Mesopotamia The Earliest Civilization?

Adler, chapter 2 Mesopotamia

Adler, chapter 2 “Land between the rivers”

Adler, chapter 2 Nature’s tenuous bounty The Tigris (right) and the Euphrates

Adler, chapter 2 The Babylonian empire under Nebuchadnezzar II circa 600 BCE

Adler, chapter 2 The Persian empire 6th century BCE

Adler, chapter 2 The typical residence of a well-to-do businessman –windowless –a central open-air courtyard Sumerian home

Adler, chapter 2 Monumental architecture The ziggurat of Ur

Adler, chapter 2 Ur, city of the moon goddess

Adler, chapter 2 Even the Assyrians….

Adler, chapter 2 And the Neo-Babylonians Nebuchchadnezzar’s famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon –one of the seven wonders of the world –supposedly built for his Persian wife

Adler, chapter 2 Finally, the Achmenids Right: the ruins at Persepolis

Adler, chapter 2 Religious life Question: what sort of attitudes might we associate with the figures below? Right: worshipping the mood goddess

Adler, chapter 2 Warfare Below: the Standard of Ur Right: Assyrian “frightfulness”

Adler, chapter 2 Warfare (cont.) Right: Jewish war captives Below: favorite “sport”

Adler, chapter 2 Inventions Writing –from the earliest (below) to the very complex (far right)

Adler, chapter 2 Inventions (cont.) The plow –surely one of history’s most important inventions

Adler, chapter 2 Inventions (cont.) New world peoples did not make this discovery

Adler, chapter 2 Governing a troubled land Below: king Gudea of Lagesh Right: temple tribute

Adler, chapter 2 Hammurabi The “Lawgiver” From Adler: –“How does the Hammurabi Code show that property rights were superior to human rights?”

Adler, chapter 2 Everyday life