Transcript File - Mr. Challis-Jones` Social Studies Website

Chapter 4: Mesopotamia
Lesson 1: The Sumerians
Bell Ringer
What are 3 reasons early civilizations would need
to invent a written form of language?
 The
First Civilizations in Mesopotamia
 Civilizations
first developed around 3,000 BC in
river valleys
 Located
in Mesopotamia, Egypt, India, and China
 Very
similar to each other
 Had
social classes
 Depended
 Had
governments
 Set
 Had
on your occupation
up laws, defended the people, and built large projects
values and beliefs
 These
gave meaning to life

Two Rivers
 Mesopotamia Was
the earliest known civilization
 Located
 The
A
“the land between the rivers”
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Fertile Crescent
curving strip of good farm land

Early Valley Dwellers

People first settled Mesopotamia around 7,000 BC



These people were hunters and herders
By 4,000 BC they began to build farming villages
Taming the Rivers

Water from the rivers was used to water their fields

Floods left behind silt – small particles of soil great for farming

Created a system of irrigation – system that supplies water to dry
lands

Dug canals from the water source to their fields

Led to a surplus - extra amounts of food

Led to more trade and development of cities like Sumer
 Sumer’s
Civilization
 People
living here were known as Sumerians
 Built cities which became centers of civilization
 City-States
Arise
 City-state
– a city that governs itself and its
surround territory
 Were cut off from their neighbors due to harsh
landscape
 Had their own government
 Populations
were between 5,000 – 20,000 people
 Used mud to make bricks for building
 Often fought and traded with each other

Gods, Priests, and Kings
 Polytheism
 had
 Each
– worshipped many gods
powers over different parts of life
city-state picked a god to represent them
 Built
ziggurats – pyramid-shaped structures with a temple at
the top to honor them

The top was considered a holy place
 Priests
were the first rulers of city-states
 Monarchies
Queens
 First
developed and were run by Kings and
Kings were war heroes

Social Groups
 People
were divided into social classes
 Upper
 Middle

class – Kings, Priests and Warriors
Class – merchants, farmers, fishers, and artisans
Largest social class
 Lower
class – slaves

Captured in war, criminals, or people in debt

Worked for the upper class
 Roles
of Men and Women
 Men
went to school and trained for a specific job
 Women
took care of the home and children
 Farmers
Most
and Traders
people living in Sumer were farmers
Grew
wheat, barley, and dates
Raised
sheep, goats, and pigs
Sumerians
needed to trade for goods they
did not have
Trade
routes linked up as far away as India
and Egypt
Traded
for timber, minerals, and metals
Document Based Question
“To bring about the rule of righteousness in the land,
to destroy the wicked and evil-doers; so that the
strong should not harm the weak; so that I should rule
over and enlighten the land, to further the well being
of mankind.”
- Code of Hammurabi

Hammurabi was known for being a fair ruler. What does this
code reveal about how he will rule the people in his kingdom?

Why does Hammurabi refer to “wicked and evil-doers”? Who
are they?

Turn to Page 74 in your text books:
 Look
at the map and answer questions 1, 3, and 4.
 Look
at the timeline and place these events in order,
starting with the earliest
 Assyrians
control Mesopotamia
 Settlements
 Sumerians
 The
develop along the Indus River
invent cuneiform
first Olympic Games

Sumerian Contributions

Mesopotamia is considered the “Cradle of Civilization”


Sumer influenced many future civilizations


Beginning of organized human society
They copied an improved on what Sumer did
Writing

Most important contribution

Earliest known system in the world

Called Cuneiform – wedge shaped marks in soft clay


Did not have paper
Mostly wealthy men learned how to write

Became scribes – people who copy or write information for record
keeping

Wrote stories like the “Epic of Gilgamesh”

Technology and Mathematics
 First
people to use the wheel
 Built
carts which were pulled by donkeys
 Used
carts for military called Chariots
 Developed
 Traveled
 Made
along the rivers
the first wooden plow
 Used
 First
the first sailboats
for farming
people to develop Bronze
 Made
from copper and tin
 Developed
time measurement
 60
seconds in a minute
 60
minutes in an hour
 12
month calendar based on the moon
Reflection
Choose which invention you think is the most
significant and explain why you made this choice.
Write AT LEAST 5 sentences to answer this question.
Chapter 4
Lesson 2
Bell Ringer
Why do you think Hammurabi wanted to display
his code of laws for his people to see?

The First Empires

Empire – a group of many different lands under one ruler

By 2400 BC, Sumer had faded and powerful empires arose

King Sargon

Ruled the Kingdom of Akkad

Conquered what was left of Sumer’

Created the first empire in 2340 BC


Lasted for 200 years
Hammurabi

Ruled the Kingdom of Babylon


Stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea
Known for creating laws called Hammurabi’s Code

“eye for an eye”

Considered a just and fair ruler
 The
Assyrian Empire
 Existed
1,000 years after Hammurabi
 Built a large and powerful military
 numbered
around 50,000
 Had cavalry, infantry, and charioteers
 Robbed and destroyed villages
 Took tribute – forced payments from conquered people
 Used IRON weapons
 Kings
and Government
 Extended
from Persian Gulf to Nile River
 Capital city was Nineveh
 Divided into provinces – territories belonging to an
empire
Connected by guarded roads
 Paid taxes to the king


Life in Assyria
 Based
on other Mesopotamian cultures
 Similar
laws, harsher punishments
 Worshipped
 King
same gods
Ashurbanipal built one of the first libraries
 Located
 Held
in Nineveh
25,000 tablets of stories and songs

The Chaldean Empire
 Took
control of Babylonia by 612 BC
 Rebelled
 Led
against Assyrians
by King Nabopolassar
 Burned Assyrian
 Made
Babylon their new capital
 Greatness
 Rebuilt
of Babylon
by King Nebuchadnezzar (Son of Nabopolassar)
 Surrounded
 300
capital, Nineveh, to the ground
by huge brick walls
ft. tall ziggurat with a golden roof
 Hanging
Gardens of Babylon

One of the 7 Ancient Wonders

Had a complex irrigation system
 Located

along a major trade route
Caravans – group of merchants traveling together for safety
 Fall
of the Empire
 After
Nebuchadnezzar
 Series
 Poor
of weak kings
harvests/trade
 Conquered
 Allowed
by Persia
to keep their culture
Reflection: Why do you think ancient cities had at
least one magnificent building?
Write AT LEAST 5 sentences to answer this
question.
Use this example of a diagram to brainstorm types of
evidence archaeologists might look for in order to learn
about life in ancient Mesopotamia.
Use this example of a diagram to list the effects of 3 major inventions during the
time of these early Mesopotamian civilizations.