Download The Fertile Crescent Chapter 2

The Fertile Crescent
Chapter 2
Ms. Garner
6th Grade
World History
Section 1: Land Between Two Rivers
• The first schools were established in Sumer over
4,000 years ago. These schools taught writing to
boys and a few girls. Scribes were professional
writers. They kept records for kings and priests.
• Sumer was located in a region called
Mesopotamia. Three things attracted people to
this area:
a. Rich soil
b. Rivers
c. Central location.
• Mesopotamia means land between two rivers----Tigris and
Euphrates. Mesopotamia is part of a larger area called the
Fertile Crescent. It is called this because of its crescent
moon shape and its fertile soil. Mesopotamia starts at the
edge of the Mediterranean Sea and moves southward and
stops at the Persian Gulf
• Rivers of Life and Death—Tigris and Euphrates
Benefits/ advantages
1. Water
2. Reeds
3. Clay
4. Fish
5. Fertile soil
6. Natural highway
7. Civilizations started there
Disadvantages/problems
1. Unpredictable
2. Deadly
3. Destructive
• Cities existed in Sumer around 3,500 B.C. They
had high thick walls for protection, temples,
houses, and shops. These cities were separated
by long distances and deserts. They formed
independent cities called city-states. Each city
had its own gods, government, and king. These
cities had narrow streets, flat roofs, and clay
pipes (plumbing) to carry away waste.
Religion
• The ziggurat was located at the center of every
Sumerian city. At the top of the ziggurat was a temple.
They believed the gods descended to earth using the
stairs as a ladder. The Sumerians believed in many
gods (polytheism). A myth is a story that explains
people’s beliefs. Sumerians believed if they were good,
they would be rewarded. If they were bad, they would
be punished.
• The Sumerians loved their cities, the land, and the
rivers. The land and the rivers were wealth to the
Sumerians. Sumerian city-states fought each other
over land and water. This made them weak and open
to invaders. Sumer was conquered by Babylonia in
1759B.C.
The Fall of Sumer
• The Sumerians loved their cities, the land, and
the rivers. The land and the rivers were
wealth to the Sumerians. Sumerian city-states
fought each other over land and water. This
made them weak and open to invaders.
Sumer was conquered by Babylonia in
1759B.C.
Section 2- Babylonia and Assyria
• The kingdoms of Urartu and Zikirtu rebelled
against King Sargon II of Assyria. Sargon
allowed the king of Urartu to escape to serve
as a warning to others who might oppose him.
The history of Mesopotamia is filled with
conquest; one group seeing the wealth of the
land and conquering the people for it. Then
they became the target to be conquered.
• Babylonia and Assyria were the two largest
and most important Mesopotamian
civilizations. Babylonia and Assyria had three
things in common: both had vicious warriors,
built grand cities, and valued culture and
learning.
•
King Hammurabi united the cities of
Sumer to form the Babylonian Empire.
Babylon was located at a crossroad of trade
between Sumer and Assyria. Caravans would
stop in Babylon on their way through.
Empire-many territories and people
controlled by one
Caravan- a group of traders traveling
together
• Nineveh was the capital of the Assyrian Empire.
Assyrians became great warriors because they
had to constantly defend themselves from attack.
• Contributions of Assyria:
• a. Library (clay tablets-history of Mesopotamia)
• b. War (geniuses at waging war—invented the
battering ram).
Medes and Chaldeans
• In 612BC, the Medes and Chaldeans joined forces
to defeat Assyria. New Babylonia rose under the
Chaldeans.
• Nebuchadnezzar was Babylon’s greatest king:
rebuilt Babylon, rebuilt walls of Babylon, built
grand palace, and hanging gardens (for his wife).
Babylon was conquered in 539BC.
• Contributions of Chaldeans—New Babylon
• a. Center for science and learning
• b. Charted the path of stars
• c. Measured the length of the year
• d. Raised wild bees.
Section 3- The Legacy of Mesopotamia
• A code is an organized list of laws. The
Babylonians gave us the idea that all laws
should be written down and applied fairly.
The Babylonians were the first to write down
their laws. The purpose of the law was to let
people know what was expected of them and
what punishment they would receive if they
disobeyed the law.
Hammurabi
• Hammurabi, the king of Babylon from 1792-1750 and
creator of the Babylonian empire, set down rules for
everyone to live by. They were the first written laws
known as Hammurabi’s Code. This code contained 282
laws with different categories.
1. Trade
2. Labor
3. Property
4. Family
• It included laws for adopting children, practicing
medicine, hiring wagons, boats, and controlling
dangerous animals.
Eye for an Eye
• The Code of Hammurabi was based on an eye for
an eye (punishment similar to crime committed)
but was not applied equally. Punishment
depended upon how important the victim was. A
person who accidentally broke the law was just as
guilty as a criminal. Results were what mattered.
• The code was important for the following
reasons:
1. first time laws written
2. people knew the laws and punishment
3. the code would apply to everyone
Writing
• Writing was developed in Mesopotamia
around 3,100B.C. Scribes recorded sales and
trade, tax payments, gifts to gods, marriages,
and deaths. Scribes wrote on clay tablets.
• Each spring the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
washed clay down the mountain. The scribes
shaped the wet clay into tablets.
Cuneiform
• This form of writing was groups of wedges and
lines used to write several languages of the
Fertile Crescent.
• Cuneiform was the oldest form of writing that
developed in Mesopotamia.
• Babylonians also used math to solve everyday
problems. They learned to calculate the area
of geometric shapes.