World History Chapter 2 pages 24-60

1. World History Chapter 2 pages 24-60 Western Asia and Egypt

2. Section 1 Early Civilization Big Idea (Physical Geography): Fertile soil between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers allowed an early civilization to flourish in Mesopotamia.

3. Mesopotamia

4. Fertile crescent ( Rich Soil) • Tigris + Euphrates + Eastern end of Fertile Crescent =Mesopotamia. • Nomads settle and farm • Flooding controlled through drainage ditches (irrigation systems) = farming all yr • Harsh physical environment controlled by supernatural forces • Religion explained what they could not themselves • Polytheistic – many gods & goddesses • Mesopotamia Civilization / 3 Groups = Assyrians, Akkadians, Sumerians • Account of a flood “The Rampant flood which no man can oppose, Which shakes the heavens and causes earth to tremble, In an appalling blanket folds mother and child, And drowns the harvest in its time of ripeness.”

5. Civilization in Mesopotamia • Sumarians-1st civilization. • Sun-dried mud brick walled cities, • People in cities gained a sense of identity. • Created the arch and dome. • Believed Gods ruled the cities making the state a Theocracy. (governed by divine authority.) • Ziggurat-Temples to the Gods Uruk

6. Economy and Society • Economy was mostly farming, but some was trade and industry. • Woolen textiles, pottery, metalwork- discovered bronze • Traded bronze for resources and goods they did not have ( copper, tin, and timber.) • Society was made up of

7. Contributions • Cuneiform writing-used a sharp pointed instrument (stylus) to inscribe wedge shaped characters on clay tablets. • Epic of Gilgamesh- oldest Mesopotamian epic about how everlasting life is only for the gods. • Number system- based on zero and the unit of 60, we use for telling time. • Inventions-wagon wheel, potters wheel, bronze , arch and sundial • They mapped the constellations 

8. Akkadians- North of Sumerian city-states. • Sargon-leader, overran Sumerian city-states and set up 1st empire in World History. Fell in 2100 B.C after neighbors attack. • Empire-a large political unit or state, usually under a single leader, that controls many people or territories. • Hammurabi (King of Babylon- city-state south of Akkad) gained control of Sumer and Akkad = empire • Fell after his death- weak rulers   • Laws in Mesopotamia had existed for centuries -most famous Code of Hammurabi • Punishment was decided by class • “Eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” • Women less rights than men

9. Section 1 Review • The Epic of Gilgamesh is a famous Mesopotamian what? • Poem • The arc of rich soil between the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf. • Fertile Crescent • Around 2340 B.C., the Sumerian city-states were conquered by the Akkadians under their leader who was? • Sargon

10. Section 1 Review • Sumerian writing system • Cuneiform • The term for a large political unit or state, usually under a single leader, controlling many peoples or territories ? • An empire • Collection of laws devised in Mesopotamia • Code of Hammurabi • The wagon wheel, a math system based on units of 60, and the sundial are inventions by what people? • Sumerians

11. Section 1 Review • Independent city-state in Sumeria • Uruk • The Mesopotamian religion, which identified nearly 3,000 gods and goddesses, can be described as what? • Polytheistic • Type of society in which men dominate. • patriarchal