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AP WORLD HISTORY – 9
Dr. Afxendiou
Date: __________________________
Unit: Introduction and Period 1
Name: _______________________________________________________________________________
THE FERTILE CRESCENT
Homework Due _______________________________
Agriculture and irrigation began in an area of the Middle East called the Fertile Crescent. This region was
named the Fertile Crescent because of its rich soil and half-moon shape.
Mesopotamia
..............Located in the modern country of Iraq, Mesopotamia is known as the "cradle of civilization" because it
is here that civilization first began around 3500 BC, a date considered the beginning of ancient times.
Mesopotamia is a region, not a country, within the larger region of the Middle East.
..............Mesopotamia lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers; the name Mesopotamia means "between
the rivers" in Greek. Here farmers learned to build irrigation systems that turned the dry valley into a prosperous
center of agriculture supporting many people. This is an early example of how humans can change the natural
environment. The lower reaches of Mesopotamia, beginning near the point where the two rivers nearly
converge, was called Babylonia. Babylonia in turn encompassed two geographical areas - Akkad in the north
and Sumer, the delta of this river system, in the south. As settlements in southern Mesopotamia grew into busy
cities, this area called Sumer became the world's first civilization.
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The Sumerians built walled cities and developed the earliest-known writing called cuneiform, in which
scribes (record-keepers) carved symbols onto wet clay tablets that were later dried. The Sumerians are credited
with writing the world's oldest story, the Epic of Gilgamesh, about the life of a Sumerian king (see next
section). The Sumerian number system was based on 12, which explains why we have 60-minute hours, 24hour days, 12-month years, and 360-degree circles.
Religion was extremely important in Sumer where originally priests were the most powerful people in
society. Later, warrior kings would take control. Priests supervised the worship of seven great gods: earth, sky,
sun, moon, salt water, fresh water, and storm. Sumerians believed their gods lived in statues housed in temples
including large pyramid-like structures called ziggurats. Priests fed the god statues twice daily.
From The Epic of Gilgamesh
Archaeologists excavated 12 cuneiform tablets containing the story of Gilgamesh, a cruel and powerful king in
ancient Sumer. One of the world’s oldest epics, this poem centers around Gilgamesh’s heroic yet fruitless quest
to achieve immortality. In this section this excerpt from Tablet XI, Per-napishtim, a man who was granted
immortality because he saved humankind from a great flood, explains to Gilgamesh how he prepared for the
deluge brought about by angry gods.
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All that was necessary I collected together.
On the fifth day I drew its design;
In its middle part its sides were ten gar high;
Ten gar also was the extent of its of its deck;
I added a front-roof to it and closed it in.
I built it in six stories,
thus making seven floors in all;
The interior of each I divided again into nine portions.
Beaks for water within I cut out.
I selected a pole and added all that was necessary.
Three shar of pitch I smeared on its outside;
three shar of asphalt I used for the inside (so as to make it water-tight)…
The ship sank into water two thirds of its height
With all that I possessed I filled it;
with all the silver I had I filled it;
with all the gold I had I filled it;
with living creatures of every kind I filled it.
Then I embarked also all my family and my relatives,
cattle of the field, beasts of the field, and the uprighteous people – all of them embarked.
A time had Shamash appointed,
‘When the rulers of darkness send at eventide a destructive rain,
then enter into the ship and shut its door.’
This very sign came to pass, and
The rulers of darkness sent a destructive rain at eventide.
I saw the approach of the storm,
And I was afraid to witness the storm;
I entered the ship and shut the door.
I intrusted the guidance of the ship to Purur-bel, the boatman,
the great house, and the contents thereof.
As soon as early dawn appeared,
there rose up from the horizon a black cloud,
within which the wather god (Adad) thundered,
and Nabu and the king of the gods (Marduk) went before.
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The destroyers passed across mountain and dale (country).
Dibbar, the great, tore loose the anchor-cable.
There went Ninib and he caused the banks to overflow;
The Anunnaki lifted on high their torches,
and with the brightness thereof they illuminated the universe.
The storm brought on by Adad swept even up to the heavens,
and all light was turned into darkness…
Six days and nights
the wind blew, and storm and tempest overwhelmed the country.
When the seventh day drew nigh the tempest, the storm, the battle
which they had waged like a great host began to moderate.
The sea quieted down; hurricane and storm ceased.
I looked out upon the sea and raised loud my voice,
But all mankind had turned back into clay.
Like the surrounding field had become the bed of the rivers.
I opened the air-hole and light fell upon my cheek.
Dumfounded I sank backward, and sat weeping,
while over my cheek flowed the tears.
I looked in every direction, and behold, all was sea.
Now, after twelve (days?) there rose (out of the water) a strip of land.
To Mount Nisir the ship drifted.
On Mount Nisir the boat struck fast and it did not slip away.
The first day, the second day, Mount Nisir held the ship fast, and did not let slip away.
The third day, the fourth day, Mount Nisir held the ship fast, and did not let slip away.
The fifth day, the sixth day, Mount Nisir held the ship fast, and did not let slip away.
When the seventh day drew nigh
I sent out a dove, and let her go.
The dove flew hither and thither,
But as there was no resting place for her, she returned.
Then I sent out a swallow, and let her go.
The swallow flew hither and thither,
But as there was no resting place for her she also returned.
Then I sent out a raven, and let her go.
The raven flew away and saw the abatement of the waters.
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She settled down to feed, went away, and returned no more.
Then I let everything go out unto the four winds, and I offered a sacrifice.
I poured libation upon the peak of the mountain.
I placed the censers seven and seven,
And poured into them calamus, cedar-wood, and sweet-incense.
The gods smelt the savour;
Yea, the gods smelt the sweet savour;
The gods gathered like flies around the sacrificer.1
Code of Hammurabi
..............Because the fertile valley of Mesopotamia had no natural barriers for protection, its wealth attracted
many raiders and conquerors over the centuries. Civilizations came and went amid much warfare. One of the
most powerful civilizations to arise in Mesopotamia was Babylon (1900 to 500 BC).
..............Hammurabi was an early king of Babylon who created an empire by bringing much of Mesopotamia
under his control. (An empire is a collection of states [countries] controlled by one government.) Hammurabi
helped unite the Babylonian empire by publishing a set of laws known as the Code of Hammurabi, history's first
known written laws. He had the 300 laws of the code carved onto stone pillars for all to see, which meant that
nobody was above the law; it applied to everyone. The goals of Hammurabi's Code included, "stable
government and good rule...that the strong may not oppress the weak."
Hittites
Hittite culture was greatly influenced by contacts with the Babylonians. While they were less advanced
than the peoples of Mesopotamia, they had learned to extract iron from ore - they were the first to make tools
and weapons of iron. The Hittites heated iron ore and pounded out impurities before plunging it into cold
water. The tools and weapons they made with iron were harder and had sharper edges than those made out of
bronze or copper. Because iron was plentiful, the Hittites were able to arm more people at less expense. The
Hittites tried to keep this valuable technology secret. But as their empire collapsed about 1200 B.C., Hittite
ironsmiths migrated to serve customers elsewhere. The new knowledge thus spread across Asia, Africa, and
Europe, ushering in the Iron Age.
Assyrians
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From Rossiter Johnson, ed. Assyrian and Babylonian Literature (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1901),
351-357. Reprinted in Peter N. Stearns, ed., Documents in World History, Vol. I (New York: Harper Collins
Publishers, 1988), 13-15.
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After 800 B.C. the Assyrians from northern Mesopotamia embarked on a policy of expansion. Having
learned from the Hittites, the Assyrians were the first to outfit armies entirely with iron weapons. The Assyrians
terrorized their enemies by deliberately employing cruelty and violence. They also employed terror in ruling
their subject peoples. They had specific laws to guide behavior in their cities. The women of the palace were
confined in secluded quarters and had to be veiled when they appeared in public. Assyrians founded one of the
first libraries where cuneiform tablets were collected from all over the Fertile Crescent. Those tablets have
given modern scholars a wealth of information about the ancient Middle East.
Persians
The Persians created an empire, the largest yet seen in the ancient world, extending 3,000 miles. The
empire flourished for 200 years. Persia is located in present-day Iran. In general, the Persians were tolerant of
the people they conquered. They respected the customs and religious traditions of the diverse groups in their
empire. A new religious belief arose during the time of the Persian Empire. These religious beliefs were put
forward by the Persian thinker Zoroaster. Zoroaster lived about 600 B.C. He rejected the old Persian gods.
Instead, he taught that a single wise god, Ahura Mazda, ruled the world. Two later religions that emerged in the
Middle East, Christianity and Islam, stressed similar ideas as Zoroaster about heaven, hell, and a final judgment
day.
Phoenicians
From 1200 to 800 B.C. the Semitic-speaking Phoenicians lived and prospered on the Mediterranean
coast north of Palestine. Their chief cities were Tyre and Sidon. They gained fame as sailors and traders. They
occupied a string of cities along the Mediterranean coast, in what is today Lebanon and Syria. The resourceful
Phoenicians became best known for manufacturing and trade. They made glass from coastal sand. From a tiny
sea snail, they produced a widely admired purple dye, called "Tyrian purple" after the city of Tyre, which
became their trademark. It became the favorite color of royalty. The Alphabet. As merchants, the Phoenicians
needed a simple alphabet to ease the burden of keeping records. They therefore replaced the cumbersome
cuneiform alphabet of 550 characters with a phonetic alphabet, based on distinct sounds, consisting of 22
letters. After further alterations by the Greeks and Romans, this alphabet became the one we use today!
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Hebrews
The Hebrews were an ancient people of the Middle East who established the kingdom of Israel at the
eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea about 1000 BC. There they founded the religion of Judaism. Judaism
was unusual because it worshipped only one God (monotheism). It was also a universal religion that could be
worshipped anywhere; it was not tied to a particular place like the gods of Sumer.
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Questions:
1. Where did agriculture first begin? Where is it located?
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2. Explain the term ‘cradle of civilization’. ______________________________________________________
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3. Where is Mesopotamia located? _____________________________________________________________
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4. What are the two areas that made up Babylonia? ________________________________________________
5. Which of the two areas became the first civilization? ____________________________________________
6. Describe three accomplishments of the Sumerian civilization. _____________________________________
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7. Where is Sumerian influence seen in our lives today? ____________________________________________
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8. Describe Sumerian religion. ________________________________________________________________
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9. From your reading of the excerpt of the Epic of Gilgamesh, what do you learn about Sumerian religion?
About what they believed human beings are made of? About their political organization?
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10. Does this part of the Epic of Gilgamesh remind you of any other stories you have heard?
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11. What is an empire? _______________________________________________________________________
12. What was the most important Hittite development? _____________________________________________
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13. What was a major contribution of the Assyrians? ______________________________________________
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12. What was the new Persian religion called and why was it innovative? ______________________________
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13. What were some major accomplishments of the Phoenicians? _____________________________________
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14. Who were the Hebrews? __________________________________________________________________
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