Download Mesopotamia- The World`s First Civilization

Mesopotamia
SumerThe World’s FirsT CivilizaTion
Discovery of Agriculture
Question #1
• Brainpop- The Agricultural Revolution
• This first happened in Mesopotamia in an area called Sumer
• People began to settle down and create the world’s first cities
Question #2
Sumer
• Brainpop- The Sumerians
• Sumer is believed to be the oldest known
civilization in history
Started in 5300 BCE and lasted until 2000 BCE
Over 3,000 years!
• Located in modern-day Iraq, between the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
The rivers flooded every spring, which made the
area fertile and great for growing crops
Question #3
Sumer- Irrigation
• The Sumerians developed irrigation
systems to control the flooding and
bring water to their crops
• Irrigation- Controlling water to use
for agriculture or prevent flooding
• Canals, levees, and dams were
created to get the water to crops and
to stop from flooding their cities
Sumer- Job Specialization
• Because of the irrigation systems, Sumer
was able to grow extra crops
• Extra food leads to job specialization (also
called division of labor)
• Now the people of Sumer did not all have
to farmers and they could start doing
other jobs:
Pottery
Making tools & weapons
Building
Bakers
Weavers
Question #4
Question #5
Sumer- Religion
• Religion was very important to the people of
Sumer
• They were polytheistic. This means they
believed in many different gods
• Each city was centered around a ziggurat
(temple)
They believed that the god or goddess lived in the
ziggurat and would worship them
Question #6
Sumer- Government
• Each city-state had their own king (called an ensi)
• The king had many responsibilities:
Leading religious ceremonies and building ziggurats
Leading the military and protecting the people
Collecting taxes
Building irrigation systems (canals, levees, and dams)
Acted as judges to settle disputes or when a crime was committed
Question #7
Sumer- Written Language
• We know a lot about the Sumerians because they
left us written records
Their language was called cuneiform
Question #8
Sumer- Advanced Technology
• The Sumerians also had many more innovations:
Bronze tools and weapons
Calendar- Helped predict flooding
Came up with the idea of 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes
in an hour
Developed the world’s first wheel for wagons. This led to
more trading and traveling
Plow for planting crops
Question #9 & 10
Sumer- How do we know?
• In the 1900s, archaeologists found the remains of
several cities from Ancient Sumer
• Eridu is believed to be the world’s oldest city
founded around 5400 BCE
• Uruk is believed to have a population of around
80,000 people in 2800 BCE
This is much larger than any other city discovered in
Mesopotamia
Gilgamesh was king of Uruk
 The Epic of Gilgamesh is believed to be the first written story
in history
Question #11
Sumer- Social Classes
• Specialized labor (jobs) created social
classes
• Each city-state was organized the same
• Children fell into the same social class
and had the same jobs as their parents
People could not move up in social class
Sumer- Social Classes
• Kings- Rulers
• Government Officials- Worked for the king
• Priests- Made offerings to the gods and led
religious ceremonies to please the gods
and keep the city-states safe
Sumer- Social Classes
• Scribes- Professional writers. They usually
worked for the government or help merchants
keep track of trade
• Merchants- Traded goods between the citystates and would later trade with other
civilizations like Egypt and India
• Artisans- Made crafts of had specific jobs:
Weavers
Pottery
Made weapons and tools
Bakers
Sumer- Social Classes
• Farmers- Grew crops and harvested food
to trade
They would give food to the king for
protection and irrigation
They would give food to priests so the gods
would reward them with a good harvest
• Slaves- People became slaves by being
captured during wars or they were
criminals and it was their punishment
Their job was usually hard labor, like digging
irrigation ditches or carrying bricks for
ziggurats