Download Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
3500 B.C. to 1700 B.C.
Location: Between the
Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers in present day
Iraq.
Agriculture: Used
irrigation to grow crops.
This led to other
professions such as
potters, weavers, metal
workers, warriors, and
priests.
Mesopotamia
Government: At first each
city or city state had its own
ruler. Later several city
states were united under
one ruler. Rulers were often
priests. This type of
government is called a
theocracy.
Ziggurat
Religion: They were
polytheistic (many gods) and
What might be some of the
worshipped as many as
benefits and drawbacks to have a
2,000 different gods.
theocratic form of government?
Mesopotamia
• Contributions:
– Architecture: stone and mud
buildings such as the ziggurat and
Hanging Gardens.
– Invented the wheel
– Invented the sailboat
– Irrigation
– Made tools and weapons out of
copper and bronze
– Invented a calendar
– Created a number system based on
60
– Invented cuneiform writing
– Developed a legal system called the
Code of Hammurabi
Which Mesopotamian
contribution is the most
important? Be prepared
to defend you answer.
Code of Hammurabi
• Covers most things in
daily life – criminal & civil
• Goal is to ensure justice
and protect the weak.
• Treated nobles and
commoners different.
• Retaliatory - an “eye for
and eye” legal system.
Why is it important for a
society to have established
and defined laws and
rules?
Women in Mesopotamia
• Most women stayed at
home and cooked, cleaned,
raised the children and
crushed the grain.
• Noble women could go to
the market and buy goods,
could complete legal
matters in their husbands
absence, and could own
property. Some could
engage in business and
obtain a divorce.
Woman praying –
University of Chicago
Egypt
Egypt
3200 B.C. to 500 B.C.
• Location: Northeast Africa
along the Nile River.
• Agriculture: Each year the
Nile River floods making
the surrounding land
fertile. Egyptian farmers
were able to grow an
abundant amount of food
to support the craftsmen,
warriors, priests and
nobles of the land.
How is the location of Egypt
similar to and different from
that of Mesopotamia?
Egypt
• Government: The
Egyptian Pharaoh was
an absolute monarch.
This means his title was
inherited from his
father. He owned all the
land, commanded the
army, made laws,
controlled irrigation and
grain supplies, and
defended Egypt from
foreign invaders. He
was considered one of
the gods.
What are the benefits and
drawbacks to this type of
government?
Egypt
• Religion: The Egyptian
religion was polytheistic
and the Pharaoh was
considered a god. They
built pyramids to preserve
their rulers body in the
afterlife. They surrounded
him with gold, jewels, and
other items he might
need in the afterlife.
What economic effects might
the building of pyramids have
had on Egyptian society?
Egypt
Contributions:
– Medicine: developed knowledge of the
human body through embalming and
surgery.
– Hieroglyphics: developed one of the
earliest forms of writing using pictures
and symbols.
– Architecture: built magnificent
pyramids, temples, and palaces of
stone.
– Art: decorated buildings with paintings
and sculptures.
– Geometry: developed geometry to build
projects such as the pyramids.
– Astronomy: by observing the stars, they
developed a calendar based on 365
days.
Which Egyptian
contribution is the most
significant? Be
prepared to justify your
answer.
Indus Valley
2500 B.C. – 1500 B.C.
Indus River Valley
• Location: Along the Indus
River in present-day Pakistan.
• Agriculture: Farmers grew
barley, wheat, dates, &
melons. A surplus of food
allowed them to flourish.
• Building: Well-planned cities
suggest they had a wellorganized government. Cities
included dockyards,
granaries, warehouses, &
brick protective walls.
They were one of the 1st societies to
have ‘urban planning’ with houses
connected to a public sewage
system & a water supply. They also
grew cotton to make clothing & had
standardized weights & measures.
Indus Valley
• Trade: Trade was important to the economy. Small
clay seals used for trading have been discovered.
There was also evidence of the use of metals.
• They were polytheistic & developed their own form of
writing, but its never been decoded.
• Collapse: There is no evidence as to what ended this
civilization. Experts suggest an earthquake, a flood, a
volcanic eruption or invasion were the factors.
Shang China
Shang China
1650 B.C. to 1027 B.C.
• Location: Along the Huang He
(Yellow River)
• Agriculture: The Yellow River
flooded yearly and made the area
very fertile. Millet (grain) and
soybeans were the main crops.
Chicken and pigs were also raised.
• Government: Monarchy; ruling
families are called dynasties. In
each dynasty the monarch had
near absolute power.
Shang China
• Contributions:
– Bronze weapons, tools, and
crafts
– Silk textiles
– System of writing with
pictographs
Olmec
1400 B.C. – 500 B.C.
Olmec
• Location: tropical forest region along the
Mexican Gulf Coast.
• Cities:
La Venta
Tres Zapotes
San Lorenzo
Olmec
• Agriculture: farmers cultivated most of the
foodstuffs needed by their villages. Maize,
beans, squash, and cacao, are just a few of the
crops they produced.
Olmec
• Government: very little known; many temples
and rich, ornate tomb structures.
– Priest (shamans) and noble ruling classes.
Olmec
• Religion: shamans(priests); practiced human
sacrifice.
Olmec
Contributions:
• “mother culture” of Mesoamerica
• vast trade network
• carved massive, stone heads up to
20 tons
• used stone inscriptions as a writing
system
• developed a calendar system.
Chavín
850 B.C. – 200 B.C.
Chavín
• Location: modernday Peru; Andes
Mountain Range
• Religion: built
temples; styles of art
reflected strong
religious traditions
Chavín
• Agriculture: mostly root
crops (i.e. corn, maize,
squash); domesticated
llamas and alpacas.
• Government: unknown;
artifacts suggest a
theocratic system.
• Cities: Chavín de Huantar