Mesopotamian Civilizations
Geography Mesopotamia means the “land between the rivers” Tigris and Euphrates Rivers (flow into the Persian Gulf) aka “Fertile Crescent” Annual flooding of the rivers provided fertile soil for farming modern-day Turkey and Iraq Tigris River Euphrates River
Fertile Crescent
Sumerians BCE First great Mesopotamian civilization- lower river valley Advanced social, political and economic life- city-states ruled by hereditary kings, religious temples Sumerians solved the problem of flooding in the Fertile Crescent – by building dams and reservoirs along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Sumerian Hierarchy (Social order) rulers, priests merchants, artists, scribes peasant farmers slaves
Sumerian Writing Sumerian inventions include plow, irrigation and, most important, writing Pictograms – earliest written symbols Sumerian writing- Cuneiform – wedge shaped symbols with spoken sounds, written on wet clay tablets and later baked
Cuneiform
Sumerian Literature Sumerians wrote stories and kept records Originally written on 12 clay tablets, the world’s oldest story is: The Epic of Gilgamesh Tells of King Gilgamesh who sought eternal life and who endured many grim adventures before being defeated by the gods.
Gilgamesh
Babylonian Empire approximately BCE Great Mesopotamian civilization Around 1800 BCE, King Hammurabi conquered and united the Mesopotamian city-states into one kingdom Centralized government- ruled with hereditary (family) rulers, based on religious authority
Code of Hammurabi First written law codes Hammurabi’s laws Included: 282 laws Punishments based on social classes Retribution (”justice”, revenge) – “eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” Each crime had a specific punishment
Polytheistic Religion Religion was a major part of life in all early civilizations. Polytheism was practiced by most early civilizations, including Sumerian and Babylonian societies Polytheism- belief in more than one deity (god or goddess) Ziggurats were religious temples at the city’s center
Ziggurat