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Mesopotamia
 Many historians believe that the earliest civilizations began in a region known as Mesopotamia
 Mesopotamia was an ancient region in the eastern Mediterranean between the Zagros Mountains and the Arabian Plateau
Mostly modern day __Iraq____
– Parts of Iran, Syria and Turkey
 Mesopotamia was a collection of many __separate_______ civilizations and _small city-states______
– Mesopotamia is a region, not a united empire such as Egypt, Greece and Rome
 Mesopotamia is located mostly in which modern day country?
 Was Mesopotamia a collection of several small city-states or a united empire?
The Fertile Crescent
 Mesopotamia is often referred to as the Fertile Crescent, because of the valuable _farmland______ surrounded by desert
 The valuable farmland allowed ancient hunter-gatherers to settle in Mesopotamia and eventually develop _cities_____
Impact of the Tigris and Euphrates
 Mesopotamia means “between __two rivers___________” in Greek
– Tigris and Euphrates River
 When the Tigris and Euphrates would __flood______, the floods would leave behind _silt ____ for farming
 The floods of the Tigris and Euphrates were also _destructive______ and unpredictable
 Devastating floods would regularly _ wash away _________ top soil and __destroy______ villages
 Villages had to work together to _channel________ water to the fields and __store______ water for the dry season
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Why is Mesopotamia often referred to as the Fertile Crescent?
What allowed ancient hunter-gatherers to settle in Mesopotamia and eventually develop cities?
What does Mesopotamia mean?
What was one positive of the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates?
What were two dangers of the Tigris and Euphrates?
The Cradle of Civilization
 Mesopotamia is also referred to as the “Cradle of Civilization”
 Many important developments occurred in Mesopotamia
calendar
– 12 month ____________________
– agriculture
– astronomy
– chariots
– common tools
– domestication of animals
– hours, minutes, seconds
– _irrigation___________
– leather tires
– math
– rise of the city
– sophisticated weaponry and warfare
– the arch
– the _plow_________
– the sail and sailboats
– trade
– _wheel__________
– wheeled vehicles
– wind power
– writing
 Why is Mesopotamia often referred to as the “Cradle of Civilization”?
 What were at least 6 important developments that occurred in Mesopotamia?
Writing
 An early form of writing, called cuneiform, developed in Sumer, a civilization in Mesopotamia
 Cuneiform is the earliest known __writing_________ system
 Cuneiform carved _wedge_____________-shaped characters onto clay tablets using a _stylist___________________
 What is cuneiform?
Cuneiform
Meaning
Original pictograph
Later pictograph
Early Babylonian
cuneiform
Assyrian cuneiform
Bird
Fish
to plow
Grain
Day
Literature
oldest written story
 The Epic of Gilgamesh was the ___________________________________
in the world
 The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the story of Gilgamesh, a powerful Sumerian king
Epic of Gilgamesh and the Cedar Forest
Gilgamesh and Enkidu meet
Slaying of Huwawa
Returning home with the cedar
Inanna and the Giant Bull of Heaven
Death of Enkidu
Gilgamesh meets with Ziusudra
Math
 Math developed in Mesopotamia for many reasons, largely related to farming
– creating a lunar calendar
– measuring plots of land
– tokens for trading
and trading
– taxation
 Sumerians and Babylonians used number system based on 60
 Babylonian numbers used a true place-value system, where numbers in the left column represented larger values
 Tablets were found showing students practicing arithmetic and geometry in ancient Babylon
2600 BC
- multiplication
- division
- tables of squares
- square roots
- cube roots
- fractions
- algebra
- right triangles
- estimated π
 Evidence of Mesopotamian’s influence on math today
– _360__ degrees in a circle
– _60___ minutes in a hour
– _180__ degrees in a triangle
– _60___ seconds in a minute
1800 BC to 1600 BC
- methods for solving…
linear equations
quadratic equations
cubic equations
– _12___ months in a year
– dice
Economy
 Most people in Mesopotamia grew crops
and raised animals
 Mesopotamia also relied heavily on trade
 Mesopotamians traded fish, wool and wheat for materials not available in Mesopotamia, including lumber
 Other common jobs in Mesopotamia included scribes, healers, artisans, weavers, potters, shoemakers, fishermen, and teachers
 Kings
and priests
were the most powerful people
Religion
 Mesopotamians were polytheistic, meaning they worshipped many gods
 Citizens were expected to honor the gods through the jobs
they performed every day
 Mesopotamians also prayed, offered sacrifices and built temples to please the gods
 A ziggurat is pyramid-shaped temple, common in Sumerian civilizations
 At the top of the ziggurat stood shrines
to the patron god or goddess of the city
Cities and Government
 Mesopotamia also gave birth to the world’s first cities
 Most cities developed their own governments, becoming city-states
 Kings
were the leaders of the government
 A king was responsible for protecting
the people, overseeing farming and making laws
Hammurabi the Lawgiver
 Around 1790 B.C., Hammurabi took steps to unite the Babylon empire by publishing the Code of Hammurabi
 The Code of Hammurabi was the first important attempt by a ruler to write
down the laws of his kingdom
 Goals of the Code of Hammurabi
 Protect the weak
 Eliminate evil doers
 The Code of Hammurabi called for strict justice, an eye
for an eye
 “If a son strikes his father, his hands shall be cut off.”
 “If he breaks another man’s bone, his bone shall be broken...”
, tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life
Mesopotamian Cities
 Mesopotamian cities were well planned
 At the center of the city was the temple
 Since Mesopotamia lacked stone and lumber, sun-dried clay bricks
and reeds
for construction
 Since water
was the most important resource, most cities were built along a river
 Irrigation ditches, canals and
were used to move water throughout the city
 Gates
were built around the city to protect the people from attack
– Ishtar Gate
 Mesopotamians made many advancements in architecture
 Mesopotamians also created the world’s first columns
, arches
, and roofed structures
were used
Code of Hammurabi
There are at total of 282 laws in the Code of Hammurabi as well as a Prologue and an Epilogue in which he sets forth his
hopes and prayers for his code of laws
15 laws found in the Code of Hammurabi are translated into English below. Read these laws and then draw pictures in the
boxes below illustrating four of the laws from the list below. Mark the circle for each of the four laws you choose.
o If anyone brings an accusation against a man, and the accused goes to the river and leaps into the river, if he sinks in the
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river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river proves that the accused is not guilty, and he escapes
unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take
possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.
If anyone finds runaway male or female slaves in the open country and brings them to their masters, the master of the
slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver. (A shekel is an ancient measure of currency used as money)
If anyone brings an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if a
capital offense is charged, be put to death.
If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills
its owner, then the builder shall be put to death. (Another version is – If the owner's son dies, then the builder's son shall
be put to death)
If a son strikes his father, his hands shall be hewn off. (Hewn means to chop or cut, often using an axe)
If anyone steals the minor son of another, he will be put to death.
If a man strikes a free-born woman so that she loses her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss.
If a man puts out the eye of a patrician, his eye shall be put out. (A patrician is a member of the upper class)
If a man knocks the teeth out of another man, his own teeth will be knocked out.
If anyone strikes the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.
If a freeborn man strikes the body of another freeborn man of equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina.
If the slave of a freed man strikes the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off. (An ear is a body part that detects
sound)
If anyone commits a robbery and is caught, he shall be put to death.
If anyone opens his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, and the water floods his neighbor's field, he shall pay his
neighbor grain for his loss.
If a judge tries a case, reaches a decision, and presents his judgment in writing; and later it is discovered that his decision
was in error, and it was his own fault, he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case and be removed from the
judge's bench...
Crime
Punishment
Crime
Punishment
Crime
Punishment
Crime
Punishment
City-States in Mesopotamia, Chapter 2 Section 1, Reading Guide
Directions—Complete the blanks as you read page 29 through page 34 of your textbook, then answer the corresponding questions for each section.
Geography of the Fertile Crescent
A ____________________ climate dominates the landscape between the Persian Gulf and the ________________________________ in Southwest
Asia. Yet within this dry region lies an arc of land that provides some of the best ____________________ in Southwest Asia. The region’s curved shape
and the richness of the land led scholars to call it the ________________________________. It includes the lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and a
plain that became known as ______________________________. The word in Greek means “__________________________________________.”
The rivers framing Mesopotamia are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
The ___________ and _________________________ _____________ Mesopotamia at least once and year. As the rivers receded, it left a thick bed of
mud called ___________. Farmers planted grain in this rich, new soil and ____________________ the fields with river water. The results were large
quantities of ____________________ and barley at harvest time. The surpluses from their harvests allowed _________________ to _______________.
1.
What type of geographical feature dominates the landscape between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea?
2.
How is the land of the Fertile Crescent different than most of the region between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea?
3.
What does Mesopotamia mean in Greek?
4.
Which two rivers does Mesopotamia lie between?
5.
What happened to Mesopotamia at least once a year? How does this benefit farming in Mesopotamia?
Environmental Challenges ...Good soil was the advantage that attracted these settlers. However, there were three ________________________ to
their new environment.
- ________________________________ combined with a period of little or no _____________. The land sometimes became almost a ___________.
- With no natural barriers for __________________, a Sumerian village was nearly ____________________.
- The natural resources of Sumer were ______________. Building materials and other necessary items were ______________.
6.
What attracted settlers to Mesopotamia?
7.
What problems did the unpredictable flooding and little or no rain cause in Mesopotamia?
8.
What was the disadvantage of having no natural barriers around Sumerian villages?
9.
Why were building materials and other necessary items scarce in Sumer?
Solving Problems Through Organization Over a long period of time, the people of Sumer created solutions to deal with these ________________.
- To provide water, they dug ____________________ ditches that carried river water to their fields and allowed them to produce a surplus of
_________
- For ______________, they built ______________________ with mud brick.
- Sumerians ______________ their ______________, cloth, and crafted tools with the people of the mountains and the desert. In exchange, they
received __________________________ such as stone, wood and metal.
These activities required organization, cooperation, and leadership. It took many people working together, for example, for the Sumerians to construct
their large ______________________________. __________________ were needed to plan the projects and supervise the ________________. These
projects also created a need for ________ to settle disputes over how ______________ and ____________ would be distributed. These leaders and
laws were the beginning of organized _________________—and eventually of civilization.
10. How were Sumerians able to carry water to their fields, allowing them to produce a surplus of crops?
11. What did Sumerians build for protection?
12. How were Sumerians able to obtain raw materials, such as stone, wood and metal?
Sumerian Culture
A Religion of Many Gods Like many peoples in the Fertile Crescent, the Sumerians believed that many different
in nature. The belief in more than _______ god is called polytheism.
controlled the various forces
Sumerians described their gods as doing many of the same things humans do—falling in __________, having children, quarreling and so on. Yet the
Sumerians also believed that their gods were both immortal and ____________________. Humans were nothing but their ______________. At any
moment, the mighty ____________________________ might strike, sending a fire, a ______________, or an enemy to destroy a city. To keep the gods
happy, Sumerians built impressive ziggurats for them and offered rich ____________________ of animals, food, and wine.
The Sumerians believed that the souls of the dead went to the “land of no return,” a dismal, ______________ place between the earth’s crust and
ancient seas. No joy awaited souls there.
13. What is polytheism?
14. What are some examples of Sumerian gods doing many of the same things humans do?
15. What are two ways that Sumerians kept the gods happy?
16. How does the text describe the “land of no return?”
Sumerian Science and Technology Historians believe that Sumerians invented the ______________, the sail, and the plow and that they were among
the first to use bronze. Many new inventions arose from the Sumerians’ practical needs.
- Arithmetic and geometry In order to erect city walls and buildings, plan
systems, and survey flooded fields, Sumerians needed
arithmetic and geometry. They developed a number system in base ____, from which stem the modern units from measuring time (___ seconds =
__ minute) and the ______ degrees of a _______________.
- Architectural innovations ______________, ______________, ramps, and the ________________ shaped the design of the ziggurat and
permanently influenced Mesopotamian civilization.
- Cuneiform Sumerians create a system of __________________.
17. What are three inventions that historians believe that the Sumerians invented?
18. What are some examples of why the Sumerians needed arithmetic and geometry?
19. The Sumerians developed a number system based on what number? What are two examples of modern units that use a base 60?
20. What was the Sumerian system of writing named?
Use page 30 in your textbook to complete each of
the following on the map to the right.
Label the Tigris River
Label the Euphrates River
Label the Nile River
Label the Persian Gulf
Label the Mediterranean Sea
Label the Arabian Desert
Label the Syrian Desert
Shade and label Mesopotamia
Outline and label Sumer
Locate and label Babylon
Locate and label Egypt