Download Sumeria and the Fertile Crescent

Western Asian Civilizations
Chapter 2 Section 1,3, and 4
River Civilizations
1. The first civilizations developed in River Valleys
2. Why?
1.
use the river for irrigation, transportation and to support
the city population with drinking water.
Between the Two Rivers
1. Mesopotamia or the Fertile Crescent is the
land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
in modern day Iraq
SUMERIA
The First Cities
1.
2.
About 3,200 BCE, the
first Sumerian cities
emerged in the southern
part of Mesopotamia
They lacked timber and
stone in their
environment. So what did
they build with?
1.
Instead they used clay
and earth to make brick
which were the building
blocks of their society
Architecture
• Mud bricks were the building material
• Walls, Why?
– Protection
• Uruk had six miles of walls, with guard towers
– 50,000 people by 2700 BCE
• Ziggurats
– Step pyramids
• Religious purpose
Local Geography
1. Due the open geography of the Fertile Crescent, it
became a major trade area
2. With help from wheeled vehicles (a new invention)
the Sumerians were able to trade with people as far
away as India
Government
• City-state
– What do you think this is?
• System in which city controls the countryside
around it
• Theocracy
– Priest and Priestess held lots of
influence/power
Leadership
1. Due to constant battles
for control of the land
and water in the desert
many turned to warleaders for protection
2. Eventually these warleaders became
hereditary rulers
3. He was seen as chief
servant of the gods
Social Hierarchy
1. Each city-state had a distinct system of ranks for
each person.
2. The highest class included the ruling family, leading
officials, and high priests
3. The small middle class was made up of lesser
priests, and scribes, some merchants, and artisans
4. At the base of society (meaning lowest class) was the
majority of the people- peasant farmers.
5. Sumerians often owned slaves
A. Most slaves were captured in war while others were forced
into slavery to pay debts
Women in Sumeria
1.
2.
3.
In the earliest Sumerian
myths, a mother-goddess
reflected the honored role
of mothers in their
communities
As large city-states
emerged with warrior
leaders at their head the
female goddesses were
replaced with male gods
Women had few rights
Sumerian Religion
1.
Sumerians were polytheistic
A.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Polytheistic- believing in many gods
They believed that the gods controlled every aspect in life,
especially in nature
They believed that the gods acted much like people. They
had the same faults as humans and the same redeeming
qualities
To the Sumerians keeping these divine beings happy was the
highest duty
Ziggurats were built to honor the gods (or chief god of their
city-state) and offered sacrifices to them there
Sumerian Innovations
1. Writing
1.
Cuneiform
A. During this period
the Sumerian
develop writing that
grew out of a system
of pictographs
priests used to
record goods
brought to the
temple
2. Mathematics
3. Calendars
Cycles in the Middle East
1. As nomadic people crossed the middle east
in Mesopotamia they would often time
conquer the city-states
2. Some looted and went on their way
3. Others stayed and consolidated their power
to bigger empires
Akkadians
• Sargon
– 2340 BCE
– Created first empire
• Large political unit
– Tend to be diverse
• Lasts until 2100 BCE
Hammurabi, the Law Giver
1. Around 1790 BCE
Hammurabi
became king of
Babylon (a
Mesopotamian
empire)
2. He had his artisans
inscribe the law on
pillars for all to
see.
Criminal Law
1. Hammurabi was the first
to codify criminal law.
2. The laws put specific
punishments with
specific crimes
3. The laws limited
personal vengeance and
encouraged social order.
Some Laws of Hammurabi
3. If any one bring an accusation of any crime
before the elders, and does not prove what he
has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense
charged, be put to death
14. If any one steal the minor son of another, he
shall be put to death.
22. If any one is committing a robbery and is
caught, then he shall be put to death.
Warfare and the Spread of Ideas
1.
2.
3.
4.
Later empires shaped the area in different ways
Often times, victors would uproot the defeated or they
would force their new beliefs on the defeated
Through this system they brought new skills to new places
This is called cultural diffusion
Indo-Europeans
• Language group
• Came to dominate vast parts of Europe
and Asia
• http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/com
mons/4/4f/IndoEuropeanTree.svg
• Probably located in the Asian Steppe
region
– Dry short grasslands
The Hittites
1.
2.
3.
4.
Around 1400 BCE a less
advanced people the
Hittites push out of Asia
Minor (Turkey) into
Mesopotamia
The Hittites heated iron ore
and pounded the impurities
out before plunging it into
cold water.
They are the first to use
Iron Tools
They are a short lived
empire.
The Phoenician Sea Traders
1.
2.
3.
4.
The Phoenicians were a
seafaring people hailing from
the coast of the Mediterranean
Sea
They are were important as
traders because of their ability
to make purple dye
They also set up the first
colonies
They also contributed the
alphabet
A.
B.
C.
They alphabet allowed symbols
to represent sounds rather than
ideas, concept, or words
This later developed through
the Greeks into the alphabet we
use today
Hurray for the Phoenicians!
Israelites
• We will talk about them later
The Persians
1.
After several empires including Babylon and the Assyrians came and
went the Persian empire came to power
Conquest begins under Cyrus (the Great)
2.
1.
2.
3.
4.
559-530 BCE
Shows restraint to conquered peoples
Under the Darius between 521 and 486 BCE the empire grew
His empire was important in that he set up a system of weights and
measures and moved Persia from a barter economy to a money economy
1.
These advances helped promote a united empire
Zoroastrianism
• Persian religion
• Founded by Zoroaster
– Born 660 BCE
• The “true religion”
– Monotheistic
• One god
• Struggle between good and evil
– Humans had free will to choose good or evil