Transcript Mesopotamian Civilization

SOUTHWEST ASIA
(3500 BC – 331 BC)
THE FERTILE CRESCENT – BETWEEN
PERSIAN GULF AND MEDITERRANEAN WATERED BY JORDAN RIVER, TIGRIS
AND EUPHRATES
What are some key
characteristics of civilization?
 Development of cities
 Government & Religious Institutions
 Division of labor or specialized workers
 System of writing/record-keeping
 Advanced technology
 Art
Sumerian Art
Sumer
 First real civilization (began
~3,100 B.C.)
 Located in Mesopotamia within
the “Fertile Crescent”
Geography of Mesopotamia
 Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
Little rain
 “Fertile Crescent” created
by floods (unpredictable)

 Irrigation (control water
supply)
 Little natural defense
from invasions
City-States
 Political and economic control of areas
around the city (examples – Eridu, Ur,
and Uruk)
 Ziggurat – temple dedicated to the chief
god or goddess of the city



Temples owned most of the land
Theocracy – government by divine origin
Power eventually went to kings (still believed
as divine)
 Economies based on farming with trade
and industry
 Nobles, commoners, and slaves
5 Characteristics
Cities
- by 3000BC 12 or more with populations
of 10,000 or more (Ur, Uruk etc.)
2) Trade and Specialization
- scribes, artisans, merchants, teachers,
priests, warriors
- food surplus
- taxes
1)
Characteristics (continued)
3) Writing – cuneiform – wedge shaped
on clay tablets
4) Advanced technology – wheel, plow,
sail boat, number system (base 60), and bronze
(2800 B.C.-700 B.C.)
5) Complex institutions (long lasting patterns
of organization)
- government – laws and officials, defense,
irrigation
- organized religion- large ziggurats with priests
Cuneiform
Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia
 Conflicts grew between city-states (water and land)
 @ 2340 – 2100 B.C. Akkadians invade from the
north and develop world’s first empire

Sargon
 1792 – 1750 B.C. Hammurabi (Amorites) takes
control of Sumer and Akkad
Came from Babylon
 Built temples, walls, and irrigation canals
 Empire collapsed after his death

Akkadian Empire
The Code of Hammurabi
 282 Laws
 Strict laws (“eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth”)
 Punishment based on class
 Duties for public officials
 Marriage and family
 Patriarchal (dominated by men)
The Code of
Hammurabi
Contributions
 @ 3000 B.C. – wheel
 Metals – used copper and bronze to make tools and
weapons
 Writing

Cuneiform (“wedge-shaped”)
 Math and Astronomy
 # system based on 60
 Lunar Calendar