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MESOPOTAMIA THE 1ST CIVILIZATION GEOGRAPHY • Tigris & Euphrates Rivers most important physical features of region • Area between these 2 rivers = Mesopotamia / fertile crescent • Modern day country of Iraq The Rise of Civilization • Hunter-gatherers learned how to plant crops & grow their own food • Floods from T & E brought silt to the land • Silt made it ideal for farming • Silt = mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks • Excess food let to population increase > villages develop IRRIGATION • • • • • • Fertile soil, but farming difficult Received little rain>>>drought When rain fell >>>> floods Needed to learn to control water Irrigation & canals Irrigation & canals >>> surplus of food>>>division of labor>>>people working on different jobs>>>growth of cities SUMER • Farms (rural) & urban (cities) combined>>>city-states • City-states fought each other to gain more farmland • Another society developed – Akkadians • Lived in peace for many years, but soon attacked • Sargon – first leader to have a permanent army / world’s first empire SUMERIAN CULTURE • Polytheistic – worshipped many gods • Each city-state considered one god to be its special protector • Believed gods had enormous powers / bring good harvest, floods, illness, death, health, etc • Priests helped people perform religious ceremonies • Social heirarchy = ranking system of society ZIGGURAT • • • • • • • a pyramid-shaped temple tower Center of each city-state Two – 7 tiers (levels Bricks / sun-dried bricks (dried mud) Place of worship Priests only people to go inside meeting places between heaven and earth BABYLON • After Sumerian rule (city-state of Ur), Babylon rose to power • Hammurabi rose to power – monarch • Brought all of Mesopotamia under his control>>>Babylonian Empire • Hammurabi most famous for code of laws • Ruled for 42 years / most important city in Meso HAMMURABI’S CODE • 282 laws that dealt with almost every part of daily life • Laws included trade, loans, theft, marriage, injury, murder • Social class mattered>>>if rich man injured, the harsher the penalty SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS • • • • • • WRITING WHEEL PLOW POTTER’S WHEEL CLOCK SEWERS • CALENDAR • AREAS OF TRIANGLES & RECTANTGLES • # SYSTEM BASED ON THE # 60 • LISTED WHAT MEDICINE WORKED FOR WHAT SYMPTOMS HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON • built by King Nebuchadnezzar in 605 BC / rebuilt Babylon • gardens built to cheer up his homesick wife, Amyitis (daughter of the king of the Medes) was married to Neb to create alliance between the nations. • The land she came from was green, rugged and mountainous, and found Mesopotamia depressing. • The king decided to recreate her homeland HANGING GARDENS OF BABYLON • • • • Possibly a myth / no one knows for sure Different stories of how big Some famous historians did not mention it Some say 80 ft high / 400 ft x 400 ft