Tigris & Euphrates River Valley

Map SUMER

Fertile Crescent =Located in present day Iraq =Areas 1. Mesopotamia - Cities: Akkad, Babylon 2. Sumer -City: Ur

Farming T & E flooded at least once a year, left a thick bed of mud called silt Used irrigation to produce a surplus of wheat and barley Surpluses allowed for growth of villages and specialized jobs

City-States and power city-state-a city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit (like a country functions today) Features: surrounded by a high wall, ziggurat (temple) in the center Priests ruled at first, during war time power was given to military commanders who eventually became rulers

Population growth More surplus=>more people=>more trade Cultural diffusion-process of a new idea or a product spreading from one culture to another

Polytheism Believed in many different gods Various forces in nature were controlled by gods (ex. Floodings and droughts) Epic of Gilgamesh-earliest work of literature, told myths and legends of Mesopotamia

Social Structure PRIESTS & KINGS WEALTHY MERCHANTS FARMERS AND WORKERS SLAVES

Science and Technology Wheel The sail Plow 1st to use bronze Writing system: Cuneiform

Early Rulers Hammurabi was the ruler of Babylon Created a single code of laws and engraved them in stone, placing copies all over Babylon 282 laws that dealt with everything from family relations to crime WHAT WOULD YOU DO?