Transcript earliest known civilization is Mesopotamia

Explain and trace the development of the city-states and empires of
the Fertile Crescent region.
Explain and trace the development of the city-states and empires of the Fertile
Crescent region
The earliest known civilization is Mesopotamia, which
developed in what is now present day Iraq.
Mesopotamia means “land between the rivers” in Greek.
The civilization began on the land between the Tigris and the
Euphrates rivers.
The rivers run parallel and flow more than 1,000 miles. They run
to the Persian Gulf.
The Fertile Crescent includes parts of the modern countries of
Turkey, Syria, Iraq, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.
Explain and trace the development of the city-states and empires of the Fertile
Crescent region
• The Valley Dwellers
The first people settled about 7000 B.c.
The first settlers were hunters and herders
about 4000 BCE some of these groups moved to the plain of the TigrisEuphrates valley. They built farming villages along the two rivers.
Taming the rivers
The water from the rivers was used by the farmers to water their fields. The farmers
could not always rely on the rivers for their needs. Little or no rain fell in the summer,
which made the rivers low. During the spring, rains and melting snow from the
mountains caused rivers to overflow their banks. Sometimes, these floods swept away
crops, homes, and livestock.
The floods were also helpful because they were filled with silt- small particles of soil.
The silt was very good soil for farming.
People learned to build dams to control the seasonal floods. They dug canals that led
water flow from a water source to their fields. This method is called irrigation. Many
farmers experienced surpluses, or extra amounts, of food. The food was stored for
later use. Many artisans, or skilled workers began specializing in making pottery,
etc. Trade began. By 3000 BCE, cities began in Sumer.
Explain and trace the development of the city-states and empires of the Fertile Crescent region
Sumer’s Civilization
The people were known as the Sumerians. They built the first cities of Ur, Uruk, and
Eridu.
City-states arise
The Sumerian cities became independent. The harsh terrain made it hard to travel by
land and communicate with other groups. This meant each city was largely cut off
from its neighbors.
The people of each city raised their own crops and made their own goods. As the cities
grew, they gained political and economic control over the land around them. They
formed city-states. Each city-states had its own government and was not part of any
larger governing state. The population of a city-state was around 5,000 to 20,000
people.
Each city-state was protected by a wall. Mud mixed with crushed reeds was used to
make bricks. These were dried in the sun. These bricks were the main building
material. The ruler’s temple was in the center of the city.
Sometimes city-states went to war with each other over resources and political
borders. During times of peace, they form alliances to protect common interests.
Explain and trace the development of the city-states and empires of the
Fertile Crescent region
Gods, priests, and kings
Sumerians people worshipped many gods, called polytheism. They believed there were
gods for nature, gods that guided the things people did.
Each city-state claimed one god as its own.
A large temple called a Ziggurat was in each city-state to honor its god. Ziggurat means
“to rise high”. The very top of the temple was a holy place, the god’s home and only
special priests were allowed to go there.
The kings claimed they received their power from the city’s god.
Over time, the way kings came into power changed.
Explain and trace the development of the city-states and empires of the Fertile
Crescent region
Social Groups
The people in Sumer were divided into social groups.
Upper Class: Kings, priests, warriors, and government officials belonged
Upper & Lower Middle Class: Consisted of merchants, farmers, fishers, and
artisans. This is the largest class.
Lowest Class: Enslaved people-- many of these people had been captured during
the war or they were people that couldn’t pay their debts or criminals.
The basic unit of society was the family:
Role of men-head of the family
Boys-went to school and trained for specific job
Women-ran the home, taught daughters to do the same, cared for the children, they
had few civil rights
Laws required parents to care for children and adult children to care for their
parents if their parent needed help.
EXIT Ticket
 Create a social pyramid that
depicts the hierarchy of ancient
Sumer in Mesopotamia.
Bell Ringer
 Let’s finish our Social Groups Pyramid of
ancient Sumer.
Explain and trace the development of the city-states and empires of the Fertile
Crescent region
Farmers and traders
-Most people were farmers. Each farmer had a plot of land in the area around a
city-state.
-Dams and waterways ran through this farmland. Wheat, barley, and dates were
the major crops.
-Farmers also raised sheep , goats, and pigs.
-Sumerians were skilled metalworkers. They would trade to obtain the metals they
needed.
They made jewelry:
Red stone from the Indus Valley called the Carnelian
Blue stone from what is now Afghanistan called the Lapis Lazuli
Explain and trace the development of the city-states and empires of the Fertile
Crescent region
Sumerian Contributions:
-Created the first civilization that had a great influence on history. It has been
called the “cradle of civilization”.
-It was the beginning of organized human society.
Writing:
-It is the earliest known in the world. It was a way for the Sumerians to keep
records of their lives and history. It is called cuneiform. It is made up of about
1,200 different characters. Cuneiform was written by cutting wedge-shaped marks
into damp clay with a sharp reed.
-Only a few people, mostly boys from wealthy families, learned how to read and
write cuneiform.
-Some students became scribes, or official record keepers.
-Records such as court records, marriage contracts, business dealings, and
important events.
Explain and trace the development of the city-states and empires of the Fertile
Crescent region
Technology and Mathematics:
*invented the wheel
*carts pulled by donkeys
*introduced vehicles into military use with the development of the chariot
*sailboat
*wooden plow
*potter’s wheel
*bronze from copper and tin
*used geometry to measure the size of fields and to plan buildings
*place-value system of numbers based on 60
*12-month calendar based on the cycles of the moon
Wrap it up
-You will be drawing what the social
hierarchy was like in Mesopotamia.
At the bottom you will explain how the
city-states/empires developed in the
Fertile Crescent Region, also choose
the invention you think is the most
significant and explain why you made
this choice. How has this invention
impacted life today?