S UMERIANS AND B ABYLONIANS WG1.3

T HE S UMERIANS The first great Mesopotamian civilization was the Sumerian, which developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. ( B.C)

P OLITICAL Power of the Priests Sumer’s earliest governments were controlled by temple priests Farmers believed they needed blessings for success of their crops Priests were the middle man for the Gods and priests demanded portion of farmer crops as tax

P OLITICAL Later followed Hereditary rulers: when the power is passed down to family members Sargon

P OLITICAL The Sumerians developed city-state, which were independent cities that only united when there was a common threat.

A CHIEVEMENTS : Through these city-states the Sumerians were able to tackle the problem of the large scale flooding from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. They used math and science skills to build a system of dikes and reservoirs to control the floods. Cities were built with clay bricks not wood (no forests) and high walls

R ELIGION Polytheistic: Belief in Many Gods (3,000!!!) Gods could be angered at any moment and to keep them happy Sumerians: Built impressive ziggurats or temples to sacrifice food, wine and animals Souls of the dead wandered in the land of no return

S UMERIAN S OCIETY Kings and Priests Wealthy merchants Ordinary Sumerian people Slaves

W OMEN Could hold property Join lower ranks of priesthood There were few women scribes Scholars think that girls were not allowed to attend schools

I NTELLECTUAL Epic of Gilgamesh Myths and legends recorded in this long poem One of the earliest works of literature in the world

Gilgamesh was a real man, ruling in the city-state of Uruk. The Epic is a tale about his adventures with his half-brother Ekindu. He searches for answers from the gods about the meaning of life and death. Gilgamesh

W RITING : Sumerians developed the world’s first writing system using: Pictograms were simple pictures that were limited in their uses. Cuneiform used symbols to symbolize spoken sounds, which was developed to keep track of their complicated governments They used a stylus (a writing tool) made from sharpened reed and clay tablets that were baked in a kiln or dried in the sun

T HE F ERTILE C RESCENT Arc of land between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia

O NE LAND …T WO R IVERS Mesopotamia means = “land between the rivers” Tigris River and Euphrates River Both rivers flooded once a year and left thick bed of silt. Silt: rich, new soil farmers could plant and harvest enormous quantities of wheat and barley

T HE B ABYLONIANS The Babylonians conquered the Sumerians around 1800 B. C. and adopted much of the Sumerian culture.

P OLITICAL : The Babylonians were ruled by hereditary rulers The most famous is King Hammurabi, who developed one of the first code of laws called The Code of Hammurabi.

L AW C ODES This was a collection of 283 laws. The code established different legal classes and specified the rights of his subjects. The code included legal ideas of the time, like: Punishments based on social classes Retribution- “an eye for an eye”

L AW C ODES important rights extended to women women were not equal to men in the eye of the law but they were granted fundamental rights this was very unusual for the time The most advanced feature was that the laws were clearly stated and also how the laws were to be applied

S OCIAL : Babylonians were divided into classes by birth Rulers, high priests, middle class, farmers and slaves Hammurabi’s code strongly protected the nobles, even at the expense of all others

SHARED : Religion: Both the Sumerians and the Babylonians religion was polytheistic, meaning having many gods These gods: kept the cycle of seasons going maintained the world’s existence Because of this priests were honored and religious leaders were very important political leaders.

III. C HARACTERISTICS SHARED BETWEEN THE S UMERIANS AND B ABYLONIANS : Ziggurats: A stepped pyramid, with flat stacked terraces made with clay bricks They had ramps leading to the top either straight up the side or by going around the entire structure These structures were dedicated to the gods or goddesses to watch over the cities There are two famous ruins: Ur Khorsabad