Transcript Early Civilzations 2

By 3000 B.C.,
the Sumerians had built a number of cities.
– Each city shared the same culture.
– Each city developed their own governments,
each with their own rulers.
Each city and the surrounding land it
controlled formed a city-state.
Sumerian city states included:
• Ur
• Kish
• Lagash
• Umma
• Uruk
*Each city state had their own rulers and military
Sumer’s early governments
were controlled by temple priests.
• The farmers believed that the success of
their crops depended upon the blessings
of the gods
Remember the sacrifices?
• A portion of every farmer’s crop were
given to the high priests as taxes.
• In times of war, the priests would appoint a
tough fighter to command the city’s
soldiers.
Wars became more frequent
• Around 2,500 B.C., Sumerians metalworkers discovered that melting
together certain amounts of copper and tin made bronze.
• This conversion was known as the Bronze Age
• Warriors traded in stone and copper weapons for bronze swords and
spears.
• Eventually, Sumerian priests gave military commanders permanent
control of the city-states in Sumer.
• In time, some military leaders became full-time
rulers.
• These rulers usually passed their power on to
their sons.
• The sons would eventually pass their power on to
their heirs.
• A series of rulers from a single family is called a
dynasty.
From 3,000 B.C. to 2,000 B.C.,the city-states of Sumer
were almost constantly at war with one another.
The cities were so weak that they could no longer ward off
attacks from the people of the surrounding deserts and
hills.
About 2,350 B.C., Sargon of Akkad attacked and
conquered the city-states of Sumer
Sargon led his army from Akkad and conquered
all of the city-states in Sumer.
- Akkad was in northern Mesopotamia
- Sumer was in southern Mespotamia
By taking control of both northern and southern
Mesopotamia, Sargon created the first empire.
An empire brings together several peoples, nations, or previously
independent states under the control of one ruler.
Sargon’s dynasty lasted only about 200 years.
– It eventually fell to internal fighting, invasions, and a famine. (a widespread scarcity of
food)
...........................................................................................................................
In about 2,000 B.C., nomadic warriors named Amorites invaded
Mesopotamia.
After a series of wars, the Amorites overtook the Sumerians and
established their capital in Babylon.
The Babylonian Empire reached its
peak during the reign of Hammurabi
from 1792 B.C. to 1750 B.C.
Hammurabi’s Code
unified all of the diverse groups within his
empire
-He recognized that a single, uniform code
of laws would bring all the people under
his empire together, despite differences
-He collected existing rules, judgments,
and laws into the Code of Hammurabi.
-Hammurabi had the code engraved in
stone and copies placed all over his
empire
Hammurabi’s Code
Featured 282 specific laws that dealt with
everything that affected the community, family
relations, business conduct, property issues,
and crime.
Nearly two centuries after Hammurabi’s reign, the
Babylonian Empire fell to the neighboring
Kassites.
Over the years, new groups dominated the Fertile
Crescent. These new groups would continue
many ideas and technologies of the early
Sumerians.
Sumerian technologies:
- arithmetic and geometry
city walls, buildings, and irrigation systems
- architectural innovations
arches, columns, ramps
- cuneiforms
a system of writing