Lesson 7 The Rise Of Sumer

When we last met… Rivers bring life but also destruction. Early people had to learn to control the rivers. Irrigation is a way to get water to where you need it. More food led to more people in Mesopotamia. More people led to the growth of the first cities. With water sources secured, there was not as big a need for farmers. People began to do other things, advancing their society quicker.

first advanced society The creation of the first advanced society 5,000 years ago, a people called Sumerians had settled in the lower part of Mesopotamia. Most Sumerians were still farmers but the center of their society were the newly formed cities. Because of this, the basic political unit of Sumer was the city-state

A Sumerian City-State Would look like this. The leader would rule the city and the farm land around it. Their leadership did not go further than that. Sumerian city-states fought each other over farm land. What steps do you think they took to protect themselves?

Sumerian city-states each had their own army and the amount of farmland a city-state controlled depended on the strength of their army. Sumerian cities were also well protected by thick, strong walls to keep invaders out!

Sumerian society was dominated by about 33 of these city-states Sumerian society was dominated by about 33 of these city-states. The city-state of Babylon is shown below.

This map shows the location of some of Sumer’s city-states This map shows the location of some of Sumer’s city-states. Ur, Uruk and Kish were among the most powerful but they were soon to have a common enemy…

He attacks Sumer and defeats them to create the world’s first empire. The Akkadians! Akkadians lived just above Sumer and were a totally different society of people who even spoke a different language. For years, the Akkadians and Sumerians lived in peace until the year 2334 BC. In that year a new king of Akkad named Sargon the Great took over and wanted to expand the land ruled by Akkadians. He attacks Sumer and defeats them to create the world’s first empire.

An empire is an area of land with different peoples and societies that are under the control of one ruler.

Another view of the Akkadian Empire Another view of the Akkadian Empire. It didn’t last long as Sargon the Great’s sons were weak leaders. After a few hundred years, Ur regained their strength and took over all of Mesopotamia. The Sumerians were back in power.