Agenda 1.Daily 10 2.Announcements 3.Vocabulary 4.Mesopotamia Notes 5.Hammurabi Activity
Mesopotamia Egypt River Valley Civilizations
Name four reasons why living by rivers would be beneficial
The Sumerians
We are going to focus on the city of Ur in Sumer Sumer was one of the first regions to develop
Does anyone know the name of the two rivers that flow through this area? Tigris Euphrates Called “The Fertile Crescent” Why? Mesopotamia aka: “land between the rivers”
Good and Bad Problems GOOD Good soil from the River BAD Unpredictable flooding No natural barriers Limited natural resources How will they grow as a civilization?
What kinds? Metalworkers Merchants Soldiers Potters Artists Who was at the top of the social class? Kings & Priests Specialized Workers
If you lived in Mesopotamia, what type of worker do you think you would be?
Irrigation ditches – water for crops Walls – surrounded the cities The wheel and the sail Technology
Ur – one of the earliest cities in Sumer Busy city! Cultural Diffusion –when a new idea or a product spreads from one culture to another Advanced Cities
Illustrate cultural diffusion
Cuneiform – symbols pressed into clay tablets Written history begins! Record Keeping
Cuneiform
Try and draw two cuneiform symbols:
Religion Polytheism- the belief in more than one god Ziggurats – City Hall in middle of city Temple Institutions
Ziggurats
To keep the gods happy – offered sacrifices of animals, food, and wine Priests required food taxes to sacrifice
Draw a ziggurat
Government Multiple cities in Mesopotamia City state – A city has an independent government Who do you think controlled the governments in Sumer? Priests – top of social class Institutions
Hammurabi Have you heard of Babylon? Famous city in Mesopotamia that became an empire Hammurabi – the leader at its greatest time
Hammurabi’s Code – single set of laws and rules EXTREMELY STRICT Engraved in stone and copies were placed all over his empire
Let’s Read Hammurabi’s Code