Download Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia
• Around 3500 B.C. , it was one of the first known civilizations
to develop
– Mesopotamia was known as the “Cradle of Civilization”
because the earliest people and cultures were located there
• A civilized society has:
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Permanent structures
Government
Agriculture
Specialization of labor
Religion
Culture (clothing, food, family structure)
Geography of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia – “the land between two rivers”
Mesopotamia lies between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The
Tigris River and the Euphrates River run parallel to each other. At
the farthest point, they are about 150 miles from each other. The
valley of these rivers offered food, water, good soil, natural
protection, and trade/transportation. It was a beneficial place to
live.
When the rivers would flood, they left a layer of silt (small
particles of soil) on the banks and plains. This made very good
soil for farming.
Why Live in a River Valley?
1. Food
2. Water
3. Transportation
4. Protection
5. Trade
The Fertile Crescent
Another reason early humans
settled down in Mesopotamia
was that it was a part of a
geographic feature called the
Fertile Crescent.
This crescent (arch shaped area
of land) had naturally fertile soil.
Today is it located in a region we
call the Middle East, specifically
the country of Iraq. The Fertile
Crescent includes the modern
day countries of Iraq, Syria,
Lebanon, Jordan, Palestine, and
others.
• Early civilizations learned how to use the
rivers for their benefit.
– They created a system of canals in the area
between the two rivers to provide the people
with fresh water and irrigation.
• Dams and gates were used to control the
water.
– Canals were also used for transportation and
trading. They were big enough for small boats.
Mesopotamian City-States
• Mesopotamia was divided into city-states.
– City-state – a city that is an individual unit, complete with its own
form of government and traditions
• The main city-states of early Mesopotamia
were Sumer (Sumerians) and Akkad
(Akkadians).
– Sumer in the south and Akkad in the north
– The people of both city-states practices similar farming and business
methods and had similar customs.
– People of these city-states had a marketplace to buy and sell goods.
– The main difference between the two was their language
Religion
• Sumerians and Akkadians practiced polytheism. They
believed that the gods and goddesses were
responsible for the well-being of the people and the
fertility of the land.
– Polytheism – the worship of MANY gods
• Priests performed religious ceremonies and made
offerings to the gods. It was believed that priests
had direct contact with the gods.
– If the people were prospering, they believed that the gods
were pleased with them.
Religion
• Temples were built in Mesopotamia as earthly homes for the
gods.
– Ziggurat – a pyramid-shaped structure in ancient
Sumerian culture with a temple at the top
• Ziggurats were believed by Mesopotamians to link the heavens
and Earth. The closer the temple was to the sky, the closer to
their gods they believed they were.
Religion
• The size and magnificence of the
temples in Mesopotamia shows the
importance of religion to society.
– Society – an organized community with
established rules and traditions
Government and Society
• Sumer was a monarchy (a government ruled
by a king or queen)
• The first kings were most likely war heroes
– Over time rule was inherited
• For example: After the king died his son would take
over.
Social Groups
• A social hierarchy was created as a result of
occupations began to take on different ranks or values.
• Generally people remained in the social class into
which they were born.
• Upper class: kings, priests, warriors and government
officials
• Middle class: merchants, farmers, fishers, and artisans
• Lower class: slaves
Sumerian Inventions
– Plow- pulled by oxen
– Bronze tools/weapons
– Potter’s wheel
– Cuneiform writing- oldest in history. Used clay
tablets & a stylus (made from a plant).
Had symbols/script instead of pictures.
– Number system based on 60
– 12 month calendar
Mesopotamian Empires
• An empire is a group of many different lands
under one ruler.
• Through conquest and trade, these empires
spread their cultures over a wide region.
• Mesopotamian Empires:
– Akkad
– Babylonia
– Assyria
– Chaldean
Akkadian Empire
• Developed in northern Mesopotamia
• Sargon and his armies went southward
through Sumer defeating one city-state after
another and overthrowing many kings
• About 2430 B.C. Sargon became king of Sumer
and Akkad
– He formed the world’s first empire
• The empire lasted about 200 years before it
was overtaken by invaders
About a thousand years after the ancient Sumerians settled in
the land between two rivers, two new civilizations arose. One
was the warrior civilization of the Assyrians in northern
Mesopotamia. The other was the ancient civilization of
Babylonia. Babylonia was located in southern Mesopotamia,
near the Persian Gulf.
Babylonian Empire
• In 1792 B.C. Hammurabi became king of
Babylon, which was located on the eastern
bank of the Euphrates River
• By 1754 B.C. he controlled all of Mesopotamia
and a number of neighboring city-states
creating the Babylonian Empire
– The empire stretched north from the Persian Gulf
through the Tigris-Euphrates valley and west to
the Mediterranean Sea
Babylonian Empire
The capital of Babylonia was the city of Babylon, created to honor the
old Sumerian god, Marduk. Babylon was a massive walled city, with a
network of canals and vivid green crops. Even from a distance, visitors
could see the top of the 300-foot high ziggurat long before they reached
the huge city gates.
Hammurabi developed a system of roads to encourage trade. Babylon
then became a trading hub with caravans coming from the south
towards the cities of the north. Bazaars in Babylon sold cotton from
India and spices from Egypt.
Eventually, Babylon conquered the city-state of Mari and took the best
chariots, weapons, and tools in the world.
Babylonian Empire
Babylonia
• Hammurabi is best known for a set of laws
called the Hammurabi Code
– There 282 laws that dealt with crimes, farming,
business, marriage and family
– There were also punishments listed for the crimes
• Hammurabi believed that the punishment should fit
the crime “An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”
Make a bubble map
Assyrian
Empire
Assyrian
Empire
Assyrian Empire
Despite the fact that the capital city of Nineveh was known for it's
remarkable library, Assyrians were best known for being skilled
warriors who had to fight to protect their land as well as to conquer
others. They were experts at waging war and developed the battering
ram, had expert archers and used armed charioteers. They were very
successful at defeating city-states to the east and west but Babylon
proved difficult for them to overtake.
Around 1200 BCE, the Assyrians finally conquered Babylon. Babylon
was the greatest city of the age but rather than take over the city for their
own use, the Assyrians leveled it. The Assyrians hated the Babylonians.
Before they destroyed the town, they forced all the people to move to
various places in Assyria which is what the Assyrians always did when
they conquered a new people. They moved them around, different
people in different places, so the conquered people would find it difficult
to revolt.
Assyrian Empire
• The Assyrian Empire arose about 1,000 years
after the empire of Hammurabi.
• They built a large (around 50,000 soldiers) and
powerful military to defend their territory.
– Used iron weapons
• Assyrian Empire was ruled by powerful kings.
– They divided the empire into provinces that were
overseen by officials. The officials collected taxes and
carried out laws.
Assyrian Empire
• They had a set of laws with very harsh
punishments.
• They were polytheistic.
• Ashuranipal built one of the world’s first
libraries in Nineveh.
• Farming and trade were important.
Babylon Rises Again
King Nebuchadnezzar II was a Chaldean ruler who rebuilt Babylon after the
Assyrians destroyed it. Nebuchadnezzar restored old religious monuments
and improved canals, but Nebuchadnezzar is best known for his legendary
Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient
World. The Hanging Gardens were on a terrace supported by brick arches.
Nebuchadnezzar's building projects included surrounding his capital city with
a double wall 10-miles long with an elaborate entry called the Ishtar Gate. He
also built a port on the Persian Gulf.
Under the rule of the Chaldeans, Babylon became a center of learning and
science. Their astronomers charted the stars and measured the length of a
year. They were so good that they were only a few minutes off of what
modern scientists found.
Legend says ... The Hanging Gardens
of Babylon were built by King
Nebuchadnezzar so that the queen,
his wife, would have a lovely, private,
terraced garden to enjoy.
The gardens were rumored to be
about 400 feet wide, 400 feet long, and
over 80 feet high. Some historians
believe the gardens were built in a
series of platforms that all together
were 320 feet high. There were paths
and steps and fountains and gorgeous
flowers, all build to make a homesick
queen feel welcomed and loved.
It was supposedly built around 600
BCE, along the bank of the Euphrates
River (south of the modern day city of
Baghdad, Iraq.)
No one knows if the gardens actually
existed, or if they did, if they existed in
Babylon, but the legend is a lovely
one.
Chaldean Empire
• Fight broke out over who would be the next
Assyrian ruler, so this gave the Chaldeans a
chance to gain power
• In 627 B.C. king Nabopolassar led a revolt against
the AssyriansHe forced the Assyrians out of
Uruk and took the title king of Babylonia
• In 612 B.C. the Chaldeans and Medes combined
forces to defeat the Assyrian armythey over
took Nineveh and burned it to the ground
Chaldean Empire
• Chaldean Empire sometimes known as the
New Babylonian Empire because many of the
people were descendants of Hammurabi’s
Empire
• Babylon was the capital
• Nebuchadnezzar made rebuilt Babylon the
largest and richest city in the world
– Beautiful palaces, huge ziggurat with a gold roof,
Hanging Gardens, Ishtar Gate
Chaldean Empire’s Advancements
• One of the first to use the sundial to measure
time
• Followed a 7 day week
• Mapped the stars, planets and phases of the
moon
Chaldean Empire Falls
• After Nebuchadnezzar’s death the Chaldean
Empire weakened due to poor leadership and
slow trade
• In 539 B.C. the Persians captured Babylon and
made it part of their empire