Transcript The Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent
Round Robin Discussion
 Would you consider the hunter-gatherer
societies studied in Unit 1 “civilizations?”
Why or why not?
 What would you consider to be the major
characteristics of a civilization?
 Why did cities develop?
 What are the advantages and
disadvantages of living in a city?
 We are about to study the world’s first
civilizations.
 As humans made advances in farming, they
could produce more food to feed more
people.
 Small villages grew into towns, which grew
into cities.
 Where did the earliest farming communities
tend to develop?
Where Civilization Began
 About 3500 BC the first civilization
developed.
 CIVILIZATIONS are groups of people who
have a complex and organized society
within a culture.
 Civilizations first developed in southwestern
Asia in a crescent-shaped area.
 This area was called the Fertile Crescent.
Today, the
land of the
Fertile Crescent
is part of the
countries of
Iraq, Jordan,
Syria, Lebanon,
and Israel.
Mesopotamia
 Mesopotamia was one of the first
civilizations to rise up from this area.
 Mesopotamia means “land between the
rivers”
 The two rivers that Mesopotamia is located
in between are the TIGRIS AND EUPHRATES
rivers.
Map
 Label the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and
Mesopotamia on your NEW map.
Climate
 The climate in this region is hot and dry.
 The Tigris and Euphrates rivers, however,
provide a constant water source and rich,
fertile soil. This is why early people settled
here.
 Early farmers built systems of irrigation to
water their crops. This brought water from
the rivers to their fields.
THINK
 What benefits did the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers supply?
 How did irrigation help the people of
Mesopotamia grow crops?
The People
 The people of Mesopotamia began to develop
better methods of building houses. They mixed
mud with straw to build very sturdy buildings.
 People used these bricks to build homes,
temples, and palaces.
 Farmers or herders domesticated goats, cattle,
and sheep.
 Farmers paid close attention to how they grew
their crops. This created a surplus.
 Mesopotamians transported food and goods on
the rivers.
THINK
 How did the Mesopotamians solve the
problem of scarce building materials?
 How do you think having surplus crops
would affect people’s lives?
Growth of City-States
and Trade

Once farming techniques had been improved in
southern Mesopotamia, the population grew.

By 3500 B.C., several villages had grown into citystates.

A CITY-STATE is an individual unit, complete with its
own form of government and traditions.

Because there was a surplus of food, it was no longer
necessary for all of the people to work as farmers and
herders.

Some people helped govern the city, while others
were religious leaders or soldiers. Some were
ARTISANS, or craftspeople.
 Mesopotamia lacked many natural
resources, so some people also became
traders.
 They packed up donkeys for land journeys.
 They built reed boats to trade along the river.
 They built large wooden ships to travel the
Persian Gulf, the real gateway to the world.

Label the Persian Gulf on your map.
THINK
 As villages grew into city-states, how did
they change?
 After some villages grew into city-states,
what kinds of jobs developed?