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First Civilizations and Empires Vocabulary •Irrigate •Ziggurat •Cuneiform •Polytheism •Ally •Cultural Trait •Empire Fertile Crescent • The fertile crescent is a large fertile region in the Middle East from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. Its also where Mesopotamia is found. Mesopotamia • Mesopotamia (present day Iraq) is a large flat plain with very fertile and rich soil because of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. • Mesopotamia is also the place where the Sumerian civilization begin and lived (3400 BCE) Mesopotamia • Though the soil was rich the climate of the area made it very dry. • The conditions caused the Sumerians to create new technology by building irrigation systems and a new way of farming which involved them plowing the land and planting seeds at one time. Sumerian Civilization With its new technology advancement the Sumerian civilization grew into a city-state. Each city contained its own government, laws, and main god. The 1st Cites were Uruk, Ur, Lagash, Nippur Sumerian Trading • With very little trees and metals Sumerians had to trade with others for more resources. • Sumerians usually use rivers and canals to transport goods back and forward. They also use more advance technology such as wheels for their cars and sails for their boats. Sumerian Social Class • The Social Class were made up of 3 parts Upper, Middle, and Lower. Upper: Wealthy, Priests, and Rulers, Middle: Farmers and Skill workers, Lower: Slaves and serfs Sumerian Religion Sumerians were polytheistic and each god controlled a element of nature. They also believe that the gods lived like humans but never died. Ziggurats were where Sumerians went for worship and was controlled by priests. Sumerian Writing Cuneiform was the Sumerian writing system which used triangle shape symbols. It was originally used for recording taxes, sales, and agreements until 2000 BCE when it was used for poetry (Epic Gilgamesh) Sumerian Government • The first Sumerian government were ran by priests until the conflict of resources which led to war and also lead to priest appointing military leaders. This leaders eventually became kings. Sumerian Government • The kings and priests of the Sumerian states did work together especially for religious ceremonies. • Eventually the kings gained for full power and created laws to keep that power. Sumerian Government • Ur-Nammu created the first set of written laws around 2100 BCE. These laws consisted of marriage, slavery, and the harming of others. First Empire • Due to many conflicts between the Sumerian citystates battles soon followed. The battles lead to the creation of allies between city-states. • Some of the battles that occurred were between Umma and Lagash who fought from 2450 BCE to 2375 BCE First Empire • The many battles cause the Sumerian civilizations to fall. This lead to the rise of a new society in Northwest Mesopotamia called Akkadia. Akkadia became the first Empire in Mesopotamia. First Empire • The Akkadian society was led by Sargon who placed loyal Akkadians in high positions (Upper class). Under Sargon the Akkadians eventually conquered other Sumerian city-states and created its empire. First Empire As Sargon conquered city-states he began to introduce different cultural traits to these places. During the Akkadian reign which last for 50 years until Sargon’s death in 2279 BCE the culture of Mesopotamia changed. End of a Empire • After Sargon’s death the Akkadian states begin to fight and lead to separation yet again and remain separate until 2100 BCE when Ur-Nammu took control and attempt to build the Sumerian civilization again. • Ur-Nammu still couldn’t stop the many conflicts which led to more wars and the final destruction of the Sumerian civilization .