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Mesopotamia
Every Civilization Needs to provide:
1.
Stability
2.
Explanation
3.
Invention
Question: Which is most important?
The Ancient Fertile Crescent
Area
The Middle East: “The Cradle of Civilization”
Nebuchadnezzar II’s
Babylon
I. Mesopotamia: earliest examples of
civilization
A.
Three Historic Regions
1.
Sumer: Delta of the River
2.
Akkad: Northern Semites
3.
Babylon: Between the rivers
The Ancient Fertile Crescent
Area
The Middle East: “The Cradle of Civilization”
B.
Indo-European Migration
1.
From North Caspian Sea
2.
Language Family – Ethnicity???
3.
Records or Early Cities 3500 BC
4.
Inter regional traded of metals and timber
5.
Bronze Age 3000 -1200 BC (Adding copper to
Tin
City State Government
6.
Are City States independent?
b.
Are City States loyal to each other?
UR capital of Sumeria
Need to control rivers - Tigris and Euphrates
crested late, erratically
a.
Effect on Civilization : Very INSTABLE
a.
7.
8.
Ziggurat at Ur
 Temple
 “Mountain
of
the Gods”
C.
Politics of Mesopotamia: Attempt at Stability
1.
City state
2.
Theocratic government – Government by
GOD
3.
Not enough resources to go around -food, water
4.
Emphasis on war to get resources
5.
More INSTABLITLY
Mesopotamian Trade
“The Cuneiform
World”
6.
Two rare examples of empire
a.
Akkadians: Sargon the Great 2340 BC
b.
Old Babylonian Empire (OBE):
Hammurabi (1792-1750 BC)
c.
Empire = Forced Stability
D.
Explanation:
1.
Looking outside the three dimensions:
a.
TIME, SPACE, MATTER
2.
Polytheistic
3.
Worship of Land and nature central
(agricultural)
4.
Divination
5.
Highly spiritual people--always looking for divine
guidance
6.
No value on individual - people and world as
plaything of gods
7.
Human world marked for death
8.
Ziggarat temple, reaching towards sky
Cuneiform: “Wedge-Shaped”
Writing
Deciphering Cuneiform
E.
Inventions
1.
Creation of a writing system Cuneiniform
2.
Animal Plows
3.
Wheel
4.
Sail boats
5.
Mathematics: fractions whole #, square
roots, geometry
Hammurabi, the Judge
F.
Rules for everyone to follow
1.
Very important to the creation of
civilization
2.
Hammurabi's code
a.
Based on idea of social justice (at
least among equals) Destroy wicked
and oppression
b.
Based on an eye for an eye--literally
c.
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Consumer protection laws
The builder who caused the death
of a man was put to death
The builder who caused the death
of a son had his son killed
The builder would have to replace
all goods lost in a housing accident
Leader who wronged his soldiers
was executed
If a leader didn't catch a burglar, he
had to pay people who had lost
goods!
d.
e.
•
•
•
f.
•
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Agricultural laws to restrict and
equalize land use, water use, trade
Marriage, gender, and sex
Adultery acceptable by males
Adultery by wives meant being
thrown in the river (w/ possibility of
pardon)
Generally more power given to the
men--not cut in stone, though (!)
Parents and children
Hands chopped off for not following
what a parent says to do
Possibility of disinheritance