Transcript 8/26/2015 Sumeria - Polk School District

STANDARD
SSWH1 The student will analyze the origins, structures, and
interactions of complex societies in the ancient Eastern
Mediterranean from 3500 BCE to 500 BCE.
ELEMENT
a. Describe the development of Mesopotamian societies; include the
religious, cultural, economic, and political facets of society, with
attention to Hammurabi’s law code.
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
USA
Mesopotamia was
located in the
Middle East.
Mesopotamia
was located
in what is
now the
country of
Iraq.
Geography
Dry desert
Climate
Mesopotamia
A flat plain
between the
Euphrates
and Tigris
rivers
Known as
the Fertile
Crescent
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
GEOGRAPHY CONT’D
Disadvantages
Environmental:
• Unpredictable
flooding
• Dry summer months
No natural barriers:
• No natural
protection
• small villages lying
in open plain were
defenseless
Limited Resources:
stone, wood, metal
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
City-States
• Formed along the rivers
• States had:
• Own government
• Own gods
• Own kings.
• Sumer = The region
where the two rivers
meet
• Sumerians: The people
who lived in the Sumer
• City states constantly at
war with one another
‘Civilization’
Farming
• Fertile soil = surpluses
• Surpluses = not
everyone had to farm
• Social hierarchy
develops
• Skilled labor develops
• Cultural and economic
prosperity
• ‘civilization’ emerges
City-States
• City States = Inside
walls and
surrounding farm
land
• walls = mud bricks
• Traded with other
city states
• Initiated Bronze
Age.
• Irrigation ditches
City Life
 Hot nights = sleep
on flat roof tops
 Burned oil lamps
 Indoor plumbing
 Underground clay
pipes carries
waste away
 1000yrs before
other parts of the
world had
plumbing
Courtyard area
Government
 Ziggurat
At the center of each
city
Walled temple
Political/religious
center
Pyramid shaped
structure
 Theocracyseamless combination
of religious and political
authority
Rule passed down to
heirs
 Dynasty – a series of rulers
descending from a single
family line.
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
The Ziggurat at Ur was first excavated by British archaeologist Woolley in 1923.
The Iraqi Directorate of Antiquities restored its lower stages in the 1980s.
CUNEIFORM:
(Wedge-shaped) the Sumerian system of writing.
• Writing first began in Sumerian cities.
The first schools were set up in Sumer
over 4,000 years ago. (2,500 B.C)
• Sumerian schools taught boys (wealthy)
writing, by coping the same writings over
and over again.
• Those who graduated became
professional writers called scribes, and
were leaders of their cities, temples, and
armies.
• Scribes were the only people who could
keep records for the kings and priests.
• Boys that wanted to be scribes had to
attend school from the age of 8 to the age
of 20.
SUMERIAN RELIGION
• Powerful priests held most of the
power
• Polytheism Belief in many gods
• Direct result of unpredictable
flooding.
• gods = hostile and unpredictable
like nature
GILGAMESH
Great website to visit:
http://gilgamesh.psnc.pl/
Tablet XI
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
Epic of Gilgamesh
GILGAMESH
Great website to visit:
•
•
•
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Oldest written
Flood story
Written on 12 clay tablets
It is about the adventures
of the cruel King
Gilgamesh of Uruk (ca.
2750 and 2500 BCE).
• In tablet XI we read about
Pernapishtim, a man who
built a boat and was saved
from a great flood brought
about by angry gods.
http://gilgamesh.psnc.pl/
Tablet XI
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
Sumerian Society
 Patriarchal- a
society dominated
by men.
Gypsum statue of man and woman at Inanna
Temple at Nippur, circa 2600-2300 B.C.
 Three social classes
Priests and
royalty (kings)
Wealthy
merchants
Ordinary workers
Statue of Sumerian woman with hands clasped at
chest, ca. 2600-2300 B.C.
Sumerian Society
 Slaves
 were not free
citizens
Gypsum statue of man and woman at Inanna
Temple at Nippur, circa 2600-2300 B.C.
 not included in class
system
 Women
 Could own property
 Allowed to join
lower ranks of
priesthood
 Illiterate - Not
allowed to attend
schools
Statue of Sumerian woman with hands clasped at
chest, ca. 2600-2300 B.C.
Science and Technology
Roll This
 Cuneiform writing
 Invented
 the wheel (wagon and potter’s)
 Sail, Arch, plow
 Calligraphy- one of the earliest
sketched maps
 astronomy
 a number system in base 60
 Used today for measuring time
from
 360 degrees of a circle.
 First to use Bronze (copper and tin)
 Cylinder seals = ancient
impressions used on administrative
documents and locking devices
PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.
Key Terms
 City-state: cities and the countryside that surrounds them and
were the basic units of Sumerian civilization.
 Ziggurat: Massive, stepped pyramid with a temple on top. The
political/religious center of Mesopotamia.
 Empire: a large political unit/state, usually under a single leader,
that controls many people and territories.
 Patriarchy: a society dominated by men.
 Polytheism: a belief in many gods.
 Cuneiform: “wedge-shaped” the Sumerian system of writing.
 Theocracy: government by divine authority
 Mesopotamia: “the land between the two rivers”- the Tigris and
Euphrates
 Dynasty: a series of rulers descending from a single family tree.
 Cultural Diffusion: the spread of the elements of one culture to
another, usually through trade.
STANDARD
SSWH1 The student will analyze the origins, structures, and
interactions of complex societies in the ancient Eastern
Mediterranean from 3500 BCE to 500 BCE.
ELEMENT
a. Describe the development of Mesopotamian societies; include the
religious, cultural, economic, and political facets of society, with
attention to Hammurabi’s law code.
List 5 facts which will help you remember this lesson:
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