Download land between two rivers

Mesopotamia
“The Land between Two Rivers”
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
River Civilization
 With
your elbow partner discuss:
 Why would people group up and settle near
rivers? What challenges might they face?
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cultural diffusion
process
of a new idea or a
product spreading from one
culture to another culture as
trade began to develop from
one city-state to another
city-state
vs.
empire
City-state and all its surrounding
lands that function as an
independent political unit
---City-states evolved into
empires
Empire- controlled by a single
ruler aka a monarchy
Mesopotamia
“land
between two rivers” - the Tigris
and Euphrates
 Fertile Crescent - area of rich soil in
the Middle East where the agricultural
revolution took place
Tigris and Euphrates had
unpredictable flooding
With a partner list some positives and
negatives to living in the Fertile Crescent.
Positives
Negatives
Good soil for farming Unpredictable flooding
Which leads to…
which leads to…
More food, better
crop failures, drowning,
health, longer life
invasions, overly
populated
expectance
Near the river
Contributions of
Mesopotamian
Cultures
Major Groups in
Mesopotamia
Sumerians
Hebrews
Babylonians
Phoenicians
Chaldeans
Assyrians
Persians
Sumerians
Technology
 arch, wheel, plow, & sail
 astronomy
& fortune telling
 number system - 6’s & 12’s
 Ziggurat – Temple “Mountain of God”
 Cuneiform – Form of writing using stylus
and wet clay tablet
FUN FACT
 Sumerian
cylinder seal is a small round cylinder,
typically about one inch in length, engraved with
written characters or figurative scenes or both, used in
ancient times to roll an impression onto a twodimensional surface, generally wet clay. they were
used as commercial receipts--could identify
ownership of the object or to notarize or attest to
multiple impressions of clay documents
Babylonians
Hammurabi’s Law Code
– 1st written code of laws
imperial government
One of the 7 wonders of the world:
Babylon's hanging gardens
Iron,
Hittites
chariots, hunters.
Phoenicians
alphabet
& writing with
phonetic symbols
commerce &
shipbuilding, sailing,
trade (trade =$$)
dyes and other
products
– Murex (sea snail)
Phoenicians
 In
early civilization, explain how
creating a universal phonetic
symbols or the alphabet was a
helpful tool?
 Explain
how being an experienced
sailor was beneficial in a rising
economy for the Phoenicians?
Hebrews
(Israelites, Jews)
Monotheism
– One God
Torah-Holy
Book-Old Testament
concept
Judaism
of human dignity
warfare:
Assyrians
weapons, armor, cavalry,
tactics, catapult and other siege
tools
postal service
some roads
built city of Nineveh
improved writing
Assyrian Treasures
The
Bronze
Age
time when people used bronze (mix
tin and copper) rather than stone,
bone, or copper
begins in 2500 BCE in Mesopotamia
polytheism
monotheism
a
a
belief in
many gods
belief in
one god
(originated with
the Hebrews –
Judaism)
EARLY LAW
CODES
 What
laws would you establish if you were
the king of one of the early civilizations?
HAMMURABI’S
CODE OF LAWS
 first
set of written/codified laws (282)
– In cuneiform
 deal with what Mesopotamians value: family
relations, crime, and property issues
 follow “eye for an eye” philosophy
 Emphasizes
government responsibility for
society
 This document made the laws more consistent
and predictable.
LAW OF MOSES
Includes
Ten Commandments
LAW OF MOSES cont.
Transcribed
by Moses on Mt. Sinai
Sometimes resembles “eye for an
eye”
strict justice softened by
expressions of God’s mercy
Goal: moral life in accordance with
God’s laws
Think - Pair - Share
 What
modern legal ideas can be traced to
ancient civilizations?
 Do
you think that religious philosophies
were integrated into ancient political
systems?
 Exit
Ticket: In a well developed paragraph,
summarize how having laws would create a
safer community to live in during the early
civilizations? Be sure to use at least TWO
examples from today’s lesson
 (turn in on notebook paper)