Transcript chapter 3: the fertile crescent

CHAPTER 3: THE
FERTILE CRESCENT
Part I.
Sections 1 & 2
Ms.
Brownlee’s
6 th Grade
World History
SECTION 1: THE CIVILIZATION OF SUMER
This is what
Sumer might
have looked
like.
Image taken
from:
arcturi.com
AGRICULTURE IN MESOPOTAMIA
The Fertile
Crescent is
located in the
Middle East. The
area located
by the Tigris, Nile,
and Euphrates
Rivers are
known as the
most fertile areas.
Image taken: mrdowling.com
DEFINITION OF “FERTILE”
ˈfərdl/
adjective
(of soil or land) producing or capable of
producing abundant vegetation or crops.
"fields along the fertile flood plains of the
river"
synonyms: fecund, fruitful, productive,
high-yielding, rich, lush
"the soil is fertile"
REMEMBER, A CIVILIZATION HAS MORE THAN
ONE CIT Y – SUMER IS THE ORANGE AREA .
GEOGRAPHY OF MESOPOTAMIA
 Northern Mesopotamia- includes foothills of the Taurus
and Zagros mountain chains.
 Southern Mesopotamia- The foothills of Zagros and
Taurus flatten into plains that stretch southeast
towards the Persian Gulf.
 The southern region was also hot and dry with little
rainfall. Owes its good soil to the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers. Each summer the river flood their banks
spreading floodwaters and slit across the plain . When
the flooding ends, left is fertile land that is perfect for
growing crops.
 The geography of Mesopotamia also gave farmers many
challenges. The flooding could wash away crops and
entire villages. The hot sun could dry the land making it
rock hard. With little rain, plants often died.
PHYSICAL MAP OF MESOPOTAMIA: TO THE NORTH
TAURUS & ZAGROS MOUNTAINS. THE ARABIAN
DESERT, THE RIVERS, AND SINAI PENINSULA .
FARMING THE LAND
Farmers used technology to turn Mesopotamia’s
land into productive farmland.
Technology-practical application of knowledge to
accomplish a task.
Sumerians used a process called irrigation
to bring water to their crops.
Sumerians also developed new ways of farming
by attaching a seed funnel to their plows, which
allowed the seeds to automatically drop into the
soil, as farmers plowed.
CIT Y STATES OF SUMER
What city-states might have looked like. Image taken from: christiansofiraq.com
CITIES EMERGE, TRADE, SOCIAL CLASSES
Do to the increase in food production, populations
also grew…this growth in populations led to the
creation of cities and eventually city-states.
City-states grew such as Uruk, Ur, Lagash, and
Nippur. A city-state is an independent state that
includes a city and its surrounding territory. A city state also has its own government.
Each city-state was the center of trading. Trading
was very important as it brought goods that were
not found in that particular city -state.
Trading was often done through the barter
method.
SUMERIAN SOCIAL CLASS SYSTEM
three distinct classes:
Upper = priest, landowners, wealthy
merchants, rulers;
Middle =farmers and skilled
workers;
Lower= slaves
SUMERIAN RELIGION = The Ziggurat
The Ziggurat were seven stories high, with each story
smaller than the one below. The Ziggurats often held
statues and paintings & precious things belonging to
SUMERIAN RELIGION
Priests lived & ran the Ziggurats (religious
temples).
people practiced polytheism, which is the belief in
more than one God.
believed that there was a God for every aspect of
their lives.
They also believed that the Gods lived like
humans, in which they married, had children, ate,
drank, but they did not die like humans.
people believed that priest had a direct link to the
Gods and thus they knew what the Gods wanted.
SUMERIAN WRITING
Sumerian
Alphabet
Image shows
that they
used phonics in
their
pronunciation of
words.
Image taken from:
ancientscripts.com
CUNEIFORM AND GILGAMESH
Sumerians initially started drawing pictographs to
show how many things were in their storage.
Eventually this led to the first form of writing
called cuneiform.
Cuneiform is the writing system that uses
triangular-shaped symbols to stand for ideas or
things. The priests of Sumer created this system.
Cuneiform eventually went from being used to
record things such as taxes paid, agreements, and
sales to books and stories.
The most famous of these stories is the Epic of
Gilgamesh.
SUMERIAN CUNEIFORM
SUMERIAN GOVERNMENT
Image shows the Sumerian king Anunnaki sitting on the throne. Image taken from:
1anunnaki.co.cc
KINGS, PRIESTS, LAWS, ACHIEVEMENTS
Priests were known as the major rulers of citystates.
When states went to war, priests often appointed
someone to be a leader. When the war was over,
the leader would give up their power, but
sometimes they would retain their power and
thus they became kings.
Kings were always aware of the fact that they
needed the people’s support to stay in power &
thus they always were careful to respect the
rights & the powers of the priests.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Kings often collected city laws into a law code.
This allowed all citizens of the city to know the
specific rules for that city. Law codes included
laws about slavery, marriage, and causing harm to
others.
Some of the achievements of the Sumerians were:
irrigation system, an improved plow, and
development of bronze.
BRONZE TOOLS, WEAPONS & ?
SUMERIAN IRRIGATION
SECTION 2: THE FIRST EMPIRES
W
h
HUMAN HISTORY SO FAR ~
Huntergather
ers/no
home
Paleolithic
/
Primitive
stone
tools, fire,
animal
skin
shelters
Neolithic/
agriculture
/ villages
First
Civilization
/ Sumer /
Irrigation /
Governme
nt / writing
NEXT
COMES
FIRST
EMPIRE
THE “CONQUEST OF SUMER”
Conquer - overcome and take control of (a
place or people) by use of military force
The city-states of Sumer were constantly
fighting with each other. This constant fighting
led to the creation of empires.
Two of the largest city-states, Umma and
Lagash often fought for power for Sumer and
its city-states. In a battle fought around 2450
B.C., Lagash won. This defeat led to the near
destruction of Umma, but in another battle
around 2375 B.C. Umma defeated
Lagash…this defeat didn’t last very long.
SARGON
•He was an Akkadian.
•He was originally king of
Kish.
•Sargon’s army eventually
took over Mesopotamia.
•Gave his daughter the
position of high priestess.
•Created the world’s first
empire.
Picture of Sargon. Image taken from: socialstudiesforkids.com
AKKADIAN CULTURE
AKKADIAN
SUMERIAN
Practiced polytheism.
Writing system was
cuneiform.
Practiced polytheism.
Writing system was
cuneiform.
After the Akkadians took over, they kept the way
of life of Sumer. They practiced the same
religions and used their writing system.
Akkadian and Sumerian culture was able to spread
throughout the Indus Valley, because they combined
their culture and introduced it wherever they went.
AKKADIAN’S END
The Akkadian empire survived for
almost 100 years after Sargon
died.
The empire fell due to the fact that
there was constant invasions and
rebellions.
After 179 years, a new king by the
name of Ur-Nammu was able to
gain control and united Sumer
once again.
BABYLON
This is what Babylon looks like today and what it used to look like.
Image taken from: providenceprecepts.blogspot.com
THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
Babylon became the center of the
Mesopotamian empire when Hammurabi
took power.
Hammurabi 1. He was king for 30 years.
 2. Ruled his people with a strong government & army.
 3. Retained control, because of his strong practices.
 4. Encourage growth of trade and building projects.
 5. Had well trained troops.
 6. Able to retain power, because he had excellent people
working for him.
IMAGES & ANCIENT ARTIFACTS OF
HAMMURABI
HAMMURABI’S CODE
Hammurabi’s Code are a set of laws that governed
life in the Babylonian empire.
The code includes over 200 laws.
Laws concerning robbery and murder have specific
punishments.
The code also dealt with businesses, contracts,
taxes, marriage, and divorce.
Hammurabi’s Code was the first attempt to
organize and write down specific laws that
governed a society.
Hammurabi’s Code ensured that all rich and poor
HAMMURABI’S CODE OF LAW
This is Hammurabi’s Code of law in Cuneiform. Image taken from: tomgpalmer.com
DAILY LIFE IN BABYLONIA AND
SUMER’S LEGACY
 The daily life of Babylonia revolved around
agriculture.
 People also bought and sold goods.
 People used new technologies to make new weapons,
pottery, perfumes, and medicine.
 Artist used bronze to make sculptures.
 Jewelry was made from used gold and precious
stones.
 After the death of Hammurabi, the empire collapsed .
 Sumer eventually faded away, but the culture was
kept alive through all that was in contact with the
Sumerians.