1. The second stop on the migration trail.
Ancient Mesopotamia, E02
The second stop on the migration trail.

2. Geography of Mesopotamia
The “Land Between Two Rivers”
The meaning of the word, “Mesopotamia”
Tigris
Euphrates

4. Key terms
Floodplain: The land where the water overflows periodically and fresh dirt is dropped.
Semiarid: a climate that is hot and dry but you can still grow crops.
Drought: A period of no rain or snow fall to have enough water for farming.

5. Floodplain

6. Semiarid climate

7. Drought

8. The First Civilization
Key terms
Civilization: sophisticated groups
City State: a country that is the size of a city

9. More key terms Ziggurat: a religious temple that looks like a pyramid
Polytheism: a belief in many gods

10. Five Traits of Civilization
Advance cities
Specialized workers-priest, king, artisans
City of Ur

11. Five Traits of Civilization
Complex institutions-temples, army, schools
Record keeping-writing

12. Five Traits of Civilization
Advance Technology-irrigation, bronze tools

13. Life in Sumer So how’s life?
Social classes: grouping of people for various reasons
Kings & priest: they were a link to their gods
Upper class: owned land, rich merchants, officials
Lower class: farmers/artisan. All these are free people
Slaves: prisoners of war, the very poor , paying off a debt
- Women had rights

14. Social classes
Slaves
King & Priests
Merchants & Traders

15. The Standard or Flag of Ur

16. Sumerian Science & Technology
Writing called pictographs
The wheel
The plow
Writing called cuneiform
Scribes

17. Mathematics Based on a 60 number system So that could be why we have:
60 minutes to an hour
60 seconds to a minute
A circle has 360 degrees