Transcript Introductory Unit

Introductory Unit
Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
Sumer
Ziggurat
Cuneiform
Hammurabi’s Code
The Origins of Civilization
The Origins of Civilization
•
Mesopotamia
means “the land
between two rivers”
• Why does
civilization develop
here?:
a. Rich soil
b. Access to water
c. Warm climate
How does civilization
develop?
• Rivers
flood…farmers/people
need help!
• Form a government in
order to coordinate
resources and build
things like dams.
• Leaders emerge - like
Hammurabi
Writing develops
• Cuneiform writing
develops.
• Sumerians needed
a way to keep track
of business
accounts and other
records.
• Eventually, stories,
laws, and songs
were written.
First Law: Hammurabi’s Code
• Hammurabi was a
famous king of
Babylon
• Wrote 282 laws that
covered everything
from trade to
murder.
• Displayed on stone
columns around the
empire
Hammurabi’s Code
• “If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye
shall be put out.”
• If he breaks another man’s bone, his bone shall be
broken.”
• If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the
bone of a freed man, he shall pay one silver mina.
• If he put out the eye of a man’s slave, or break the
bones of a man’s slave, he shall pay one half of its
value.
• If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank
than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox whip
in public.
Hammurabi’s Code
• Is it just?
• Why do you think the punishment’s were so
severe?
• Are our laws as strict as Hammurabi’s?
Religion develops
• Sumerians believed
in many gods =
polytheism.
• Believed gods
controlled the air,
storms, natural
forces.
• Worked hard to
please the gods.
Sumerian Gods
• Enlil was the god who
ruled the air and storms
• Sumerians believed that
gods were like
humans…they
ate…they drank…they
fell in love
• They had enormous
power over humans
Mesopotamia Today
Iran
Turkey
Iraq
Egypt
Saudi
Arabia
Exit Ticket
• On a separate piece of paper….write your
name and answer the following two
questions:
• 1. Why did civilization develop in
Mesopotamia?
• 2. Predict….where do you think civilization
developed next!
Hand in your exit ticket on the way out of the
classroom.