The Fertile Crescent

Define “Fertile Crescent” A well-watered and fertile area, that arcs across the northern part of the Syrian desert. From antiquity this region was the site of sophisticated settlements.

Mesopotamia – Fertile Crescent Sumer – The Earliest of the River Valley Civilizations Sumerian Civilization grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Kuwait.

(Iraq) Mesopotamia “Between Two Rivers” (Tigris River and Euphrates River) The southern part of Mesopotamia was called Babylonia, originally Sumer. Which country is Mesopotamia today? (Iraq)

Sumer - Sumerians (Kuwait) ca. 3500 to 3000 BC. (ca. = circa) Sumer gave us the city-state. Define: city-state Political unit made up of a city and the surrounding lands. Each city state has its own government, even when it shares a culture with neighboring city states.

Sumerian Writing: cuneiform Click on the picture for more information about cuneiform. Click here to write like a Babylonian. Cuneiform is created by pressing a pointed stylus into a clay tablet.

Sumerians invented: Brick technology Wheel Base 60 – using the circle . . . 360 degrees Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute 12 month lunar calendar arch ramp ziggurat

Ziggurat – Holy Mountain Click on the pictures for more information on ziggurats.

Babylon Define “rule of law” Gave us the first know written law code and was the first civilization where the citizens live by the “Rule of Law” Define “rule of law” Government by law. The rule of law implies that government authority may only be exercised in accordance with written laws, which were adopted through an established procedure.

Hammurabi’s Code - 1792 BC Hammurabi’s Code was this law code. Hammurabi ruled the Babylonian Empire for 42 years. At the end of his long reign, Hammurabi’s legal decisions were collected and inscribed on a stone tablet in a Babylonian temple. The 282 laws of the Code of Hammurabi represent one of the earliest known legal systems. For more information about Hammurabi’s Code, click here and on the picture.

“If a man stole the property of church or state, that man shall be put to death; also the one who received the stolen goods from his hand shall be put to death.” The laws governed such things as lying, stealing, assault, debt, business partnerships, marriage, and divorce. In seeking protection for all members of Babylonian society, Hammurabi relied on the philosophy of equal retaliation, otherwise known as “an eye for an eye.”