Transcript 2.1 Mesopotamia and Sumer

The Ancient Near East
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The Ancient Near East
Section 1
Mesopotamia and Sumer
Preview
• Starting Points Map: Fertile Crescent
• Main Idea / Reading Focus
• Geography Promotes Civilization
• Sumer
• Map: Ancient Mesopotamia
• Sumerian Culture
• Empires in Mesopotamia
• Quick Facts: Mesopotamian Achievements
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The Ancient Near East
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Mesopotamia and Sumer
Main Idea
The first known civilization arose in Mesopotamia, and its culture
and innovations influenced later civilizations in the region for
thousands of years.
Reading Focus
• How did geography promote civilization in Mesopotamia?
• What features defined the civilization of Sumer?
• What were Sumer’s main cultural achievements?
• What events led to later empires in Mesopotamia?
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Geography Promotes Civilization
• Fertile area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers became site of
world’s first civilization
• Fertile Crescent well suited for agriculture
• Farming in Mesopotamia posed challenges:
– If water levels too high, crops washed away
– If water levels too low, crops died
• People developed methods to control water:
– Basins, canals, and dikes
– Organization: assigning jobs, allocating resources
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Summarize
What factors influenced the rise of
civilization in Mesopotamia?
Answer(s): fertile land; plentiful food; need to
organize people for jobs
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Sumer
The Cities of Sumer
• Large cities developed by 4000
BC
Religion and Government
• Shaped life in city-states
• Structures made of mud bricks
• Polytheism: worship of many
gods
• Ziggurat: pyramid-shaped
temple
• Priests had high status and
were the first rulers
• Massive wall encircled each city
• War chiefs began to rule as
kings
• Each city and its land formed a
city-state, with its own
government
• Dynasty: series of rulers from
one family
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Sumerian Culture
Writing
• Cuneiform: Sumerian writing
• Business accounts and records
• Law, grammar, literature
• Scribes
The Arts
Math and Sciences
• System based on number 60
• Geometry
• May have been the first to use the
wheel
• Invented the plow
• Basic surgery
Trade and Society
• Arches, ramps, columns
• Traded for wood and metals
• Sculpture
• Social hierarchy
• Cylinder seals
• Distinct male/female roles
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Draw Conclusions
Why was the Sumerians’ development of
cuneiform a major turning point in history?
Answer(s): After the development of cuneiform,
humankind moved from prehistory into the
historical age.
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Empires in Mesopotamia
• Each conquering invader adapted aspects of Sumerian culture.
• Thus Sumerian civilization continued to influence life in Mesopotamia.
Sargon’s Empire
• Sargon I:
– Around 2330 BC, created first
permanent army
– Conquered Sumer and
northern Mesopotamia
– Established world’s first
empire, which lasted about
100 years
• Sumerian culture spread far
beyond Tigris and Euphrates
valleys
The Babylonian Empire
• Hammurabi became king in 1792
BC
• United all of Mesopotamia
• Able ruler and administrator
• Hammurabi’s Code:
– 282 laws covering everything
from trade to murder
– Written for all to see
– Babylon became
Mesopotamia’s greatest city
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Sequence
Who ruled Mesopotamia after Sumer, and in
what order?
Answer(s): Akkadians, Amorites, Babylonians
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