Mesopotamian Civilization
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Transcript Mesopotamian Civilization
Mesopotamian
Civilization
Chapter 1
Section 2
Mesopotamian Civilization
Civilizations: are complex societies with cities,
governments, art, religion, class divisions, and a writing
system.
Rivers were important because they made for good
farming conditions. They also made it easy for people to
travel and trade.
Governments were formed because someone had to
make plans and decisions for the common good.
Mesopotamia is a flat plain bounded by the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers.
Floods were frequent and unpredictable.
Farmers learned to control the rivers with dams and channels.
They used the rivers for irrigation, which is a way of watering
crops.
Mesopotamian Civilization
Sumer: located in the southern region.
Sumerian cities were city-states, with their own
government.
Sumerian cities often fought one another.
For protection, the city-states had surrounding walls.
Sumerians were polytheistic: believed in many gods.
Each city-state had a ziggurat, or grand temple, to honor the
gods.
Most Sumerians were farmers, but some were artisans,
or skilled workers.
Others were merchants and traders.
Sumerian city-states had three classes:
Upper: kings, priests, and government officials
Middle: Artisans, merchants, fishers, and farmers.
Lower: Slaves
Discussion Question
What effect did irrigation have on the
people of Mesopotamia?
Irrigation allowed farmers to grow plenty of
food.
More food meant more people could be fed,
so the population grew.
This led to specialization of jobs, which led to
trading.
A Skilled People
Mesopotamia has been called the “cradle of civilization”
because of the influence of Sumerian ideas on other
areas.
Writing helps people keep records and pass on ideas.
Sumerians developed a writing called cuneiform.
Only a few people, called scribes, learned to write.
The Sumerians also produced the oldest known story,
the Epic of Gilgamesh.
The Sumerians also invented new technology such as
the wagon wheel, the sailboat, and the plow.
The Sumerians developed many mathematical ideas,
including geometry, a number system based on 60, and
a 12-month calendar.
Discussion Question
Why did the Sumerians study the skies?
The locations of the planets and stars guided
the Sumerians’ farming and festivals.
Sargon & Hammurabi
Sargon: King of the Akkadians
Conquered all of Mesopotamia
Set up the world’s first empire
Empire: is a group of many different lands under one rules.
After Sargon, another group of people became
powerful. They built the city of Babylon on the
Euphrates River.
Hammurabi: King of Babylon
Conquered lands north and south of Babylon to create
the Babylonian Empire.
Code of Hammurabi: collection of laws covering crimes,
farming, business activities, and marriage and family.
Many punishments in the code were cruel, but the code was an
important step in the development of a justice system.
Discussion Question
What were some of the benefits of living in
Hammurabi’s empire? What were some of the
drawbacks?
Benefits: Living in a large, powerful empire helped
keep enemies from taking over the land.
Hammurabi’s code helped keep people from committing
crimes against one another.
Drawbacks: Hammurabi’s code had cruel
punishments
People were governed by one person, Hammurabi, instead
of living in a representative government.