Mesopotamia GEOGRAPHY AND CIVILIZATION

Sumerians HOW AND WHY DID SUMERIANS TRANSITION FROM SMALL FARMING VILLAGES TO LARGE WALLED CITIES?

ProblemSolution ProblemSolution

Geography

Zagros Mountains  Zagros Mountains  mild weather  abundant rain  Problem : Population growth  The plains to the South  Hotter and the land for most of the year is hard and dry  Water: Tigris and Euphrates

Rivers and Flooding  Uncontrolled water supply  During spring, rain and melted snow from the mountains flowed into the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers causing them to flood across the plains  Problem : Timing and amount of water  Built levees, earth walls built along the side of the rivers to prevent flooding  Sumerians further controlled water by digging canals and building dams

Maintaining the Irrigation System  Irrigation allowed farmers to grow plenty of food  Problem : How do you maintain this growing system of irrigation?  Levees to be strengthened  Canals need to be cleaned of silt  Farms were interconnected and farmers had to work together for the common good  From villages to towns to cities

Competition for Water  With growing cities the demand for water increased.  Cities upstream could build new canals or dams, preventing water from reaching cities downstream.  Problem : cities fought each other  To protect themselves Sumerians built walls to protect their cities.

Sumerian Civilization WHY DO HISTORIANS CLASSIFY ANCIENT SUMER AS A CIVILIZATION?

Civilization  Stable Food Supply  Social Structure  Government  Religion  The Arts  Technology  Writing Sumerian Civilization Stable Food Supply Social Structure GovernmentReligionThe ArtsTechnologyWriting

Stable Food Supply  A complex society can only thrive if they have the food they need to survive  2 important inventions  Irrigation  Plow  Food: barley, chickpeas, lentils, wheat, dates, onions, garlic, lettuce, leeks and mustard.  Animals: cattle, sheep, goats and pigs

Social Structure  Three classes  Upper class: priests, government officials, and land owners  Middle class:  craftspeople and merchants  Farmers and fishers  Lower class: slaves

Government  Sumerian city-states were ruled by kings, believed to be chosen by the gods  Duties  enforcing laws,  collecting taxes to build temples and maintain the irrigation system  Building and leading an army; use of chariots  Supported by officials  Governors who ruled outlying towns  Scribes who record laws  Officials to oversee the irrigation system

Religion  Religion bound the community to a common way of life  Polytheism: a belief in many gods  Control the forces of nature  Annual ritual to ensure fertility  Worship was conducted atop a ziggurat

The Arts  Architecture  Brick making: few rocks or trees  Houses, Walls, Palaces, Temples, Ziggurats  Metalwork: weapons, cups, mirrors and jewelry  Music: drum, pipe, lyre

Technology  Wheel: pottery, carts (replaced the sledge), chariots  Arch  Arithmetic and geometry  60 minutes in an hour,  360 degrees in a circle  Astronomy and a calendar  Mapping stars into constellations

Writing  Cuneiform  Development  Began as pictogram  Simplified into syllabic signs  Use  Accounting  Laws  Letters  Hymns and prayers  Stories