tablets from _____________ and
_________________
• Ultimately conquered by the
____________________ by 612 BC
• Chaldeans reestablished _____________________ (New Babylonian Empire)
• _______________________________________ rebuilt Babylon into a
beautiful city and built the Hanging Gardens for his wife
ADVANCES
• Accurate __________ calendars
• Raised ________ for honey
• Sundials
DOWNFALL
• Poor _____________________
weakened them, and they
eventually fell to Persia
• The land on the western fringe of the Fertile Crescent was home to
wealthy ______________ society known as the ______________________
• Phoenicia had few _________________, but it did have ______________.
Cedar trees were prized for their _______________, a valuable trade item
• Phoenicia’s overland trade routes were blocked by
__________________and ___________________________ so they had to
look to the _________ for a way to trade
• Motivated by a desire for trade, the people of Phoenicia became expert
___________________________ - They built one of the world’s finest
________________ at the city of _________
• Fleets of fast Phoenician trading ships
sailed to ports all around the
__________________________________
• The Phoenicians founded several new
colonies - ____________________ was the
most famous of these, and later became
one of the most _________________ cities
on the Mediterranean
• Phoenicia grew wealthy from trading: ___________, silverwork,
______________________, glass items, _____________, and items dyed purple
•To record their activities, Phoenician traders developed
one of the world’s first Alphabet :
________________________________________________
________________________________________________
• This development made
______________ much easier
and had a major impact on the
______________ and
______________ world
• Our alphabet is based on
the Phoenicians!
ADVANCES
DOWNFALL
• Created valuable good
from glass, iron, and cedar
• Attacks by King
_______________ weakened
the Phoenicians
• World’s finest ______ builders
• Founded the city of
______________
• The ______________
• Eventually conquered when
___________ the _______
swept through the Fertile
Crescent in 332 BC
I’ll try my best not to confuse you … here goes!
• The Akkadians were a group that lived north of Sumer;
they co-existed peacefully for many years
• The peace was broken when King Sargon invaded Sumer
to expand Akkadian territory
• Sargon created the world’s first
permanent army, and used it to
conquer Sumer
• In doing so, Sargon created the world’s
first empire
• The Akkadian Empire lasted about 150
years, until chaos and poor leadership
weakened it
• Sumerians took the opportunity to re-establish their
civilization and were finally free of Akkadian control
The Sumerians
The Akkadians (King Sargon)
The Babylonians (King Hammurabi)
The Assyrians
The Chaldeans (King Nebuchadnezzar)
The Phoenicians