Mesopotamian Civilization

1
Mesopotamian Civilization

• Chapter 1
• Section 2

2
Mesopotamian Civilization

• Civilizations are complex societies with cities,
  governments, art, religion, class divisions, and
  a writing system.
• Rivers were important because they made for good
  farming conditions. They also made it easy for
  people to travel and trade.
• Governments were formed because someone had to
  make plans and decisions for the common good.
• Mesopotamia is a flat plain bounded by the Tigris
  and Euphrates Rivers.
• Floods were frequent and unpredictable.
• Farmers learned to control the rivers with dams
  and channels.
• They used the rivers for irrigation, which is a
  way of watering crops.

3
Mesopotamian Civilization

• Sumer located in the southern region.
• Sumerian cities were city-states, with their own
  government.
• Sumerian cities often fought one another.
• For protection, the city-states had surrounding
  walls.
• Sumerians were polytheistic believed in many
  gods.
• Each city-state had a ziggurat, or grand temple,
  to honor the gods.
• Most Sumerians were farmers, but some were
  artisans, or skilled workers.
• Others were merchants and traders.
• Sumerian city-states had three classes
• Upper kings, priests, and government officials
• Middle Artisans, merchants, fishers, and
  farmers.
• Lower Slaves

4
Discussion Question

• What effect did irrigation have on the people of
  Mesopotamia?
• Irrigation allowed farmers to grow plenty of
  food.
• More food meant more people could be fed, so the
  population grew.
• This led to specialization of jobs, which led to
  trading.

5
A Skilled People

• Mesopotamia has been called the cradle of
  civilization because of the influence of
  Sumerian ideas on other areas.
• Writing helps people keep records and pass on
  ideas.
• Sumerians developed a writing called cuneiform.
• Only a few people, called scribes, learned to
  write.
• The Sumerians also produced the oldest known
  story, the Epic of Gilgamesh.
• The Sumerians also invented new technology such
  as the wagon wheel, the sailboat, and the plow.
• The Sumerians developed many mathematical ideas,
  including geometry, a number system based on 60,
  and a 12-month calendar.

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Discussion Question

• Why did the Sumerians study the skies?
• The locations of the planets and stars guided the
  Sumerians farming and festivals.

7
Sargon Hammurabi

• Sargon King of the Akkadians
• Conquered all of Mesopotamia
• Set up the worlds first empire
• Empire is a group of many different lands under
  one rules.
• After Sargon, another group of people became
  powerful. They built the city of Babylon on the
  Euphrates River.
• Hammurabi King of Babylon
• Conquered lands north and south of Babylon to
  create the Babylonian Empire.
• Code of Hammurabi collection of laws covering
  crimes, farming, business activities, and
  marriage and family.
• Many punishments in the code were cruel, but the
  code was an important step in the development of
  a justice system.

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Discussion Question

• What were some of the benefits of living in
  Hammurabis empire? What were some of the
  drawbacks?
• Benefits Living in a large, powerful empire
  helped keep enemies from taking over the land.
• Hammurabis code helped keep people from
  committing crimes against one another.
• Drawbacks Hammurabis code had cruel punishments
• People were governed by one person, Hammurabi,
  instead of living in a representative government.