Download The Fertile Crescent ch 2 notes

The Fertile Crescent – Ch. 2
I.
II.
The Land Between Two Rivers
A. Geographic Setting
1. Between the _________ and ___________ Rivers
2. ________ _________ drew people to settle there
a. Farmers/city builders
b. Many traders as well
3. Rivers flooded and provided _________ _________
B. 1st Cities
1. Were not united under a single ruler
a. Independent ______-_________
b. had own special gods, govt, army, and kings
2. 1st know ___________ _____ ___
3. Mainly boys and some girls learned _________/ became ________
C. Sumerian Religion
1. Ziggurats were at the heart of the city
2. Religious, social, and economic activities took place at the ziggurat
3. Worshipped many gods (polytheism)
4. Believed gods would punish people who angered them
D. The Fall of Sumer
1. cities fought each other over land/______ ___ _________
Fertile Crescent Empires
A. Hammurabi creates the empire of ___________ (conquers all cities in
the area)
1. __________ built throughout the empire.
2. Travel was easier/encouraged trade
3. Created crossroad of trade ( cotton from India, spices from Egypt)
B. The Empire of the Assyrians
1. Constantly defending themselves, became ________ __________
2. Then instead of defending began attacking/gained large empire
3. Contributions
a. Invented the _____________ ______
b. Slings to hurl rocks
c. Expert archers with helmets/armor
d. ____________ slashed through enemy
III.
IV.
e. Built a city of great learning – huge library with thousand of
tablets
C. Babylonia Rises again
1. King ___________________ rebuilds Babylon
2. Became center of learning/science/math
3. ___________ astronomers charted the stars and length of the year
D. The _____________ Empire
1. Largest Empire that the Fertile Crescent had ever known
2. Developed a bureaucracy – structure of govt. officials
3. Built roads, enabled trade
The Legacy of Mesopotamia
A. Hammurabi’s Code
1. 1st set organized of _______________ __________
2. Everyone in the empire had to follow
3. Laws for trade, labor, property, and family
4. Punishment similar to crime committed (eye for an eye)
5. The _________ the class of victim, the _________ the penalty
B. The Art of Writing
1. 1st developed in Mesopotamia over time
2. Record keepers were important
3. Everything written on clay
a. __________ and _________ of tablet depended upon purpose
4. Recorded sales, trades, tax payments, gifts for the gods,
marriage/death certificates
5. 1st words were written symbols that represented objects
6. Next scribes combined symbols to make wedges/lines
(Cuneiform)
a. Used to represent different languages
Mediterranean Civilizations
A. Phoenician Sea Power
1. Important resources: snails(for dying cloth/cedar-wood)
2. Traded throughout the Mediterranean Sea – told stories of sea
monster(kept other from exploring)
3. Market places had goods from all over
4. Phoenician Alphabet
a. Basics of many alphabets used today
b. Easier to learn than cuneiform
c. More people could use it
d. Trade was easier between people who spoke different
languages
B. Rise of the Israelites(Hebrews)
1. Torah – most sacred text
2. Abraham – leader, taught people to practice monotheism(belief in
one god)
3. Forced to leave Mesopotamia b/c famine, lived in Egypt until
forced to leave
4. Left Egypt led by Moses(Exodus), wandered desert –
a. Discovered 10 Commandments
5. Settled in Canaan, divided, and sent into exile again
V.
Judaism
A. Belief of Israelites
B. Thought their god was everywhere(not connected to people/places)
1. Other cultures may have seen this as a threat
C. Ten Commandments
1. Set religious duties toward their god
2. Others are rules for correct behavior (everyday matters)
3. Some dealt with crimes
4. Punishments matched crimes
5. Leaders should carry out laws with justice and mercy
D. Judaism and Women – laws protected women
1. Ex. Mothers treated with respect
E. Justice and Morality
1. Prophets preached ethics – moral behaviors (how their god
wanted them to live)
2. Rich/powerful should protect poor/weak
3. Kings had to obey their gods law as well as everyone else
F. New Settlements
1. Romans continued scattering Jews to other lands (diaspora)
a. Jews still preserved their language, laws, and still followed
traditions