Mesopotamian Civilization

1
Mesopotamian Civilization

• To Sumer and Beyond

2
Words to be familiar with

• Civilizations
• Irrigate
• City-states
• Artisans
• cuneiform

3
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

• Two rivers that surround Mesopotamia.
• Important because they made for good farming and
  made it easy for people to travel and trade.
• Floods were frequent so farmers learned to
  control them with dams and channels.

4
Sumer

• Southern region of Mesopotamia where many cities
  formed
• Cities were city-states with their own
  government.
• Surrounded by walls because fights were common

5
Sumerian Religion

• Believed in many gods (polytheistic)
• Each city-state had a ziggurat, or grand temple,
  to honor the gods.

6
Sumerian Social Classes

• Upper class kings, priests and government
  officials
• Middle class artisans, fishers and farmers
  (most people fell into this category)
• Lower Class - slaves

7
The cradle of civilization

• Mesopotamia has been called this because of the
  influence of Sumerian ideas on other areas.

8
Sumerian Skills

• Writing system cuneiform
• Scribes few people who learned to write
• Literature Oldest known story is Epic of
  Gilgamesh
• Math geometry, created a base-60 numerical
  system, and a 12 month calendar

9
New Technology

• Wagon wheel
• Sailboat
• plow