Transcript The Emergence of a Civilization notes

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The image above is the code of Hammurabi.
The code of Hammurabi is an ancient set of
laws.
Historians believe that the Code was created
roughly 2000 BC.
The code was created in Babylon by the sixth
Babylonian king Hammurabi.
The stone was discovered in 1901.
The Code contains civil laws, economic laws,
and consequences for broken laws.
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After the emergence of sedentarization
writing began to develop.
People needed to keep track of their
possessions as well as their surplus.
Furthermore, people needed to have
evidence of trade, first “bills”
People also began to document events, first
written history began during this time.
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The Fertile Crescent had an abundance of
fertile land due to the flooding of several
rivers.
However, these rivers did not overflow at the
same time every year.
People had to take precautions to protect
their fields.
Furthermore, precipitation was irregular and
very light.
People began to create irrigation canals.
These canals allowed farmers to water
their fields event during times of drought.
 This ensured a constant abundance of
food.
 People also began building dikes.
 These dikes protected fields from
overflowing rivers.
 Reservoirs were created to store water
encase of severe drought.
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Agriculture allowed for more people in a
society to be fed.
This allowed for more people to develop
trades.
Over time these villages grow and become
cities.
Chiefs turn into Kings or Emperors, which
pass laws that their people must follow.
Writing allowed these laws to be
documented
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Civilizations are very much like humans.
They are born, they develop and decline and
eventually die.
The death of a civilization usually occurs
when their way of life is significantly
disrupted.
This could be due to wars, death of a king,
famines, disease, or natural phenomena.
Ex: Ancient Rome
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Writing was a new way of communicating.
It was also a perfect way to keep track of
surplus and trading.
It was the surpluses produced by farmers that
led to the development of craftsmen and
trade.
In Mesopotamia the population split in to
more diverse groups .
Each of these new groups had a specific role
and provided a specific service.
1. Peasants: farmed the land, raised
livestock, provided manual labour. This
group made up most of the population.
2. Craftspeople: made tools, bricks, weapons,
pots, etc. They also provided labour to
upkeep public buildings.
3. Merchants: were responsible for trading.
They imported products different areas.
4. Soldiers: protected the territory and routes
used by merchants.
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Merchants would travel very long distances
to trade their goods.
Trading journeys could last months or even
years.
These trade routes were often very
dangerous. Soldiers were needed to protect
the caravans.
Merchants used the wheel to help carry
products over long distances.
It was this invention that started the first
shipping businesses.
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For a long time historians believed that the
wheel was invented in Mesopotamia around
3000 BC.
New evidence suggests that the first wheel
was used in Caucasus (modern Russia) around
3650 BC.
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Cuneiform took almost 1000 years to develop
into the written language known to the
Mesopotamians.
3500 BC people began drawing objects and
pictograms on clay tablets.
Once the clay had dried the drawings
remained, which created the first written
documents.
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Pictograms were to represent animals, crops,
or religious figures.
It was harder to represent complex situations.
For example: conversations.
As the need to record more complex
situations pictograms became simpler.
These symbols eventually began
representing sounds.
Eventually symbols did not look like the
original drawing. They were a system of lines
and wedges.
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Cuneiform comes from the Latin word, which
mean s nails or corner.
This written language had over 700 different
symbols.
It is read from left to right and in rows.
It was used account for surplus, trade, laws
and religious traditions.
Not everyone in ancient Mesopotamia could
read or write this was seen as an honour and
reserved for scribes.
Scribes had to study from when they were
very young.
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Very wealthy farmers and merchants
employed their own scribes.
Scribes used a sharpened reed or piece of
bamboo called a “calamus”
This allowed scribes to make the lines and
wedges.
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Mesopotamian society was very hierarchical.
Hierarchical: social organization each group
in society must submit and obey to a more
powerful group.
There were many social groups.
At the head of society was the king.
Every city in Mesopotamia had its own
organization, its own king and its own laws.
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There were roughly ten major cities in
Mesopotamia.
Each of these cities were independent from
one another, but all shared the same religion.
All cities were built near farms and were
protected by a large stone wall.
There were two parts to every city the higher
part and the lower part.
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The part were broken up into the higher city
and the lower city.
The lower city contained houses, shops, and
markets.
The higher city included the royal palace,
royal warehouses, and the Ziggurat.
The Ziggurat was a temple and considered
very sacred land . Very few people were
allowed to set foot within its walls.
The higher city was also protected by another
wall.
See page 40 in your workbooks.
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In Mesopotamia the closer you lived to the
higher city the higher your social position.
Therefore if you worked for the king you lived
closer to the higher city.
Elite
King
Free People
Slaves
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Mesopotamian kings made laws.
Once the laws were made it was up to the
king to enforce these laws.
The King enforced these laws through his
military.
Whoever was caught breaking the kings laws
were punished.
One example was the code of Hammurabi
Different cities had different laws.
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Mesopotamian religion is the oldest known
religion.
The Mesopotamians worshiped many gods.
Different Gods had different powers and were
worshiped for different reasons.
Religious leaders (high priests) maintained
the temples.
Mesopotamian temples were called ziggurats
Priests organized feasts and other festivals.