River Valley Civilization

Bellringer Glue in the papers you picked up and glue in the following order Page 20: Unit 2: Vocabulary Page 20: Unit 2: Vocabulary Page 21: Preview Page 21: Preview Page 22: STAIRS notes Page 22: STAIRS notes Page 23: GRAPES notes Page 23: GRAPES notes Page 24: Problems with Sumer Page 24: Problems with Sumer Page 25: Process Page 25: Process Page 26:Homework Page 26:Homework

Agenda Notes starting with the STAIRS worksheet GRAPES Problem with Sumer Process Homework

Homework Ancient Middle East and Ziggurats and Cuneiform articles

S.T.A.I.R.s S pecialized workers T echnology A dvanced cities I nstitutions R ecord keeping

Sumer GRAPES

What is GRAPES? Geography Religion Achievements Political Economics Social G R A P E S

Sumer: Geography Mesopotamia Southern Mesopotamia Fertile Crescent Part of the Fertile Crescent Jericho Aleppo

Glossary Help Mesopotamia- Mesopotamia- The land between two rivers (in the Middle East) – the first river valley civilization Fertile Crescent- Fertile Crescent- A crescent-shaped area of fertile land in the Middle East

Physical Geography Two rivers, lots of fertile land Flat Mountains and deserts beyond the flat land Neighbors were nomads in the desert and northern Mesopotamia…we’ll meet them soon

Sumer: Religion Polytheism Polytheism – belief in many gods o What did their gods do? Ziggurat Ziggurat – temple and city-center o Animal sacrifices and offerings Why are priests so important in Sumer?

Temple to Nanna, Ur This large temple, dedicated to the god Nanna, was built around 2100 B.C. by King Ur- Nammu, in the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur. (Michael S. Yamashita/Corbis; ABC- CLIO)

Offerings to the Gods King Ur-Nammu makes an offering to the moon god Nanna. Ur-Nammu reigned over the Sumerian city of Ur from about 2112 to 2095 B.C. The stela dates to around 2060 B.C. (Bettmann/Corbis; ABC-CLIO)

Sumer: Achievements Inventions o Wheel o Sail o Plow o Base-60 math (used today in clocks and circles

Achievements Architecture (ziggurat) cuneiform Writing – cuneiform pictograms o Earliest writing used pictograms, pictures that stand for words o Later evolved into a set of symbols representing about 300 sounds

Early Writing Clay tablet with pictograms from Mesopotamia. (Multimedia Library; ABC-CLIO)

Ancient Sumerian tablet with cuneiform, one of the earliest forms of writing. This tablet, from 2039 BC, tracks disbursements of wages to supervisors of day laborers. (Library of Congress; ABC-CLIO) Sumerian inscription, detail of a statue of Gudea of Lagash, 22nd century BC (Brittannica)

DRAW A PICTURE OF CUNEIFORM AND DESCRIBE THE CHARACTERISTICS! Detail from an Assyrian tablet with cuneiform writing. The Assyrian alphabet contained 19 simple letters and approximately 300 cuneiform symbols. (Shutterstock; ABC-CLIO)

Arts Sumerian figurine of a woman sitting and holding a small vase. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource; ABC-CLIO)

Standard of Ur – War

Standard of Ur – Peace

Sumer: Political Priests ruled in peace, military leaders during wars dynasty Eventually, a military leader made himself king and created a dynasty

Sumer: Political Each city-state had its own king o Ur, Uruk, Umma, Lagash, Kish Leaders collected taxes and organized labor (for, say, irrigation)

Sumer: Economic Agriculture-based Trade very important o Traded food for stone, wood, and metal o Then made tools and traded them for more stuff

Sumer: Social Priests Wealthy Merchants Working Class (Farmers, Artisans) Slaves (Foreign Prisoners, Sold Children) Why were merchants so respected?

Women’s Rights Women could o Own property o Be educated o Have important jobs Women could not o Rule the city or be the head priest

Mesopotamia: Did the Sumerians create a civilization? Using the S.T.A.I.R.s work sheet provided in your packet, walk around to the different posters hanging to decide if the question above it correct.