Mesopotamia
· Many historians believe that the earliest civilizations began in a region known as Mesopotamia
· Mesopotamia was an ancient region in the eastern Mediterranean between the Zagros Mountains and the Arabian Plateau
– Mostly modern day ______
– Parts of Iran, Syria and Turkey
· Mesopotamia was a collection of many ______civilizations and ______
– Mesopotamia is a region, not a united empire such as Egypt, Greece and Rome
ü Mesopotamia is located mostly in which modern day country?
ü Was Mesopotamia a collection of several small city-states or a united empire?
The Fertile Crescent
· Mesopotamia is often referred to as the Fertile Crescent, because of the valuable ______surrounded by desert
· The valuable farmland allowed ancient hunter-gatherers to settle in Mesopotamia and eventually develop ______
Impact of the Tigris and Euphrates
· Mesopotamia means “between ______” in Greek
– Tigris and Euphrates River
· When the Tigris and Euphrates would ______, the floods would leave behind ______for farming
· The floods of the Tigris and Euphrates were also ______and unpredictable
· Devastating floods would regularly ______top soil and ______villages
· Villages had to work together to ______water to the fields and ______water for the dry season
ü Why is Mesopotamia often referred to as the Fertile Crescent?
ü What allowed ancient hunter-gatherers to settle in Mesopotamia and eventually develop cities?
ü What does Mesopotamia mean?
ü What was one positive of the floods of the Tigris and Euphrates?
ü What were two dangers of the Tigris and Euphrates?
The Cradle of Civilization
· Mesopotamia is also referred to as the “Cradle of Civilization”
· Many important developments occurred in Mesopotamia
– 12 month ______
– agriculture
– astronomy
– chariots
– common tools
– domestication of animals
– hours, minutes, seconds
– ______
– leather tires
– math
– rise of the city
– sophisticated weaponry and warfare
– the arch
– the ______
– the sail and sailboats
– trade
– ______
– wheeled vehicles
– wind power
– writing
ü Why is Mesopotamia often referred to as the “Cradle of Civilization”?
ü What were at least 6 important developments that occurred in Mesopotamia?
Writing
· An early form of writing, called cuneiform, developed in Sumer, a civilization in Mesopotamia
· Cuneiform is the earliest known ______system
· Cuneiform carved ______-shaped characters onto clay tablets using a ______
ü What is cuneiform?
CuneiformMeaning / Original pictograph / Later pictograph / Early Babylonian cuneiform / Assyrian cuneiform
Bird
Fish
to plow
Grain
Day
Literature
· The Epic of Gilgamesh was the ______in the world
· The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the story of Gilgamesh, a powerful Sumerian king
Epic of Gilgamesh and the Cedar ForestGilgamesh and Enkidu meet / Slaying of Huwawa / Returning home with the cedar
Inanna and the Giant Bull of Heaven / Death of Enkidu / Ziusudra
Cuneiform
Meaning / Original pictograph / Later pictograph / Early Babylonian cuneiform / Assyrian cuneiform
Bird
Fish
to plow
Grain
Day
Literature
· The Epic of Gilgamesh was the ______in the world
· The Epic of Gilgamesh tells the story of Gilgamesh, a powerful Sumerian king
Epic of Gilgamesh and the Cedar ForestGilgamesh and Enkidu meet / Slaying of Huwawa / Returning home with the cedar
Inanna and the Giant Bull of Heaven / Death of Enkidu / Gilgamesh meets with Ziusudra
Math
· Math developed in Mesopotamia for many reasons, largely related to and
– creating a lunar calendar
– measuring plots of land
– tokens for trading
– taxation
· Sumerians and Babylonians used number system based on
· Babylonian numbers used a true place-value system, where numbers in the left column represented larger values
· Tablets were found showing students practicing arithmetic and geometry in ancient Babylon
2600 BC / 1800 BC to 1600 BC- multiplication
- division / - tables of squares
- square roots
- cube roots / - fractions
- algebra
- right triangles
- estimated π / - methods for solving…
linear equations
quadratic equations
cubic equations
· Evidence of Mesopotamian’s influence on math today
– ______degrees in a circle
– ______degrees in a triangle
– ______minutes in a hour
– ______seconds in a minute
– ______months in a year
–
Economy
· Most people in Mesopotamia grew and raised
· Mesopotamia also relied heavily on
· Mesopotamians traded fish, wool and wheat for materials not available in Mesopotamia, including lumber
· Other common jobs in Mesopotamia included scribes, healers, artisans, weavers, potters, shoemakers, fishermen, and teachers
· and were the most powerful people
Religion
· Mesopotamians were polytheistic, meaning they worshipped
· Citizens were expected to honor the gods through the they performed every day
· Mesopotamians also prayed, offered sacrifices and built temples to please the gods
· A ziggurat is pyramid-shaped temple, common in Sumerian civilizations
· At the top of the ziggurat stood to the patron god or goddess of the city
Cities and Government
· Mesopotamia also gave birth to the world’s first
· Most cities developed their own governments, becoming city-states
· were the leaders of the government
· A king was responsible for the people, overseeing farming and making
Hammurabi the Lawgiver
· Around 1790 B.C., Hammurabi took steps to unite the Babylon empire by publishing the Code of Hammurabi
· The Code of Hammurabi was the first important attempt by a ruler to down the laws of his kingdom
· Goals of the Code of Hammurabi
· Protect the
· Eliminate evil doers
· The Code of Hammurabi called for strict justice, an for an , tooth for a tooth, and a life for a life
· “If a son strikes his father, his hands shall be cut off.”
· “If he breaks another man’s bone, his bone shall be broken...”
Mesopotamian Cities
· Mesopotamian cities were well planned
· At the center of the city was the
· Since Mesopotamia lacked stone and lumber, sun-dried and were used for construction
· Since was the most important resource, most cities were built along a
· Irrigation ditches, canals and were used to move water throughout the city
· were built around the city to protect the people from attack
– Ishtar Gate
· Mesopotamians made many advancements in architecture
· Mesopotamians also created the world’s first , , and roofed structures
Code of Hammurabi
There are at total of 282 laws in the Code of Hammurabi as well as a Prologue and an Epilogue in which he sets forth his hopes and prayers for his code of laws
15 laws found in the Code of Hammurabi are translated into English below. Read these laws and then draw pictures in the boxes below illustrating four of the laws from the list below. Mark the circle for each of the four laws you choose.
o If anyone brings an accusation against a man, and the accused goes to the river and leaps into the river, if he sinks in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river proves that the accused is not guilty, and he escapes 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.
o If anyone finds runaway male or female slaves in the open country and brings them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver. (A shekel is an ancient measure of currency used as money)
o If anyone brings an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if a capital offense is charged, be put to death.
o If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then the builder shall be put to death. (Another version is – If the owner's son dies, then the builder's son shall be put to death)
o If a son strikes his father, his hands shall be hewn off. (Hewn means to chop or cut, often using an axe)
o If anyone steals the minor son of another, he will be put to death.
o If a man strikes a free-born woman so that she loses her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss.
o If a man puts out the eye of a patrician, his eye shall be put out. (A patrician is a member of the upper class)
o If a man knocks the teeth out of another man, his own teeth will be knocked out.
o If anyone strikes the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.
o If a freeborn man strikes the body of another freeborn man of equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina.
o If the slave of a freed man strikes the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off. (An ear is a body part that detects sound)
o If anyone commits a robbery and is caught, he shall be put to death.
o If anyone opens his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, and the water floods his neighbor's field, he shall pay his neighbor grain for his loss.
o If a judge tries a case, reaches a decision, and presents his judgment in writing; and later it is discovered that his decision was in error, and it was his own fault, he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case and be removed from the judge's bench...
Crime / Punishment / Crime / PunishmentCrime / Punishment / Crime / Punishment
City-States in Mesopotamia, Chapter 2 Section 1, Reading Guide
Directions—Complete the blanks as you read page 29 through page 34 of your textbook, then answer the corresponding questions for each section.
Geography of the Fertile Crescent
A ______climate dominates the landscape between the Persian Gulf and the ______in Southwest Asia. Yet within this dry region lies an arc of land that provides some of the best ______in Southwest Asia. The region’s curved shape and the richness of the land led scholars to call it the ______. It includes the lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain that became known as ______. The word in Greek means “______.”
The rivers framing Mesopotamia are the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
The ______and ______Mesopotamia at least once and year. As the rivers receded, it left a thick bed of mud called ______. Farmers planted grain in this rich, new soil and ______the fields with river water. The results were large quantities of ______and barley at harvest time. The surpluses from their harvests allowed ______to ______.
1. What type of geographical feature dominates the landscape between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea?
2. How is the land of the Fertile Crescent different than most of the region between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea?
3. What does Mesopotamia mean in Greek?
4. Which two rivers does Mesopotamia lie between?
5. What happened to Mesopotamia at least once a year? How does this benefit farming in Mesopotamia?
Environmental Challenges ...Good soil was the advantage that attracted these settlers. However, there were three ______to their new environment.
- ______combined with a period of little or no ______. The land sometimes became almost a ______.
- With no natural barriers for ______, a Sumerian village was nearly ______.
- The natural resources of Sumer were ______. Building materials and other necessary items were ______.
6. What attracted settlers to Mesopotamia?
7. What problems did the unpredictable flooding and little or no rain cause in Mesopotamia?
8. What was the disadvantage of having no natural barriers around Sumerian villages?
9. Why were building materials and other necessary items scarce in Sumer?
Solving Problems Through Organization Over a long period of time, the people of Sumer created solutions to deal with these ______.
- To provide water, they dug ______ditches that carried river water to their fields and allowed them to produce a surplus of ______
- For ______, they built ______with mud brick.
- Sumerians ______their ______, cloth, and crafted tools with the people of the mountains and the desert. In exchange, they received ______such as stone, wood and metal.
These activities required organization, cooperation, and leadership. It took many people working together, for example, for the Sumerians to construct their large ______. ______were needed to plan the projects and supervise the ______. These projects also created a need for ______to settle disputes over how ______and ______would be distributed. These leaders and laws were the beginning of organized ______—and eventually of civilization.
10. How were Sumerians able to carry water to their fields, allowing them to produce a surplus of crops?
11. What did Sumerians build for protection?
12. How were Sumerians able to obtain raw materials, such as stone, wood and metal?
Sumerian Culture
A Religion of Many Gods Like many peoples in the Fertile Crescent, the Sumerians believed that many different controlled the various forces in nature. The belief in more than ______god is called polytheism.
Sumerians described their gods as doing many of the same things humans do—falling in ______, having children, quarreling and so on. Yet the Sumerians also believed that their gods were both immortal and ______. Humans were nothing but their ______. At any moment, the mighty ______might strike, sending a fire, a ______, or an enemy to destroy a city. To keep the gods happy, Sumerians built impressive ziggurats for them and offered rich ______of animals, food, and wine.
The Sumerians believed that the souls of the dead went to the “land of no return,” a dismal, ______place between the earth’s crust and ancient seas. No joy awaited souls there.
13. What is polytheism?