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Aim: What was the geography of Mesopotamia like?

Unit 2: Mesopotamia  The earliest known civilization!. Aim: What was the geography of Mesopotamia like? . I. Mesopotamia: “The land between the rivers” . Developed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers present day Iraq (3500 B.C.E.)

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Aim: What was the geography of Mesopotamia like?

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  1. Unit 2: Mesopotamia  The earliest known civilization! Aim: What was the geography of Mesopotamia like?

  2. I. Mesopotamia: “The land between the rivers” • Developed along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers present day Iraq (3500 B.C.E.) • People who lived in southern Mesopotamia were called Sumerians

  3. C. Advantages of the Rivers: • Provided the three F’s: Food, fresh water and fertile soil. • Flooded every spring and left behind new rich soil called silt • Silt provided more crops = surplus of food! • Provided transportation • Give Mesopotamia the nickname The Fertile Crescent

  4. D. Disadvantages of the Rivers: • Flooding was unpredictable: Too much flooding would destroy crops and damage villages and homes. Too little flooding would cause a drought.

  5. Aim: What was the culture of Mesopotamia like? September 27, 2013

  6. I. City-States A. The Sumerians lived in city-states → Cities that had their own governments and gods. Made up of the city and the farmland surrounding it. The city was protected by walls of sun-dried brick.

  7. II. Religion • Sumerians had a polytheistic religion → Believed in many gods • Every city-state had a ziggurat (temple) to honor the gods and goddesses.

  8. C. Ziggurats were located in the center of the city and were the center of people’s lives: • They would prey and leave praying statues when they were not in the temple • Artisans and traders worked there • Children went to school • The poor were fed • Great events were celebrated

  9. III. Writing • Cuneiform: World’s first system of writing → Pictures on clay tablets represented words and sounds. • Scribes were taught how to do the writing (most people could not write). • Why did the Sumerians need writing: • Make laws • Record history • Business records • Write literature

  10. IV. Family life • Role of Men: • Most men hunted, built and farmed – only a few went to school or learned how to write (why?)

  11. Men had complete control over their families and households: • Could divorce their wives by saying: “You’re not my wife” • Could sell their wives and children into slavery to pay a debt • Could arrange the marriages of their children

  12. B. Role of Women: • Took care of the children and helped with farming • Could not go to school • Rights women did have: • Could buy and sell property • Took over their husband’s businesses when they died, or were away.

  13. C. Role of Children: • Expected to take care of their parents when they got older • Had to obey older family members, priests and the gods.

  14. V. Achievements of Mesopotamia • Invented the wheel • Number system based on 60 • First 12 month calendar: Marked times for religious festivals and planting • Invented writing (cuneiform) and wrote down their laws. • Achievements in geometry and astronomy.

  15. Aim: How were the city-states in Mesopotamia controlled? October 3, 2013

  16. I. Government • At first, the priests were also the kings → Priest-kings B. Priest kings would make laws with an assembly of free men. • Take advice from the people • Choose military leaders for war

  17. C. During times of war, military leaders would rule the city-states instead of priest-kings. Eventually, the military leaders decide to stay in charge PERMANENTLY. • Military leaders created dyasties: Power was passed down from parent to child (hereditary).

  18. D. Jobs of the King: • Irrigation: Building canals and ditches to get water from the rivers to the crops. • Making laws • Providing protection (raised armies to protect their people, built walls around the cities) • Building ziggurats and houses

  19. Aim: Why is Gilgamesh one of the most famous Sumerian priest-kings? October 4, 2013

  20. I. Gilgamesh A. Priest-king from Erich (Sumerian city-state) B. He was looked at as a superhero – half god, half human. C. 1700 B.C.: An epic poem called the Epic of Gilgamesh was written • Oldest known story ever to be written down (on tablets in cuneiform).

  21. D. During the story, there is a great flood similar to Noah’s Ark. E. Also, Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu travel the world performing great deeds and having adventures. F. Enkidu dies  Gilgamesh searches for a way to live forever.

  22. Aim: How did King Hammurabi shape the history of Mesopotamia?

  23. I. Rise of Hammurabi • Hammurabi was the ruler of the city-state of Babylon. • In 1792 B.C. he conquered the Sumerian and Akkadian city-states and established an empire in Mesopotamia (a group of states or countries under one single leader or government).

  24. B. Hammurabi’s Code: • First written code of laws in history. They apply to everyone in the empire. • Based on the idea that the punishment should be equal to the crime(“an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth”) • People were innocent until proven guilty at a trial.

  25. C. Influence of Hammurabi’s Code: • Hammurabi’s laws were codified (written down) and unified (everyone had to follow them). Today, our laws are codified and unified in the U.S. Constitution. • Under Hammurabi’s code, people were innocent until proven guilty and had the right to a trial. These ideas are still followed in the U.S.

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