Download File - Ms. McLoughlin

Mesopotamia
Emergence of River Valley Civilizations
MESOPOTAMIA
“The land between two rivers”
Mesopotamia: The Fertile Crescent
• This region was the site
of sophisticated
settlements.
• Fertile area located in the
northern part of the
Syrian desert.
• Area includes all or parts
of Israel, the West Bank,
Jordan, Lebanon, Syria,
and Iraq.
• The Mediterranean Sea to
the west and on the east
the Euphrates and Tigris
rivers
• Greeks called the
northern part of the
Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia
• The southern part of
Mesopotamia was
called Babylonia,
originally Sumer.
Sumer – Southern Mesopotamia
• The earliest of the
River Valley
Civilizations
• Sumerian civilization
grew up along the
Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers in what is now
Kuwait.
Sumer (Kuwait)
• 3500 to 3000 BC
• Sumerians created the city-state.
• City-state
- a political unit made up of a city and the surrounding
lands.
- each city state has its own government
- As city-states grew, they fought each other for land and
water.
Sumerian Writing: Cuneiform
Cuneiform is created by pressing a pointed
stylus (sharp pointed tool) into a clay tablet.
Sumerians invented:
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Brick technology
Wheel
Base 60 – using the circle . . . 360 degrees
Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute
Arch
Ramp
Ziggurat – stepped tower with religious temple on top
Astronomy
Ziggurat– Holy Mountain
Sumer becomes Babylon
• 2340 BCE Akkadians created the first empire controlling the
Sumerian city-states.
• By 1792 BCE Hammurabi unites much of Mesopotamia,
and the city-state of Babylon controlled much of the area
• Hammurabi created the first known written code of law and
required citizens to live by the “Rule of Law”
• rule of law - government can only exercise, or use, its
authority as described in written laws. Written laws were
adopted through established procedure.
Hammurabi’s Code - 1792 BC
•Hammurabi ruled the
Babylonian Empire for 42
years.
• At the end of his long reign,
Hammurabi’s legal decisions
were collected and inscribed
on a stone tablet in a
Babylonian temple.
•The 282 laws of the Code of
Hammurabi represent one of
the earliest known legal
systems.
“If a man stole the property of church or state, that
man shall be put to death;
also the one who received the stolen goods from
his hand shall be put to
death.”
• The laws governed such
things as lying, stealing,
assault, debt, business
partnerships, marriage, and
divorce.
• In seeking protection for all
members of Babylonian
society, Hammurabi relied on
the philosophy of equal
retaliation, otherwise known
as “an eye for an eye.”
REVIEW
Mesopotamia means “Between Two Rivers”
Name the two rivers.
Name two countries of Mesopotamia
today?
Which came first – Babylonia or Sumer?
What is the writing of Sumer called?
Where did Hammurabi rule?
What was Hammurabi know for?
Activity
• We will read 3 cases about crimes that may
have been committed during the time of
Hammurabi.
Hammurabi’s Code Questions
• On a lined piece of paper, answer the following questions
about the Code of Hammurabi.
a. What did you find most interesting about each case?
b. Which laws do you believe were fair? Unfair?
c. Which laws from the Code of Hammurabi are similar to
laws we have today?
d. Which laws are different from laws we have today?
e. Which Babylonian values do you think are similar to
American values? Which values are different?
f. How would you feel about living in a community that used
the laws from the Code of Hammurabi?