Geography

Tigris and Euphrates rivers are in SW Asia= Middle East Start in mts. of Turkey SE through Iraq to Persian Gulf Region is called Mesopotamia, “land between the rivers” Provided water and a way to travel

Rain and melting snow swelled rivers Overflowing onto floodplain Depositing fine soil= land fertile Good for crops

Semi Arid climate—hot summers, less than 10” of annual rainfall Crops grew b/c of fertile soil= rivers Farming villages in S Mesopotamia by 4000 B.C.

Annual floods= unpredictable Sometime between April and June Didn’t know when to plant or how big flood would be Droughts= lowered river levels Hard to water crops; ppl starved if crops failed

6000 B.C., irrigation canals carried water from rivers to fields Built dams to block floodwaters

Mud Houses and Walls Lacked building materials Few natural barriers= easy to invade Other ppl often stole from or conquered Mesopotamians Built mud walls for protection

Traded their surplus grain for stone, wood, metal Digging canals, building walls, trading were done continuously Leaders organized groups for work

What made Mesopotamia a good region for farming? How did Mesopotamians water their crops during droughts? Why was trade important in Mesopotamia?

Use the labeled map to label the blank map Label: continents, mts, rivers, seas, city-states, etc… Color in oceans and land and shade in the region of Mesopotamia

The First Civilization

Rise of agriculture= ppl settle in villages Villages became city-states Society and culture grew more complex= Civilization Most historians think civilization first began in Sumer, 3300 B.C. Region in S Mesopotamia

Advanced Cities Store surplus, trade surplus, many jobs, large temples Specialized Workers—jobs requiring special skills Improves quality of work Ppl must cooperate and organize their society Priests organized society

Complex Institutions—religion, gov’t, schools, armies Groups share a purpose, help society meet its needs Record Keeping—societies must keep records Invented world’s first system of writing= Cuneiform

Advanced Technology Sumerians used canals to irrigate crops Created new tools= bronze, used new materials Mixture of copper and tin

Cities were centers of society, most lived in country Cities ruled surrounding lands/villages City-state—self-ruled community 3000 B.C., Sumer had at least 12 city-states Most were on fertile land

Slow-growing Sumerian cities had narrow, winding streets Walls surrounded cities; gates let ppl come and go Homes had thick mud walls

Most important building was the temple Ziggurats Priests ran irrigation= ziggurat was center of city life Paid w/ grain= controlled stored surplus Priests ended up controlling= Theocracy

Unequal= define who has power, less desirable jobs King, priests were at top Upper class included landowners, gov’t officials, merchants Most were the in-between class= farmers, artisans Slaves made up lowest class

Based on polytheism—belief in many gods, goddesses Created and ruled world Each city-state worshiped own god Thousands of lesser gods Looked and acted like ppl

Protected against flood, drought, invasion Priests worked to please gods in order to protect cities Influence with gods Ppl accepted priest as cities leaders

Gods= rich landowners who created humans to work for them Ppl prayed, made offerings, participated in rituals Believed souls of dead went to land of no return—gloomy underworld Scholars believe their hard life made them expect an unhappy afterlife

3000 B.C., city-states were attacked by other regions Ppl asked powerful men to protect cities= Kings Ran city-states full-time 2375 B.C., Sumer was ruled by a single king= Monarchy Priests still tried to please gods

Why was Sumer a good example of civilization? What was life like in Sumerian cities? How did kings take over as rulers of Sumer?

Groups of 4, Write up your own civilization Required Location: Where? Size? Geographic features? Climate? Population Development of liberties: freedoms of speech, press, religion, voting rights, etc Development of government to: monarchy, oligarchy, theocracy, republic, etc Religion: monotheistic or polytheistic, give details Tools Social roles and jobs Bonus Write a myth from your civilization Develop the alphabet or other writing system of your civilization

Each requirement= 5 points Bonus= 5 extra points ORGANIZATION MATTERS DEATAILS MATTER Names Date Assignment: Create Your Civ. Pittlandiya Location: Present day Southwestern Pennsylvania, Valley of the Penguin Mountains to the Steeler Gulf, covers an area the size of Rhode Island, etc.. Population: 4,500