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Irrigation Canals
Moats
Shaduf
Modern Day
Irrigation on
the Tigris
Was Ancient Sumer a
Civilization?
Stable Food
Supply
Written
Language
Technology
Social
Structure
Characteristics of a
Civilization:
Highly
developed
Culture
Religion
System of
Government
Sumarians invented 2
things:
Complex Irrigation
System
- Canals, dams and
reservoirs to
provide a
regular supply
of water
The Plow
A tool for
turning the
soil. This
allowed the
farmers to
plant faster.
The first
plow was
made out of
wood
At the top were:
Kings, priests, land owners,
government officials
A social structure is a way a
civilization is organized
A social structure includes
different jobs and social
levels
The middle were made up
of merchants and
craftspeople. These were
highly skilled workers that
made tools, weapons for
the army as well as luxury
items like jewelry for the
rich. Farmers and
fisherman would be at the
bottom of this class
Very bottom of the social structure would be the slaves.
They had no property of their own
Sumerian city-states were ruled by kings
Thought to be chosen by the gods to be rule in
their place.
The King:
Enforced the laws and collected taxes
Led the army
Made sure the irrigation systems were
maintained
RELIGION
The people of Mesopotamia practiced
a polytheistic religion
POLYTHEISM –
the belief in many
gods
The Ishtar Gate
Dedicated to the
Goddess Ishtar
Goddess of Love and
War
The arts include creative form of
expression such as, painting,
architecture, music and literature.
Metalworkers made
weapons and cups, as
well as jewelry
Musicians played many
instruments, A
favorite being the lyre
Epic – a heroic,
larger than life
story.
World’s first super hero
The Sumerian hero
story written on 12 clay
Gilgamesh traveled the
tablets
world in search of
immortality. He even had a
side kick, Enkidu. On one of
his journeys, he came
across an old man,
Utnapishtim, who told
Gilgamesh the story of a
great flood that swallowed
the earth and how he had
survived by building an ark.
King of Uruk
about 2700 B.C.E
The Sumerians made many
technological advances.
THE WHEEL
Sledge
Pottery
wheel
Irrigation
Sailboat
Aqueducts
Siege Warfare
Sundials
Calendar
Firing of clay - kiln
Cuneiform Writing (WedgeShaped)
A Scribe is a
professional
record keeper, or
a writer.
Pictographs
are symbols
that stand for
real objects.
Sargon creates the first empire
Hammurabi and the Code of Laws
Rose to power around 900B.C.E.
Nebuchadnezzar
SARGON
2300 B.C.E - Sargon unites
the city –states making the
first empire.
Empire – a large
territory were
several groups are
ruled by a single
leader
One myth states that
Sargon was placed in a
reed basket and
placed into the
Euphrates River,
where he was found
by a farmer in the
kingdom of Akkad.
Hammurabi
King of Babylon – conquered the rest
of Mesopotamia making the region
known as Babylonia
Known for his “Code of Laws”
which he received from the gods.
The laws were written on a stele
and placed in a temple for all to
see.
First set of laws
that applied to
everyone.
The Assyrian Empire
Built some of
the first
aqueducts
that brought
drinking water
to Nineveh
from 30 miles
away
Assyrians rose
to power around
900 B.C.E.
They were a very
strong military that
became very good
at siege warfare.
Assyrians
developed
battering
rams and
movable
towers that
could be
rolled up to
city walls
Nebuchadnezzar –
reigned from 605 -562 B.C.E.
The Neo-Babylonian
Empire
Conquered the
Hebrew people n
the land of
Canaan (Israel
today). He
enslaved them
and took them to
Babylonia.
Babylonians were skilled
mathematicians. They created the
first sundial and made discoveries
that gave us the 60 minute hour
and the 7-day week.
His palace today
Thought to have
been built by
Nebuchadnezzar
For his wife
One of the 7
ancient wonders
of the world
In 539 Cyrus the king of the Persian
Empire,(Iran today),conquers all of
Babylon. For 200 years the Persians
rule the most powerful empire in the
world.
His tomb