Transcript Mesopotamia, c. 4000-1000 B.C.E. (Bronze Age)

Mesopotamian Geographic Region
(4000-1000 BCE)
– The West’s first largescale civilization
– Government
• Monarchy/priest-king
• Cities containing large
public buildings
• Crop diversification
and diverse crafts
• Organized central
governments
• Writing
• Influenced all the later
culture groups that
conquered the region.
Religion and Mythology
• Polytheistic
• religious belief reflected
harshness of war and
struggle with
unpredictable
environment
• War-like gods who
possessed total control
over human lives
• Sacrifices, rituals,
temples (ziggurats)
• Power of priests and
priestesses
Sumerian City-States
(4000-2300 BCE)
– Located on the
Mesopotamian plain, close
to the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
– Earliest cities in southern
Mesopotamia
– Not unified under one
leader, made up of several
city-states
– Constantly at war with one
another over resources
– Common language,
culture, religion
– Agriculture and trade (as
far away as India)
Epic of Gilgamesh
• ancient poem written in
Mesopotamia more
than four thousand
years ago.
• tells of a great flood that
covered the earth
• similar to the story of
Noah in the Old
Testament of the
Jewish and Christian
holy books.
• Modern science has
discovered that there
was a marked increase
in the sea levels about
6,000 years ago as the
last ice age ended. The
melting ice drained to
the oceans causing the
sea level to rise more
than ten feet in one
century.
Sumerian Contributions
• Cuneiform-earliest
written language
• Wheel
• Plow
• Sailboat
• Mathematical system
• astronomy
Akkadian Empire
(2330-2100 BCE)
– Semitic people who
migrated from the
Arabian Peninsula
– Conquered the
Sumerians
– Central city of Akkad,
later to become
Babylon
– World’s first empire
– Located on the banks
of the Euphrates
– Sargon the Great
conquered Sumerian
cities and territories
westward to the
Mediterranean, in part
to ensure metal
supplies
– Akkadian-common
language
– Sumerian- only for
religious purposes
– Destroyed by invading
Gutians during reign of
Sargon’s grandson
Babylonia Empire
(1800-1500 BCE)
• Babylon located on
the banks of the
Euphrates River
• Hammurabi was the
sixth king
• Important trade center
• Code of Hammurabi
Code of
Hammurabi
– 282 Laws that formed the
basis of the Babylonian
legal system
– One of the earliest known
written laws
– King’s responsibility to
maintain order and justice
– Basis of international
commercial law: regulated
contracts, interest,
mortgages, etc.
– Criminal penalties harsh
and reflective of social
hierarchy
– Carved into a stela, (stone
pillar) and kept in a special
temple
Assyrian Empire
(1100-612 BCE)
– Assur, city on the Tigris
River originally under
Babylonian rule
– Over two centuries, fought
to expand their control
– Lower Mesopotamia,
Persia, Syria, Sinai
Peninsula and along the SE
coast of Med. Sea into
Egypt
– controlled trade between
Anatolia and Mesopotamia
– Ruled with a combination of
highly centralized
government headed by
royal appointed governors
and terror
– Advanced weapons (seige
engine)
– Built a fine library (literature,
math, science)
– Encouraged private
enterprise rather than state
monopoly
– Overthrown by Chaldeans
Chaldean Empire
Neo-Babylonian
(612-539 BCE)
• Another name for Babylonia
• Took control of the city of
Babylon through bloody battles
• cruel rule over those they
conquered
• King Nebuchadnezzar
conquered Canaan & enslaved
the Israelites
• Marched them to Babylon as
slaves
Hanging Gardens
• terraces rising to the palace
roof irrigated by pumps
• Astronomy-created manuals
for later civilizations
• Timekeeping-divided the day
into 12 double hours
• 7 day week division of the hour
into sixty minutes
Persian Empire
(550-333 BCE)
• Originated on the
plateau east of Zagros
Mtns Indo Aryran
• After being conquered
by others, Cyrus the
Great, a great Persian
general, organized the
military and conquered
the Mesopotamian
region
• Tolerant rulers who
respected different
religions, languages
and customs
• Divided into provinces
and constructed roads