Civilization Develops in the Ancient Middle East 5000 BC to 600 BC

I. The City States of the Sumerians Settled in Mesopotamia- “between the rivers” Between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers 7000 years ago Rivers helped them raise crops and animals Fertile Crescent

B. Life in Sumer Better than prehistoric humans Woman had legal rights Slaves could set up a business and buy their freedom Children could be sold into slavery and beaten by teachers Hierarchy Complex government

C. Ziggurats and Religion Temples located in ziggurats Main building in each city-state Dedicated to the city’s chief god or goddess Believed gods had human feelings Kept gods happy through worship in temples and sacrificing animals Belief in afterlife If gods were angry, they punished the Sumerians by making rivers flood and crops fail

Ziggurat

D. Sumerians invented writing Cuneiform- Sumerian writing Symbols created for each sound or word Wrote on soft clay tables with a stylus- a sharp, pointed writing tool First people to write down history

Cuneiform Tablet

E. Other Sumerian Inventions Plow, sailboat, wheels on carts, potter’s wheel Arches and ramps Astronomy and mathematics - Number system based on 60

POD 10/8/14 Mesopotamia means…. The land between two mountains The land between two rivers The land between two lakes

II. Akkadians and Babyloanians Sargon I united the city-states of Mesopotamia- FIRST EMPIRE Akkad- north of the Sumerians used bronze weapons Sargon ruled for 35 years

B. Sargon I borrowed from the Sumerians System of writing- used cuneiform for written records Translated Sumerian writings about government and religion into their own language Akkad collapsed after the death of Sargon I

C. Babylonians- 1800 BC King Hammurabi’s army defeated the Akkadians and Sumerians Built a ziggurat to honor Marduk Merchants came from Asia to do business b/c of developed trade routes

D. Hammurabi’s Code First system of laws Civil law and criminal law He ruled for 40 years and recorded 300 laws at the end (found in 1902 in Iran) Golden Age of Babylon Mesopotamia divided into city states again after his death in 1750 BC