Transcript Ancient Mesopotamia - White Plains Public Schools

Ancient Mesopotamia
Global History I: Spiconardi
Geography
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Mesopotamia  “The Land Between Two
Rivers”
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Which two rivers?  Tigris and the Euphrates
Part of a larger area known as the Fertile
Crescent
Geography
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Flooding
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Tigris and Euphrates commonly flooded and
wiped away settlements
The two rivers were unpredictable in their flooding
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People banded together to build canals and dikes
Moved settlements to uphill areas
Geography
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Lack of natural barriers
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Mesopotamia is not enclosed by mountains or
jungles
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Easy access for invaders and conquerors
Mesopotamia becomes the crossroads of the ancient
world
Conquerors and conquered mingle and shared ideas
and customs
Cultural Diffusion  the spreading of new ideas or
products from one culture to another
Government
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Sumer: First Major Mesopotamian Civilization
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Sumer was not a centralized empire, but a
collection of wide spread city-states
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Uruk, Ur, Lagash, Nippur, Akkad, Eridu
United under Sargon the Great
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City-states still warred over water and food supplies
Government
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Sargon the Great
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The Legend
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His mother placed him in a reed
basket and sent him down the
Euphrates (Sound familiar?)
A farmer found him and raised
him
Becomes kings cupbearer (most
trusted servant)
Overthrows the king and unites
Sumerian city-states
Establishes the Akkadian
Empire (c. 2300 BCE – 2100
BCE
Government
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The Babylonians (C. 1800 BCE - 1500 BCE)
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The Babylonians were the next major empire to
control Mesopotamia
Babylon was the economic center of
Mesopotamia
Achievements
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Gate of Ishtar
Number system based on 60 (hours/minutes/seconds)
Figured out the solar year of 365 ¼ days
Gate of Ishtar
Ziggurat of Marduk
Religion
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In Mesopotamia, religion and politics were
intertwined; no separation
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Center of activity revolved around the ziggurat
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Kings were also the chief priest & considered semi-divine
Ziggurat  step-like pyramids; part of Sumerian temple
Education, trade, religious ceremonies, the mandating of
laws
While the various city-states of Sumer had shared
deities, each city-state worshipped a unique god