Transcript Mesopotamia - rmsibsarahhunt

Mesopotamia
Ms. Hunt
RMS IB Middle School
2012-2013
THE ANCIENT SOCIETIES OF
MESOPOTAMIA
• “LAND BETWEEN
THE RIVERS”
• The Fertile
Crescent
• The land
between the
Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers
EFFECTS OF GEOGRAPHY ON
CIVILIZATION IN MESOPOTAMIA
• No natural barriers = INVASIONS!
• Cultural changes (migration)
• No stone, people created bricks for buildings and clay tablets
for writing
• Lots of water- AGRICULTURE and towns!
• Flooding of the rivers
– PRO- fertile land
– CON- loss of land and homes
SUMERIANS
• Earliest society
• Established citystates (nation
within a city) 4000
B.C.
• City-states
constantly at war
with others
• City-states
surrounded by
walls and guard
towers
ANCIENT FESTIVAL IN UR
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SUMERIANS
• Cuneiform Writing- wedged shaped writing
completed on clay tablets
• Created a number system based on 60
• Now used to measure time
• Architecture- Sumerians invented the arch and
Ziggurat (square pyramid)
• Developed the wheel
ZIGGURAT
SUMERIAN RELIGION
• GovernmentTheocracy
• Leaders looked to
the Gods for
guidance
• ReligionPolytheistic
• Ziggurat- center of
government and
religion
EPIC OF GILGAMESH
ONE OF THE OLDEST KNOWN WORKS OF LITERATURE, THE EPIC POEM OF
GILGAMESH TELLS THE STORY OF GILGAMESH, A KING, AND HIS FRIENDSHIP
WITH ENKIDU, A WILDMAN MADE BY THE GODS.
BABYLONIANS
• BABYLON –city state in
Mesopotamia
• Ruler- King Hammurabi,
greatest ruler
• Hammurabi established the
Babylonian Empire
• Overthrown by invaders, 1700
B.S.
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE
BABYLONIANS
• Code of HammurabiOldest known legal
system
1.
2.
3.
4.
AN EYE FOR AN EYE
DIVISION OF CLASSES
FAIR TREATMENT OF WOMEN
BUSINESS LAW
CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE
BABYLONIANS
1. Astronomy and
Astrology- believed their
ancestors came from
the stars
- Studied movement of the
heavens
2. Religious literaturestory of creation, first
man and woman, the
“great flood”
Hammurabi’s Code- You be the Judge!


For each of the following events,
decide as a team what you think
should happen to the person
accused.
Be prepared to defend you verdict to
the court!
Case #1


What should be done to the carpenter who
builds a house that falls and kills the owner?
If a builder builds a house for a man and does
not make its construction sound, and the house
which he has built collapses and causes the
death of the owner of the house, the builder
shall be put to death.
Case #2


What should be done about a wife who
ignores her duties and belittles her
husband?
If the woman has not been careful but has
gadded about, neglecting her house and
belittling her husband, they shall throw
that woman into the water.
Case #3


What should be done when a "sister of
god" (or nun) enters the wine shop for a
drink?
If a "sister of god" (nun) who is not living
in a convent opens a wine shop or enters
a wine shop for a drink, they shall burn
that woman.
Case #4


What should be done if a son is adopted
and then the birth-parents want him back?
If a man takes in his own home a young
boy as a son and rears him, one may not
bring claim for that adopted son.
Case #5


What happens if a man is unable to pay
his debts?
If a man be in debt and is unable to pay
his creditors, he shall sell his wife, son, or
daughter, or bind them over to service. For
three years they shall work in the houses
of their purchaser or master; in the fourth
year they shall be given their freedom.
Case #6


What should happen to a boy who slaps
his father?
If a son strikes his father, they shall cut off
his hand.
Case #7

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What happens to the wine seller who fails
to arrest bad characters gathered at her
shop?
If bad characters gather in the house of a
wine seller and she does not arrest those
characters and bring them to the palace,
that wine seller shall be put to death.
Case #8

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How is the truth determined when one
man brings an accusation against another?
If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the
accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink
in the river his accuser shall take possession of his
house. But if the river prove that the accused is not
guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought
the accusation shall be put to death, while he who
leaped into the river shall take possession of the house
that had belonged to his accuser.
Our Hammurabi’s Code


On your blank poster paper, complete the following
assignment.
From our discussion on the government system in
Babylon, write a 4 new laws that you think would govern
a society in the best possible way.



Your laws must be written in complete sentences.
The group must decorate their tablet like a Sumerian ruler would
have!
Keep the following questions in mind while your group is
creating new laws.
Do you feel that this government system is a fair one for it’s
people?
 Do you think that this type of government would work in today’s
world?
 Do you think that the US government should be more like
Hammurabi’s?
*Your group has 25 minutes to complete your tablet
