Transcript Ramm Mesopotamia

Unit 2 –Mesopotamia
River Valley Civilizations
Essential Questions:
1. What is the interaction between
individuals in various civilizations and
their environment?
2. In what ways does geography influence
culture?
This Babylonian map includes some of the
most important cities and regions of
Mesopotamia. It was made around 600 B.C.
and comes from the city of Sippar.
It is very different from the kind of maps we
are used to looking at as some of the names
seem to be in the wrong place. In fact this
map is more interested in the mysterious
lands believed to exist beyond the sea where
gods, heroes, animals and monsters lived.
Development of Complex Civilization
Farming
Villages
Cities
CityStates
Empires
Key Traits of Civilizations
Traits:
Key Terms:
• Mesopotamia - “the land
between the rivers”
(specifically, the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers).
• Fertile Crescent – the “C”
shaped area of land with soil
that was good for farming.
• The Cradle of Civilization –
refers to the idea that this
region was the birthplace of
complex human societies
Terrain
For Reference
Modern Political Map
http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/geography/explore/exp_set.html
Map Questions
(Use maps from Chapter 2)
Geography
• Review: Why did early
civilizations develop around
rivers?
• What other geographic
features, other than rivers,
might influence the
development of early
civilizations? (how?)
• What are some benefits of
these geographic features?
What are some drawbacks?
Civilization
• How might location
influence the development
of a civilizations?
• Compare all the maps in
Chapter 2. What trends do
you notice in the
development of
civilizations?
Mesopotamian Geography (3,300 BCE)
• Located in the modern-day Middle East
• Situated between two rivers (Tigris & Euphrates)
– “Mesopotamia” = “Land between the two rivers”
• Rivers flooded frequently
– Cons
• Unpredictable and violent
• Constant fear of flooding leads to need for flood control
– Pros
• Provided the flood plain with silt to create good land for
farming.
• Irrigation used to expand territory of arable land.
• Rivers = opportunities for transportation
Mesopotamian Geography (Continued)
• Natural Resources
– Well suited to produce grain
– Lacked trees (wood), stone (relied on clay)
• Natural Barriers
– Very few natural barriers, with exception of deserts.
• Cultural Diffusion
– Mesopotamia becomes "The Crossroads of the
World."
• A center of trade and ideas
– Trade networks created that spread from Egypt to
India. Leads to the development of the wheel.
– Mesopotamia became a prime area for invasion and
foreign conquest.
Understanding City-States
• Objective: Students will understand and communicate how conquest
brought new Empires and Ideas to the Middle East.
Elements of a City-State
Define: The city and it’s surrounding area (mainly farm land)
Elements/ Key Features
• Key Buildings:
– City’s Bazaar
– The Temple (Ziggurat)
Individual
homes – similar
to Catal Huyuk
structure.
Defensives 
natural/ or man
made +Walls – basic
mud bricks
Farming areas
surrounding cities
- Organized w/
networks of
irrigation ditches
City-States
City-States:
Shared Language,
Culture, Trade
Sumer – City State
2.1: City States of Ancient Sumer
Geography
Influences
Fertile Crescent
Civilization
Trade
developed
along the
rivers.
Sumerian oral
narratives are
written down.
Babylonians use
Sumerian
learning, create
calendars,
develop basic
Algebra &
Geometry.
Villagers worked
together to stop
floods and provide
irrigation.
City-States of
Ancient Sumer
Lasting
Legacy of
Sumer
Newcomers adapt
cuneiform.
Sumerian
Civilization
Takes Shape
Polytheism
City-States
Invent
Writing
Distinct
Social
Hierarchy
Sumerians
• First civilization in Mesopotamia
• Laid the foundation for future civilizations to copy.
• First to invent and use: writing (cuneiform), base
60 number system, study of stars.
Symbolic communication to….
(glyphs)
Cuneiform
(“wedge-shaped”)
Unique Characteristics of
Sumerian Geography
• Two rivers that were
unpredictable, but necessary to
water crops.
• Lacked resources such as wood,
stone, metal.
• Hot, dry, very little rainfall.
• Had an abundance of grain.
• No natural barriers to keep
people out.
Sumerian Religion
How might geography influence the religious beliefs
of the Sumerians?
• Polytheism = worship of many gods
• Worshiped nature gods: water, thunder, sky.
• Believed gods had human qualities and
emotions, jealousy, anger, love, hate.
• Also believed gods thought humans were a
mistake. Believed the gods sought to punish
humans with plague, disaster, war, …
Lasting Legacy of Sumer
• Sumerian oral narratives are written
down (ie: Gilgamesh)
• Culture & technology become the basis
for other cultures in the region
– ie: Babylonians use Sumerian learning &
build on it to create calendars, basic
algebra, and geometry
• Cultural Diffusion in Mesopotamia =
adaption of cuneiform across the region
– Other cultures can now create a written
record
What Evidence can we use to study
Mesopotamian Cultures?
•
•
•
•
Artifacts Fossils
Written Records
Written Stories
The Stele of the Vultures is a monument from the Early Dynastic III period
(2600–2350 BC) in Mesopotamia celebrating a victory of the city-state of
Lagash over its neighbor Umma.
A fragment of the
Stele of the
Vultures showing
vultures with
severed human
heads in their
beaks and a
fragment of
cuneiform script
Ur-Nanshe:
creating the
foundation
for a shrine;
bottom,
presiding
over its
dedication
(Louvre)
Entemena's
Silver Vase
(Louvre)
What (other) Evidence can we use to
study Mesopotamian Cultures?
•
•
•
•
•
Artifacts –
Fossils
Written Records
Written Stories
Art as cultural pieces
Marsh Arabs – The Ma’adan
“dweller in the plains”
Using the Present to study
the Past…
http://maps.grida.no/go/graphic/regulation_of
_the_tigris_and_euphrates_rivers
http://www.cbsnews.
com/video/watch/?id
=5658260n&tag=seg
ementExtraScroller;h
ousing
Mudhif
Mashoof
Bedouin or Sumerian or…
Bedouin
Sumerian
What Evidence can we use to study
Mesopotamian Cultures?
Cultural
Creations:
The Epic of
Gilgamesh
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSZg5DTW7Hw
Gilgamesh
Importance
• World’s first literary
endevour
• Adventure by the King of
Uruk in Sumeria –
approximately 2700 BC
Problems with the story
• No single complete copy of
the Epic exists
• Editors have translated
several copies and merged
them together to create a
flowing, translated
narrative.
- Questions • What was surprising
about the fight with
Humbaba?
• Where do you think
“the far away” is what
makes you think so?
• What did the Sumerians
believe the afterlife was
like? How do you know?
• In end what is the
lesson to be learned
from this story?
• Why does Gilgamesh
decide to journey to find
Utnapishtim and his wife?
What purpose did the
dreams in the story
serve? What does that
tell us about the
Sumerians?
Background on The Epic of Gilgamesh
Questions to Consider
• 1. What are some of the problems that can accompany historians' use
of a text that has been reconstructed from several fragments and
then translated and amended to provide a narrative that appears
complete?
• 2. Does is matter whether or not there was a "real" historical
Gilgamesh? Why or why not?
• 3. What are the limitations of or opportunities for historical study that
our answers to these questions establish?
The Epic as told by Patrick Stuart
•
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v
=QoM_kPGfkw0&feature=related
How are the chief characteristics of civilization
evident in ancient Mesopotamia?
• What sources have we
used already to study
ancient societies?
• What other sources can
we examine?
• Chief Characteristics of
ancient Mesopotamian
civilization:
City-State Structure
• Fields
Modeled after Ur…
– With irrigation network
• Roads (transportation
network)
• City Walls (defensive
position)
• Residential areas/
Market areas (bazaar)
– Barter economy
• Religious building
– *Ziggurat (“mountain of
god”)
Ziggurat’s and Religious Beliefs
• Separate walled area
• 3 tiered structure
• Top structure serves
as area for sacrifices
(offering to the gods)
- a polytheistic religion (many gods)
- with anthropomorphic deities (human characteristics)
- representing cosmic and terrestrial forces in their world
Physical Reflections of Cultural Characteristics
Deciphering the Past
• Government
• Economy
• Society (structure)
• Religion
Northern Civilizations
Fringe of Civilization to the North
• Groups of People (tribes)
who live in the mountains
(Zagros and Taurus Mts.)
• Nomadic People –
depended on hunting/
gathering & bit of farming
• Later conquered &
incorporated into various
empires
• Natural Resources –
–
–
–
–
Ore (especially tin)
Timber (cider, etc.)
Rocks (quarries)
Lacks… Food
• Poor farming land
Development of Megalithic Structure
“large stone”
Bronze Age Megaliths
• Standing Stone structures
built between 4000 BC and
1500 BC
• British Isles and
northwestern France,
Scandinavia, islands of
Corsica, Sardinia and Malta
• Used as observatories to
detect astronomical
phenomena
Timeline
Egyptians
6000 BC --3200 -3100 - 2660 21802080164015701075 -----751 ----671----521
Hebrews
2000 BC –1650 –1300 1200 –1020*922 -----586 –538 --------------
Sumerians
4000 BC --------2000BC
Amorites (Old Babylon)
2000 BC -----------1550BC
*1792 – 1750 (
)
Hittites
1680BC -------1200BC
Phoenicians
1500 --------1100------800----------300BC
Assyrians
850 BC----612 BC
Chaldeans (New Babylon)
600 BC --539BC
Persians
550BC ---------350BC
*550 – 539 --530
Egyptians
6000 BC --3200 -3100 - 2660 21802080164015701075 -----751 ----671----521
Hebrews
2000 BC –---------------1650 –1300 1200 –1020*922 -----586 –538 --------------
Advancing Technology
Stone Age (end of the stone age)
6000 BC ---------2500 BC
Bronze Age
2800BC ---------------------------1200BC
1500BC ------------1200 BC (development of iron
by the ___________)
Iron Age
1200BC -------------------------------------700BC
Sumerians do a LOT of the ground
work of building civilization
Sumerians
4000 BC ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------2000BC
The Sumerians create a pattern that many of the
other civilizations will follow.
- Rise  Internal conflict and  Invasion by next
big civilization
Ancient Mesopotamia
What Characteristics do many of the Ancient
Mesopotamian Civilizations have in common?
What are some unique features
of the….
Objective
• Students will understand and communicate
how conquest brought new Empires and
Ideas to the Middle East.
Ancient Mesopotamian Societies
Warfare
•
As city-states began to grow, their spheres of
influence overlapped, creating arguments
between other city-states, especially over land
and canals.
–
These arguments were recorded in tablets several
hundreds of years before any major war—the first
recording of a war occurred around 3200 BC but
they were not common until about 2500 BC.
•At this point, warfare was
incorporated into the Mesopotamian
political system, where a neutral city
may act as an arbitrator for the two
rival cities.
•This helped to form unions between
cities, leading to regional states.
•When empires were created, they
went to war with foreign countries.
•King Sargon, for example, conquered
all the cities of Sumer, some cities in
Mari, and then went to war with
northern Syria.
Sumerians
• First civilization in Mesopotamia
• Laid the foundation for future civilizations to
copy.
• First to invent and use: writing (cuneiform),
base 60 number system, study of stars.
Akkad
• Conquer Sumer by a ruler named
Sargon in 2300 B.C.E.
• Appoints Local Rulers, allows for
the expansion of his power.
Builds the first Empire.
• Problems of Succession after Sargon Dies.
– Internal Problems
Babylon
• Come to power under
Hammurabi in 1700 B.C.E.
• Publication of “Hammurabi’s
Code” (300 laws carved in to
huge stone pillars.)
–Importance of Code: 1st codified
set of laws, promotes Civil and
Criminal Law.
• Promotes an “Eye for an Eye” view of
the world.
• The “Code of Hammurabi”
was the first set of codified
laws. They continue to
influence law making and
crime control today.
• What similarities exist
between the ““Code of
Hammurabi” and laws we
use today?
Babylon: Other Accomplishments of Hammurabi
•
•
•
•
Improved Irrigation System
Organized well trained army
Repair Temples
Promoted Babylonian Gods,
particularly Marduk.
• Like his code of laws, these tasks
work to unite the people under
Hammurabi’s rule.
Hittites
• Invaded Mesopotamia in 1400 B.C.E.
using Iron weapons and tools. Brings
about the Iron Age.
• The use of Iron was a major
advancement in technology.
• Hittite ironsmiths migrate to different
parts of Mesopotamia, and the new
technology is accepted by many
civilizations.
Hittite Warriors
Phoenicians
• Sailors and traders who dominated the
Mediterranean Sea. “Carriers of
Civilization”
• Main export was purple dye.
• Set up colonies in North Africa, Spain,
and traded as far north as Britain.
• Developed and expanded an alphabet
that served as the foundation for the
Greeks to develop their own alphabet.
Assyrians
• Very fearsome warriors, who
refined Hittite weapons
technology.
• Were a constant power in the
region between 1350-612 B.C.E.
• Built Planned cities in the areas
they conquered.
• Assyrian
• Warrior
•
What role did new
technology play in
Mesopotamia?
Assyrians
• Tried to solidify influence in the
region through the expansion of
learning.
• One example is the great library
of Assurbanipal, which stored
cuneiform tablets from across
Mesopotamia.
Later Babylonian Accomplishments
• Develop strong civilization over 700 years
after their original era of domination.
• Expand under King Nebuchadnezzar into
the lands of the western Mesopotamia,
including Judah.
• Rebuilds Babylon into the dominate city
in the region. City becomes famous for
its Hanging Gardens.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Persians
• Defeated Babylon in 551 B.C.E.
• Empire would stretch from Europe and
Africa to India.
• Promoted sense of tolerance toward the
people they conquered by respecting
their customs and allowing them to keep
them.
• King Darius-(522-486 B.C.E.) Divides
empire into provinces called “Satrapy”.
Satrapy is ruled by an official called a
“Satrap”.
Persians under Darius
• Satraps provided Darius will taxes and
resources every month. This system
allowed the empire to grow while
sustaining its resources.
• Codified set of laws, rebuilt roads, coined
money, common weight/measurements
work so solidify Persian influence
• Zoroaster-Creates model for future
monotheistic religions.
Israelites (Hebrews)
• Monotheistic People.
• Creation of the Torah, promotes the 10
Commandments, provides simple
alternative to “Code of Hammurabi”.
• Promote “Patriarchy”-Male dominated
Society.
– Sent into exile following destruction of the temple
of Solomon in Judah in 586 B.C.E. Maintain their
cultural Identity in the Diaspora.
Lydians
• Invented a monetary
system
Critical Thinking Questions
• How did the Persian Policy of Tolerance help
the empire cover such a large area?
• What major technological advances enabled
civilization to grow and have influence in
Mesopotamia?
• In what ways did political leaders seek to unify
the people under their rule?
• What was the role of conquest in Ancient
Mesopotamia?
Pros
Cons
Sources
• http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/trade/explor
e/exp_set.html