Download WH chapter 2 - Marian High School

8/25/2014
1 - Civilization Begins in
Mesopotamia
The Growth of Human
Society in the Middle
East
Why were the first farming societies
located along river?
How does progress affect history?
Mesopotamia – land between the
rivers – Fertile Crescent; rich soil &
abundant crops
3 areas made up Mesopotamia:
- Assyria
- Akkad
- Sumeria
Little rain; overflowing Tigris &
Euphrates deposited silt
unpredictable; drainage ditches &
irrigation
allowed
surplus of
food & large
pop.
gods
controlled all
SUMERIA
●Had city-states (like Ur)
●Cities made of mud-brick,
surrounded by walls
●Invented the arch and the dome
Ziggurat (stepped tower)
At Ur
Arch in
Building at Ur
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●theocracy;
gods owned
cities; wealth
devoted to
temples &
priests/esses
●Eventually,
kings ruled,
but by divine
intervention
Sumerian ruler Ur-Nammu
In front of the goddess
Ningal
Economy of farming,
trade, industry
Traded metal work,
wooden textiles, pottery
Social structure
Nobles
Helmet from a
King of Ur
commoners
slaves
RELIGION
Meso. had almost 3000 gods/esses
Felt “human beings were created to do
the manual labor the gods were unwilling
to do for themselves”
3000 BC – cuneiform
writers became
priests and military
men
School: sun-up till
sun-down; did not
finish until you were a
young adult
harsh, punishment
was often caning
Head dress from
A Princess of Ur
Epic of Gilgamesh
Epic poem of King Gilgamesh - wise,
strong, and perfect of body; part man, part
god
Befriends a hairy beast, Enkidu
Enkidu dies, G looks for the secret of
immortality
Moral:
everlasting
life is only for
the gods
Sumerian technology:
Wagon wheel
Potter’s wheel
sundial
Arch
Bronze (from copper and tin)
Math (number system based on 60,
geometry)
astronomy
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as Sumeria grew, groups attacked
AKKADIANS - north of Sumeria;
spoke semitic
2340 BC – Akkadian leader Sargon
overran Sumeria and set up first
empire (easy to create, difficult to
maintain)
2100 BC – under
constant attack,
empire fell
Akkadian
Hammurabi
1792-1750 BC, in Babylon (south of
Akkad)
code based on strict justice w/severe
punishment
Social classes treated
differently
class offence
towards class,
stiffer penalties
sculpture
(Ham.cont.)
Public officials highly accountable
Consumer protection laws
Marriage & family largest section
Depictions
of
Hammurabi
Works Cited
http://visav.phys.uvic.ca/~babul/AstroCourses/P303/mesopotamia.html
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jmcfall/46769923/
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/b3a06/1b6da1/
●http://www.bibleandscience.com/tours/museums.htm
●http://www-int.channelone.com/life/gal_lost_treasure/5/
●http://robinurton.com/history/ancient/mesopotamian.htm
●http://fubini.swarthmore.edu/~ENVS2/S2006/nmalina1/plantsandpeople.html
●http://www.civfanatics.com/civ2/timelines/babylonian.php
●http://www.thenagain.info/WebChron/MiddleEast/Hammurabi.html
●http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylon
●http://worldhistoryto1500.blogspot.com/2010/09/political-organization-ofmesopotamia.html
●http://www.unexplainable.net/artman/publish/article_7516.shtml
●http://www.calvarychapelemmett.org/mesopotamian-religion-gods/
●http://www.crystalinks.com/sumermaps.html
●http://wdict.net/gallery/epic+of+gilgamesh/
●http://www.antiques.com/classified/17178/Antique-Sumerian-Bronze-or-Copper-Daggerca-3000-BC
●http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/testforum.cgi?noframes;read=281800
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