Transcript New Empires & Ideas - Lavergne High School

Civilization in the Fertile Crescent
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA
MESOPOTAMIA
 Civilized
History begins here
area between Tigris &
Euphrates Rivers
 Does not signify a particular
people!
 Very different from Egypt
GEOGRAPHY OF AREA
 Strongly
influenced development
 Dominated by two rivers
 No natural barriers
Invaders not kept out
SUMERIAN CITY-STATES
City-State
 Basic political unit of 4th & 3rd
Mil.
Came from Asia in 3500 BC
City & land just around it
Ur, Eridu, Uruk main ones
Distrustful & jealous b/c of
RELIGION & GOVERNMENT
 Polytheistic
- belief in many gods
3,000 gods & goddesses
People never sure how gods will
act
Ziggurat
Temple dedicated to chief god
or goddess of a city-state
Most prominent building
RELIGION & GOVERNMENT
Theocracy
Govt.
by divine authority
Early on priest important
in ruling
Later, kings believed the
agent of gods
WRITING & LITERATURE
 Cuneiform
- writing system
On hand-sized clay tablets
Wedge-shaped poke
marks
For record-keeping
Scribes - record keepers
Important in society
CONFLICTS
 City-states
fought
among themselves
to control land & water
 And were also invaded
by outside groups
Because of lack of barriers
Conflict among Sumerians
eventually led to Sumer’s
INVADERS

Akkadians
 In
2300 B.C.
 Led by Sargon
 1st empire in world history

Large state under 1 leader controlling many peoples
and territories of different geography
INVADERS

Babylon
 1792
B.C.
 Led by Hammurabi
 powerful leader
 creates new kingdom in area
 Creates law code
HAMMURABI’S CODE
Collection of laws
 Strict justice
 Severe penalties:

 Depending

on your social class
“an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”
important part of system
CONTRIBUTIONS
1st 12 month calendar
 1st study of stars

 identified
5 planets
Divided day into two groups of 12 hrs.
 Number system based on 60
 Wheel(for pottery & carts),
 Sail (boat), Arch, Math, etc.

Civilization in the Fertile Crescent
ANCIENT SUMER
LEARNING TARGETS

This lesson is working toward fulfilling the
following learning targets:
 1.
I know the differences between monotheism and
polytheism.
 2. I can define cultural diffusion as it relates to the
sharing of cultures.
 3. I can explain how writing changed
communication in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
GEOGRAPHY
Fertile Crescent
 Mesopotamia
 Tigris River
 Euphrates River
 Sumer
 Ur and Uruk

VOCABULARY
City-state
 Social stratification
 Hierarchy
 Polytheism
 Cuneiform
 ziggurats

GEOGRAPHIC INFLUENCES

Fertile Crescent: region of the Middle East
named for its rich soils and wheat fields
 Curves
from Persian Gulf to the eastern
Mediterranean Sea
 Mesopotamia: “between the rivers;” name given to
the Fertile Crescent by the Greeks
 Between
 Home
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
of one of the world’ first civilization, the
Sumerians of Sumer
CREATING SUMER
 Irrigation:


Key to development in the Fertile Crescent =
controlling the rivers!
Floods ruined many villages and fields, so the
Sumerians built dikes and irrigation ditches
 Building:


Built using clay and water
Helped them develop the first cities, Ur and Uruk
 Trade:

Goods from Egypt and India have been found in
Sumerian cities
SUMERIAN GOVERNMENT

5 city-states (self-governing society) in which
the ruler was responsible for:
 Maintaining
the city, leading armies in war,
enforcing laws, collecting taxes, and keeping
records
 Ruler also leader of ceremonies for the gods
Social stratification: society divided into distinct
classes
 Hierarchy: system of ranking groups

SUMERIAN RELIGION & WRITING
 Polytheistic:

Believed the gods controlled every aspect of life
 Believed

worshipping multiple gods
in 3,000+ gods
Ziggurat: large, stepped platform in each Sumerian
city meant to honor the city’s chief god or goddess
 Cuneiform:
earliest form of writing, invented by
the Sumerians



System of symbols to represent complicated
thoughts
Wrote on clay tablets with a stylus
Students of cuneiform could be caned for talking in
class or writing sloppily
Hittites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Persians, & Phoenicians
THE FERTILE CRESCENT: HISTORY BEGINS
HERE
HITTITES
The Hittites came from Asia Minor into
Mesopotamia in 1400 BC
 Brought 1 major advancement:

 Could
extract iron from ore
 Tried to keep their knowledge a secret
 Were able to arm more people at less expense than
with copper or bronze
 Responsible for the beginning of the IRON AGE
ASSYRIANS
Assyrians lived in the upper Tigris region
 Established an empire in 1350 BC and expanded
across Mesopotamia
 Reputation: most feared warriors in history!
 Built beautiful palaces & created well-organized
cities



Created laws regulating life inside the royal household
Kept a library of cuneiform records from all over
the Fertile Crescent
NEBUCHADNEZZAR & BABYLON

Nebuchadnezzar: 2nd king of Babylon
Expanded the Babylonian empire to cover all of
Mesopotamia
 Ruthless & aggressive leader
 Rebuilt the city of Babylon into one of the largest and
most respected cities of Ancient Mesopotamia

 Defensive
moat, brick wall that was 85 ft. thick, 9 gateways,
canals, temples, walls, and palaces
 Ishtar Gate
 “Hanging Gardens” – one of the “7 wonders of the Ancient
World”
FERTILE CRESCENT
Name given to the crescent shaped fertile
region of modern day Israel, Lebanon, Jordan,
Turkey, Syria, and Iraq.
 Mesopotamia (land between the rivers)

 Low
lying region between the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
 Provide irrigation, flooding, etc.
THE SUMERIANS
•
•
•
•
•
Arrive in Mesopotamia around
3,500 BC/BCE from Asia Minor
Establish city-states by 3,000
BC (Ur, Uruk, and Eridu)
Each city-state had a ziggurat
and an independent
government
Evolve into military rule for
protection from invaders
By 2,700 most city-states were
run by theocratic monarchies
(kings were the military advisor,
priest, and law makers)
SUMERIAN CULTURE
•
•
•
•
Patriarchal
Could sell family to
pay off debts
Invented calendar
Polytheistic
–
Gods powerful,
anthropomorphic,
selfish, and
unpredictable
Anu – sky god, god of heaven,
king of gods
SUMERIAN WRITING
•
•
•
•
•
Cuneiform (“wedgeshaped”)
Began as symbols, written
on clay tablets
Had over 2,000 characters
Could learn cuneiform in
schools called eddubas
Allowed for the writing of
the oldest story in history:
_____________
EPIC OF GILGAMESH
King of Uruk
around 2600 BC
 Described as 2/3
god, 1/3 human

INVASIONS OF SUMERIA: AKKADIANS
•
•
•
•
•
Sargon I (an Akkadian)
A herder who moved through
ranks to become ruler of
Akkad (northern
Mesopotamia) in 2,300 BC
United all Mesopotamian citystates
His empire was the first in
history
His son was unsuccessful =
Akkadian rule declined
INVASIONS OF SUMERIA: THE AMORITES
People of western Syria
 Used military strength to control the region
 Called the region Babylon
 King Hammurabi used his strength and power
to unite Mesopotamia under his control

HAMMURABI: BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
Reorganized tax system
 Rebuilt irrigation canals
 Made Babylon a major trade
center
 Increased the economic
prosperity of his people
 Organized a strong
government

HAMMURABI: THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE


Code of Hammurabi
 282 law codes
 Specific guidelines with corresponding
punishments
 Penalized wrongdoers more severely
than previous Sumerian laws
 “Eye for an eye” mentality
After Hammurabi’s death, the Babylonian
Empire declined and Mesopotamia was
divided into small states