Chapter 2 Section 1 Notes

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Chapter 2 Section 1 Notes
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I. Geography of the Fertile Crescent
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A. The Fertile Crescent is an upside down
crescent running from the Persian Gulf north
along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to the
Coast of Israel
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(No Transcript)
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B. The valley between two rivers becomes known as
Mesopotamia Land Between the Rivers
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1. Each year the rivers would flood and leave a
rich layer of soil called silt
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C. People began to live there around 4500 B.C.
but the Sumerians would settle there around 3500
B.C.
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D. Environmental problems
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1. Unpredictable floods
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2. Sumer was a cluster of small villages on a
plain with no protection
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SUMER
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3. Limited natural resources
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E. Solutions for problems
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1. Irrigation canals
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SUMERIAN IRRIGATION
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2. For defense they built city walls of mud brick
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3. Traded grain for other natural resources
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II. Sumerians Create City States
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A. One of the first groups to form a civilization
( 5 Characteristics )
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B. Each of the City-states was independent, had
their own ruler , and surrounding farm lands
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C. Power of Priests
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1. Theocracy is a government in which the
religious leader is also the ruler
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2. Priests controlled early government
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3. Communicated with the gods
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4. Collected taxes
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D. How monarchs came into leadership
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1. In times of war commanders took control
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2. Gradually commanders took control of standing
armies
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3. Eventually commanders became the full time
rulers
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4. Dynasty is a series of rulers from the same
family
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E. Spread of cities
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1. Contact from other peoples help create more
Sumerian Cities
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2. Cultural Diffusion is the process of a new
idea or product from one culture to another
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III. Sumerian Culture
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A. A religion of many gods
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B. Polytheism the believe in many gods
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1. Nature gods
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Reptilian Nature god
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Inanna Queen of Beasts
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2. 3000 gods
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3. gods had human characteristics
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4. Land of No Return
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a. Dismal, gloomy place between earths crust and
the ancient sea
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C. Epic of Gilgamesh
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1. Earliest works of literature, Gilgameshs
unsuccessful quest for immortality
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D. Life in Sumerian Society
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1. Social classes developed
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a. Priest and Kings
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b. Merchants
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c. Fieldworkers majority of people
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d. Slaves
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E. Sumerian Science and Technology
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1. Wheel 2. Sail3. Plow
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Sumerian wagon
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Sailboat of the Sumerians
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4. First to use bronze 5. First system of
writing
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6. Astronomy, chemical substances, symptoms of
disease
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7. Numbering system based on 6
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Sumerian Numbering System
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a. 60 minutes , 60 secondsb. 360 degrees
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8. Architectural
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a. Arches, columns, ramps
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IV. The First Empire Builders
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A. Sargon of Akkad ( Semitic- Arabic and Hebrew
cross )
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Sargon the Great
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1. Around 2350 B.C. Sargon from Akkad from north
and conquered the Sumerians
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2. His city state Akkad had long adopted Sumerian
ideas
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3. He conquers both territory in the north and
all of Sumer thus creating the worlds first
empire
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a. An Empire is when a ruler conquers one or
more city-statesor territory
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B. Babylonian Empire
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1. Another Semitic group, the Amorites overwhelm
the Sumerians and start the Babylonian Empire
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2. Hammurabi from 1792-1750 B.C. Rules the
Babylonians at its height
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a. Hammurabis Code of Laws
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Hammurabi and Sample of Laws
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1. Reorganized all of the laws of the Sumerians
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2. 282 specific laws
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3. Different punishments for rich and poor