Transcript Early River Valley Civilizations

Early River Valley Civilizations
(3500 B.C. – 450 B.C.)
Chapter 2
Mr. Pawlowski
World History 1
2010 - 2011
Four River Valley Civilizations
Mesopotamia (Fertile
Crescent)
Mesopotamia
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‘land between the rivers’
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Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
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Flows Southeast into the
Persian Gulf
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Present day Iraq
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Regions:
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Sumer
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1st Mesopotamian
Civilization
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Akkad
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Assyria
Flooding left thick beds of silt
in the Mesopotamia Valley
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Challenges:
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Unpredictable Floods:
 Solution: Irrigation
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Limited natural
resources:
 Solution: Trade
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Grain/Cloth/Tools
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for
Stone/Wood/Metals
Rich soil allowed for
harvesting surpluses
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Food surplus and flood control
led to the development of citystates
Fertile Crescent
Sumer
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Key characteristics of Sumerian Civilization:
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Advanced Cities
Complex Institutions
Advanced Technology
● Specialized Workers
● Record Keeping
Sumerian City-States:
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Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, Ur
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City-State:
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a city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent
political unit
Cities were surrounded by mud brick walls and
centered upon a walled temple containing a ziggurat
Sumerian Religion
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Polytheistic:
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Believed in many gods
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Anu: chief god; god of heaven
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Enlil: god of wind; god of clouds and air
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Enki: god of water, intelligence and creation
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Ninhursag: mother goddess, fertility goddess
Sumerians believed it was their duty to serve the gods
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Ziggurats were built and sacrifices (animals, food, wine) made to
appease the gods
Ziggurat:
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Tiered, pyramid-shaped structure
with a temple on top
Sumerian Rule
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Sumerians believed the gods to be the rulers of their cities with
priests as a go-between
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Priest-Kings created an early ‘Theocracy’
 Theocracy: Rule by religious authority
During war an individual would be chosen to lead the soldiers
(power ended with the war)
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As wars increased, military leaders gained more power and
eventually became monarchs
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Sumerian kings passed their power on to male heirs, creating
dynasties
 Dynasty: Series of rulers from a single family
Sumerian kings claimed ‘divine right’
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Divine Right: power to rule is granted by the will of god
Sumerian Society
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Caste System:
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Nobles (amelu):
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Priest, Kings, Soldiers, Government Officials
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Commoners (mushkinu):
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Merchants, Farmers, Craftsmen, Laborers
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90% were farmers
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Slaves:
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Captured in war, sold off to pay debts, etc.
Women:
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Possessed many rights:
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Could own property, could pursue occupations (merchant, low-ranking
priest, etc.), could own and sell slaves
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Little legal protections:
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Unable to attend school, could be sold into slavery, could be divorced with
‘You’re not my wife’ being stated
Epic of Gilgamesh:
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Epic poem which gives insight into the beliefs and concerns of ancient
Sumerians
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Influential in later Hebrew and Greek writings
Sumerian Art
Sumerian Mathematics
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Sumerian number system in base 60
Sumerian Achievements
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Inventions:
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Wheel
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Sail
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Plow
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Potter’s Wheel
1st to use Bronze
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alloy of copper & tin
1st system of writing:
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Cuneiform (wedge-shaped)
Akkadian Empire (2300 – 2200
BCE)
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Semitic-speaking
people
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Language of MiddleEastern origin
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related to Arabic & Hebrew
Sargon the Great:
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Led Akkad in defeating
the Sumerian city-states
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Created the world’s 1st
empire
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Empire: group of people/states
under the control of a single
ruler
Babylonian Empire
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2002 BCE: Third Dynasty of Ur collapsed
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Amorites invaded Mesopotamia and established
their capital at Babylon
1792 – 1750 BCE: Reign of Hammurabi
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Codified and collected the laws of the region (282
Codes)
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Wrote them down so no one could use ignorance as an
excuse to escape justice
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Applied to everyone
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laws dealt with community, family relations, business conduct
and crime
different standards for rich/poor and men/women
Reinforced principle that the government has a
responsibility to society
Hammurabi’s Code
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What should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls and kills the owner?
Code 229: If a builder builds a house for a man and does not make its construction sound,
and the house which he has built collapses and causes the death of the owner of the house,
the builder shall be put to death.
Code 230: If it kill the son of the owner the son of that builder shall be put to death.
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Code 231: If it kill a slave of the owner, then he shall pay slave for slave to the owner of the
house.
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What should be done when a "sister of god" (or nun) enters the wine shop for a drink?
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Code 110: If a "sister of god" (nun) who is not living in a convent opens a wine shop or
enters a wine shop for a drink, they shall burn that woman.
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What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts?
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Code 117: If a man be in debt and is unable to pay his creditors, he shall sell his wife, son, or
daughter, or bind them over to service. For three years they shall work in the houses of their
purchaser or master; in the fourth year they shall be given their freedom.
What should be done about a wife who ignores her duties and belittles her husband?
Code 143: If the woman has not been careful but has gadded about, neglecting her house
and belittling her husband, they shall throw that woman into the water.
Hammurabi’s Code
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How is the truth determined when one man brings an accusation against
another?
Code 2: If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the
river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take
possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and
he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death,
while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had
belonged to his accuser.
Social Responsibility:
Code 21: If any one break a hole into a house (break in to steal), he shall be put
to death before that hole and be buried.
Code 22: If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put
to death.
Code 23: If the robber is not caught, then shall he who was robbed claim under
oath the amount of his loss; then shall the community, and . . . on whose ground
and territory and in whose domain it was compensate him for the goods stolen.
Code 25: If fire break out in a house, and some one who comes to put it out cast
his eye upon the property of the owner of the house, and take the property of
the master of the house, he shall be thrown into that self-same fire.