3. Section 1: Mesopotamia and Sumer
The Great Ziggurat of Ur
Built during the Early Bronze Age, 21st century BC

4. Section 1: Mesopotamia and Sumer
Main Idea
The first known civilization arose in Mesopotamia, and its culture and innovations influenced later civilizations in the region for thousands of years.
Objectives
How did geography promote civilization in Mesopotamia?
What features defined the civilization of Sumer?
What were Sumer’s main cultural achievements?
What events led to later empires in Mesopotamia?

5. I. Geography Promotes Civilization
Fertile Crescent: stretches from Med. Sea to Persian Gulf

6. I. Geography Promotes Civilization
Mesopotamia: area between Tigris and Euphrates rivers; site of first civilizations

7. Droughts and floods ruin crops
I. Geography Promotes Civilization
Land well suited for farming but region posed challenges
Droughts and floods ruin crops

8. I. Geography Promotes Civilization
Methods developed to control water:
Basins, canals, and dikes
Organization: assigning jobs, allocating
resources

9. II. Sumer

10. Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar) was the southernmost region of ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq and Kuwait) and is generally considered the “cradle of civilization.” The name comes from Akkadian and means “land of the civilized kings.” The Sumerians called themselves “the black headed people” and their land, in cuneiform, was “the land” or “the land of the black headed people.” While the Sumerian city of Uruk is believed to be the oldest city in the world, the ancient Mesopotamians believed that when the gods first gave human beings the gifts necessary for cultivating society, they did so by establishing the city of Eridu in Sumer and that it was in Eridu that order was established and civilization began.

11. II. Sumer
Large cities developed by 4000 BC. The city and its land formed an independent city-state

12. II. Sumer Structures were made of mud bricks
Ziggurat: pyramid-shaped temple
Massive walls encircled each city
Ziggurat at Ur
c B.C.
Walls of Babylon

14. II. Sumer
Sumerians practiced polytheism; priests held high status, were the first rulers
1. Himurta--Thunder Showers 2. Innanna--Morning Star 3. Thunderbird 4. Ntu--Sun God. 5. Enki--God of Sweet Waters. 6. Isimud--Enki's Vizier

15. II. Sumer
War chiefs began to rule as kings; many formed dynasties

16. III. Sumerian Culture

17. Herders and cows in the goddess Inana’s fields, 21st–20th century B.C.
III. Sumerian Culture
Sumerian writing was cuneiform; wedge-shaped marks made on clay tablets with a stylus
Herders and cows in the goddess Inana’s fields, 21st–20th century B.C.

18. III. Sumerian Culture Cuneiform first used for record keeping
Scribes recorded information
Used later for law, literature, etc.

19. III. Sumerian Culture Arithmetic based on units of 60
Invented the plow and the wheel

20. III. Sumerian Culture
Advanced medical knowledge, performed basic surgery

21. III. Sumerian Culture
Lacked many raw materials; traded for wood, metals across SW Asia

22. III. Sumerian Culture
Distinct social hierarchy; well-defined male and female roles
The Standard of Ur:
The Peace Side represents Sumerian society
The War Side represents the Sumerian Army

23. IV. Empires in Mesopotamia
Invaders adopted aspects of Sumerian culture as their own

24. IV. Empires in Mesopotamia
c BC – Akkadian ruler Sargon I conquered Sumer and northern Mesopotamia

25. A. Sargon’s Empire
World’s first empire; spread Sumerian culture outside Mesopotamia

26. B. The Babylonian Empire
1792 BC - Hammurabi became king of Babylon, united all of Mesopotamia
Shamash, the supreme sun god and judge, offers to Hammurabi the rod and ring that symbolize authority

27. B. The Babylonian Empire
Code of Hammurabi written laws, covered everything from trade to murder
In 1750 BC, at the height of his power, Hammurabi codified 282 laws, written down for all to see, on an eight-foot-high stele made of black basalt. Although the Code of Hammurabi is not the first legal code, it is the best preserved ancient law the world has today.

28. Summary