Transcript Civilization in Mesopotamia

Civilization in
Mesopotamia
Geography of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is
located between the
Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers,
in an area called the
Fertile Crescent.
Geography of
Mesopotamia
Some of the cities in
Mesopotamia were:
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Sumer
Akkadia
Ur
Assyria
Babylon
Geography of
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia’s
physical features
are rivers and
fertile, rich soil. It
is surrounded by
desert.
Mesopotamia is
considered
“The Birthplace of
Civilization”
• Civilization is a society with cities,
specialized workers, record keepers,
technology, government and religion.
Farming in Mesopotamia
The Tigris
and
Euphrates
Rivers
made early
farming
and
settlement
possible.
Mesopotamia’s climate was
almost always hot and dry.
But sometimes it rained so
hard that the region flooded.
To control the water, farmers from
Mesopotamia dug canals from the
Tigris & Euphrates Rivers.
Methods like this for watering
crops are known as
irrigation systems.
Irrigation
helped the
people of
Mesopotamia
control when
and how
much they
watered their
crops.
Also, the Mesopotamians
invented the plow and used
domesticated oxen to plow
their fields.
Technology in
Mesopotamia
Technology – the use and knowledge of
tools and products that make life easier.
One major technological
advancement of the
Mesopotamians was the invention
of the wheel. Now an ox or
donkey could carry a large load.
Cuneiform Writing
By 2000 B.C. Sumerians
developed wedge shaped
symbols into a writing
system. This system was
called cuneiform.
Click below for a short video
about cuneiform:
Cuneiform Writing
• People who were trained to
write in cuneiform were
called scribes.
Click below for a short
video about scribes.
At first they wrote down their
records. Cuneiform started
as pictures but ended up as
symbols.
The calendar made it
possible to predict the rain
and flood seasons.
Mesopotamians made the
first boats and sea faring
ships.
They also
invented the
first musical
instruments.
And they
created the
first number
system.
Mesopotamian Religion
Mesopotamians practiced
polytheism.
Polytheism is the belief in more
than one god.
Each Mesopotamian city had a
different god that they believed
watched over them.
They believed that the gods were
responsible for the well-being of
the people and the fertility of the
land.
They believed that natural
disasters were signs that gods
were mad at them.
The largest building in a
Mesopotamian city was called a
ziggurat.
Top = Temple for gods
Bottom = Government Offices
Rulers of Mesopotamia
Rulers of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia was made up of city-states.
A city-state included a city and all the
farmlands around it. Each had its own
leader and government.
• Due to a surplus in harvest, many
city-states had a complex division
of labor. It included farmers,
merchants* and craft workers.
*merchants = people who sell things.
MESOPOTAMIAN SOCIAL CLASSES
KING
PRIEST &
GOVERNMENT
WORKERS
MERCHANTS,
CRAFTSMEN,
& SCRIBES
LABORERS &
SLAVES
Famous Rulers
• Sargon the
Conqueror (2300 B.C.)
- Was a servant who
formed an army and
conquered Mesopotamia
- He became the region’s
first emperor.
- First to set up a
standing army
•
Hammurabi
(1790-1750 B.C.)
-From Babylon
-Controlled all of
Mesopotamia
-Introduced taxation
-Code of Hammurabi
Code of
Hammurabi
- Code of Laws
-dealt with daily
life (marriage
divorce,
adoption, slaves)
- eye for an eye