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Mesopotamia
Ch. 1 (pp. 16 – 24)
Key Concept 1.2 The Neolithic Revolution and Early Agriculture Societies
Key Concept 1.3 The Development and Interactions of Early Agricultural,
Pastoral and Urban Societies
Essential Question: How did Mesopotamian civilization emerge, and what
technologies promoted its advancement?
Geography
• ~8,000 B.C.E.
agriculture &
civilization arose in
the “Fertile
Crescent”
– Arc of rich farmland in
the Middle East
Geography
• Mesopotamia (“land
b/t the rivers”)
– On the flood plains b/t
Tigris & Euphrates
Rivers
• Located mostly in modern
Iraq
• Rivers deposit silt from
mountains, making the
soil fertile
• Flooded unpredictably
Geography
• States (like
Mesopotamia) were
powerful new systems of
rule that mobilized
surplus labor and
resources
• ~5000 B.C.E., agriculture
reached Mesopotamia
– Area required irrigation to
cultivate
• Artificial provision of water
to crops
Cities
• Farming villages occasionally grew into urban
centers (cities)
– Relied on agriculture from surrounding villages
• Cities allowed for specialized in crafts, religion or
administrative duties
• Surrounding villages looked to cities for protection &
manufactured goods
– City-states = a city & its surrounding agricultural
areas
• Self-governed
• Sumer, Akkad, Ur, etc.
City-States in Mesopotamia
Political Beliefs
• Early city-states were
ruled by kings
– Some were believed to
be gods (theocracy)
– Others claimed to have
divine support
– Had the support of an
army
Political Beliefs
• One of Mesopotamia’s most
influential kings was
Hammurabi
– First king of the Babylonian
Empire
– Created a common set of laws
known as the Code of
Hammurabi
• Reflected existing hierarches
in society
• Facilitated government rule
over people
Trade
• Mesopotamians participated in
long distance trade (often with
pastoralists)
• Trade was done through barter
– Acquired new weapons and modes of
transportation
• Ex. Compound bows, iron weapons,
chariots
– Exchanged goods, cultural ideas and
technology
• Over time trade expanded from
local to regional to transregional
Mesopotamian Society
• Social and gender
hierarchies
intensified as states
expanded
• Three social classes
– Free landowning
– Dependent farmers
& artisans
– Slaves
Mesopotamian Society
• Women lost social standing with the spread of agriculture
– In Mesopotamia, women could own property, maintain control of
their dowry & engage in trade, but men controlled political life
Religion
• Mesopotamians were polytheistic
– These gods embodied the forces of
nature & were anthropomorphic
– Each city-state worshipped specific
deities
• Early civilizations developed
monumental architecture
– Ziggurats were huge pyramidal temples
built as monuments to local gods
The 4100 year old Great Ziggurat
of Ur, near Nasiriyah, Iraq
Technology & Science
• Early civilizations developed
urban planning
– Sewage, streets & roads, etc.
• Writing (appeared ~3300
B.C.E.)
– Systems arose independently in
early civilizations and later
diffused
– Cuneiform = system of writing
involving wedge-shaped
symbols representing words or
symbols
• Hundreds of symbols confined
literacy to small groups of
scribes
Technology & Science
• Examples (continued)
– Bronze weapons/tools
– Clay structures & pottery
• Potter’s wheel
– Military tactics/inventions
• Horseback riders
• Archers
• Chariots
– Base-60 number system
– Early advances in astronomy