Ch 1, Sec 2: Mesopotamian Civilization

1. Ch 1, Sec 2: Mesopotamian Civilization

2. Civilization • Complex societies that have: • Cities • Organized Governments • Art • Religion • Class Divisions • Writing system

3. How were rivers helpful? • Rivers: • provided fertile farm land • helped people trade with each other • Spread ideas to new places • Rise of cities

4. Role of Government • Helped distribute food • Built buildings and other projects • Created laws • Made armies for defense

5. New inventions • Writing systems • calendars

6. Mesopotamia • In present day Southern Iraq • Earliest known civilization • Created between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers • Unpredictable weather made farming a problem

7. Farming in Mesopotamia • Rivers flooded lands for rich soil • Farmers built dams to control the water • Created irrigation ditches to water fields away from the rivers • Led to lots of cities to develop in the region of Sumer

8. City-States • Cities were far from each other • Did not talk to each other • City-State: Individual city with the surrounding land run by their own government • Went to war with each other • Built mud walls for protection

9. Religion • Believed in many gods • Built ziggurats (temples) to each god • Biggest buildings in a town • Means “Mountain of god” or “hill of heaven” • Priests and priestesses ran the temples • Only people to go to the top for ceremonies • Priests and priestesses ran the government

10. Sumerian Kings • Priests and priestesses-first rulers • War heroes-second rulers • Position was passed along through family • Ran the gov’t • Led the army

11. Life in Sumerian Cities • Kings lived in palaces • Common people farmed and lived in mud brick houses • Artisans specialized in making tools, clothes, and pottery • Traders moved goods between cities

12. Social Classes • 3 groups: • 1. Upper class: priests, kings, gov’t officials • 2. Middle Class: artisans, merchants, farmers, and fishermen • 3. Lower class: slaves • Slaves were property • Slaves were could be prisoners of war, criminals, or owe someone money

13. Men and Women • Men: • Could go to school • Could run businesses • Head of the house • Women: • Had some rights • Could buy and sell property • Could run businesses • Raised the children

14. Cuneiform • Helps keep records and pass on ideas • a system of writing using wedge shaped marks cut into clay tablets • Scribes were rich boys that kept gov’t records using cuneiform

15. Literature • Epic of Gilgamesh: • Oldest known story • A poem that tells the story of a hero • A story of a king who searches for a way to live forever

16. Advances in Math and Science • Irrigation • Wagon Wheel • Plow • Sailboat • Breakthroughs in Geometry • A new number system based on 60 • 60 min in an hr, 60 sec in a min • Created a 12 month calendar based on the moon

17. The End of Sumer • City-states fought each other • Outside groups attacked the city-states • The Akkadians, led by Sargon, attacked Sumer • Defeated Sumer • Set up an empire by 2340 B.C.

18. Babylonians • Took over Sargon’s empire in 1800 B.C. • City of Babylon was center of trade • Ran by King Hammurabi • Created a justice system called the Code of Hammurabi