Transcript Notes for Mesopotamia

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA
ONE OF THE FIRST KNOWN CIVILIZATIONS
GEOGRAPHY
Located between Tigris and Euphrates river in the fertile
crescent.
Overflow of rivers made land very fertile.
Rivers flowed into the Persian Gulf through modern-day
Iraq and Kuwait.
Irrigation streams allowed for large-scale farming.
ECONOMY
Surplus of crops allowed cities to grow into trading
centers
Division of labor leads to specialized, non-agricultural
jobs like artisans, builders, and metalworkers.
Goods were traded as far as Egypt and Pakistan.
Developed trade routes which were traveled by caravan.
Used animals and wheeled carts to move large amounts
of goods.
ACHIEVEMENTS
Created world’s first city-states.
Had the world’s first monarchies.
Developed the format of time we still use in the present.
Invented wheeled cart and possibly the sailboat.
Scribes wrote the “Epic of Gilgamesh”, one of the
oldest-surviving and most famous stories ever
written.
Akkadian Empire was the first empire in the world.
GOVERNMENT/LEADERSHIP
Sumer was originally made of 12 separate city-states.
Hence, the people called themselves Sumerians.
Each city-state was run by its own king.
Sumer united under army leader Sargon, and became
world’s first empire.
Akkadian Empire survived 250 years.
Babylonian Empire united the numerous city-states
under imperial rule.
RELIGION
Polytheistic (the belief in many gods).
Nature based gods, and made offerings and
animal sacrifices to appease the gods, in
hopes that they could influence nature
positively .
Enlil = air god, Enki = water god
Kings were demigods (part man, part god.
SOCIAL CLASSES
Had first ever monarchy (king or queen rule).
King and royal family were at top of social order.
The middle class made up the majority of
society.
Women had rights protected by law.
Slaves were common, acquired from conquered
territory.