Pre-Class Review What are the three main religions of the Middle East? What are the two distinct ethnic groups of Jews which live in the Middle East? Differentiate between the terms Arab and Muslim List what you think were two important things the President mentioned in his U.N. speech.

Ancient Sumer

The Land Between the Two Rivers

Ancient Mesopotamia Mesopotamia had rich soil, lots of rain, a good source of water, and rivers filled with fish Southern Mesopotamia had good soil, but much less rain This meant that the people had to work extremely hard and cooperate with each other. They worked together to plow and build irrigation ditches.

Sumer Around 3500 B.C., most people lived in scattered villages, towns, and farms People began to concentrate in larger settlements known as city-states They formed these city-states for two reasons: 1. needed lots of people for farming projects 2. security from raiding nomads

Rise of City-States Powerful city-states developed, such as Ur, Uruk, and Lagash

Soldiers, merchants, craftsmen Social Structure Within these city-states, a social structure developed. City ruler or king Priests Landowners Soldiers, merchants, craftsmen Peasants Slaves

Control of City-States Priests collected taxes from the people to maintain the state They also prayed to the gods for good harvests The center of priestly power was located in a ziggurat, which was a huge temple

Sumerian Ziggurat

System of Writing Scribes developed a system of writing, first based on pictograms, and later developed into cuneiform This system of writing was used primarily for record-keeping

Other Achievements Improved plows for farming Perfected systems of dikes and canals Sailing ships Potters wheel

Other Achievements By 3000 B.C., the Sumerians began to cast bronze, which they used for tools and weapons

Trade Mesopotamia had little by way of natural resources They relied on trade with the Arabian Peninsula and the Indus River Valley to obtain goods that they needed Traded textiles (made primarily by women) for precious metals Mesopotamian society was patriarchal

Ancient Trade Routes

Conquest Mesopotamian city-states were CONSTANTLY fighting with each other By the beginning of the 18th century B.C., the city-states of Sumer were conquered by the Babylonians under King Hammurabi

Babylon and Hammurabi Mesopotamia was conquered by the Babylonians under King Hammurabi This ruler expanded his state through both warfare and diplomacy Set up a written system of laws, composed of both old and new

Created this law system: Babylon and Hammurabi Created this law system: To cause justice to prevail in the country To destroy the wicked and evil That the strong may not oppress the weak The Code of Hammurabi: http://www.commonlaw.com/Hammurabi.html