1. Outcome: Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
The Earliest Humans
Outcome: Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia

2. What will we learn? Villages grow into cities.
The 5 Characteristics that make up a civilization
Mesopotamia & Sumer

3. Constructive Response Questions
Classify the characteristics that make up a civilization?
Describe the geography of Mesopotamia.

4. What interesting details do you see in this image?
What roles do men and women play in this society?
Because of their different capabilities, what might be some of this group’s advantages? Disadvantages?

5. The Paleolithic Age
“Paleolithic” --> “Old Stone” Age
2,500,000 BCE – 10,000 BCE
Made tools
hunting (men) & gathering small berries, wild fruits, and nuts (women)  small bands of humans
NOMADIC (moving from place to place)

6. The Paleolithic Age Humans during this period found shelter in caves.
Cave paintings left behind.

7. By 9000 BC, primitive farming had begun…
~The ability to farm effectively took 100s of years to develop

8. This profound change was known as…
The Neolithic Agricultural Revolution
WOW!!!
Definition: the movement
of people from food
gathering to food
producing

9. The DOMESTICATION of ANIMALS...
A KEY element in the NEOLITHIC AGRICULTURAL
REVOLUTION was...
The DOMESTICATION of ANIMALS...
The taming, breeding and use of animals
for the benefit of humans
Necessary characteristics:
NON meat eaters
will reproduce in captivity
will submit to humans
long life span

10. Growing crops on a regular basis made possible the support for larger population
12 cultivated crops
Division of labor
Engaged trade
More, permanent settlements emerged

11. The knowledge of growing crops and the domestication of animals was critical because…
This provided an adequate food supply for the first time…
People could settle down in one place and stop their nomadic lifestyle.

12. People formed small farming villages and worked together to grow food in more productive ways.
They developed the use of irrigation, which
allowed them to acquire a food surplus.

13. Then, people didn’t have to work so hard
all the time to produce food…so they had
more free time on their hands.
Some began to specialize in one type of
job or craft, instead of doing many
types of work. (technological advances)

14. As life got easier…the population grew.
Trade networks were established between
Different groups and cities began to grow.
As trade expanded, writing was developed
as a way to keep records of trade & temples.

15. Put all these elements together and…
Civilization
Arrives!!!
Ms. Christian
Nacisd.org

16. What characteristics make a society or group of people a civilization?

17. The people of a society should have the food they need to survive.
Stable Food Supply
The people of a society should have the food they need to survive.

18. Social structure Different jobs Social levels
People at higher levels have greater status than others

19. Government Brings order Direct behavior Enforce laws Collect taxes
Military

20. Religion Set of beliefs God or gods Forms of worship Place of worship
Ceremonies

21. The Arts
Creative forms of expression
Painting, architecture, music

22. Technology
Practical tools and inventions

23. Writing
Symbols standing for objects
Written language

24. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Setting the Stage
How did Agriculture change life for humans?
Began dwelling in larger, more organized communities
Cities gradually grew
Economics began to matter

25. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Villages Grow into Cities
Farming became easier due to advances in technology and domestication of animals
Bigger harvests also resulted from better technology
Fact: The more food you have in supply, the bigger the population that can be supported
As cities grew, so did responsibilities ---> not everyone farmed anymore
The wheel and the sail allowed trade to occur over longer distances
No currency yet
Social Classes began to emerge
Religion became more organized

26. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
How Civilization Develops
A Civilization is a complex culture with 5 characteristics
Advanced Cities
Size alone does not distinguish a city from a village
Must be a center for trade

27. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Specialized Workers
Specialization: the development of skills in a specific kind of work
Artisans: skilled workers who make goods by hand

28. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Complex Institutions
Institution: a long-lasting pattern of organization in a community
Ex: Government, religion, and the economy

29. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Record Keeping
Ex. Tax collecting, passage of laws, storage of grain
Around 3000 B.C. Sumerian scribes (professional record keepers) invented a writing system called cuneiform.
Cuneiform: wedge shaped point pressed into wet clay to make symbols. P. 21

30. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Advanced Technology
Ex: Ox drawn plows, potters wheel, using bronze
Melt copper and tin together = bronze
(more durable and malleable)

31. Mesopotamia
Also known as The Fertile Crescent

32. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Geography of Mesopotamia
Located in modern day Iraq
Rich land and curved shape led scholars to call it the Fertile Crescent
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers run through region
Rivers unpredictably flood yearly leaving thick layer of mineral rich silt
Periods of no rain could cause desert conditions. Solution: irrigation.
No natural barriers in Mesopotamia for protection. Solution: they built walls
Natural resources were scarce. Solution: trade networks were established.

33. Sumer

34. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Sumerians Create City-States
The Sumerians exemplified the 5 characteristics of a civilization
Sumerians developed city-states: city that functioned like an independent country
Early government was controlled by temple priests
Ziggurat was a place of worship and like a town hall
In some cases, military leaders became full-time rulers and passed powers to sons
Dynasty: series of rulers from same family line
Cultural Diffusion: ideas or products spread from one culture to another through conquest and trade

35. Ziggurat

36. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Sumerian Culture
Sumerians were polytheistic: belief in more than one god
When you died you went to the “land of no return,” a dismal and gloomy place
Sumerians had social classes (see pyramid to right)
Sumerian women had more rights than many later Civilizations
Ur was one of the world’s first cities
Flourished 5,000 years ago
30,000 people
City walls
Used the barter system for trade
Worshipped at the ziggurat

37. Ur

40. Rise of Civilization & Mesopotamia
Sargon of Akkad conquered Sumer in 2350 B.C.
Sargon created the world’s first empire: the bringing together of several peoples or nations under the control of one ruler.
Babylonian ruler Hammurabi came up with Hammurabi’s Code
Hammurabi’s Code: single, uniform set of laws engraved in stone to help unify diverse groups within his empire

41. Hammurabi wasn’t the first
ruler to establish code of laws
His is the best preserved legal
document
Rulers of ancient Babylon
believed that the gods had
entrusted them to deal fairly with
their people
“to bring about the rule of
righteousness in the land…
so that the strong should not
harm the weak
The code standing 8 feet tall
was placed in a public area

42. Hammurabi, the king of righteousness,
On whom Shamash has conferred the Law,
am I.
When Marduk sent me to rule over men,
to give the protection of right to the land,
I did right and in righteousness brought about
the well-being of the oppressed. Below are situations Hammurabi faced. 
You and your partner decide what you think to be a fair way to deal with the problem.
Then together we’ll view what Hammurabi actually declared. 
We’ll find out if Marduk, the supreme god, will be pleased with your decisions?
What should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls and kills the owner?
What should be done about a wife who ignores her duties and belittles her husband?
What should be done when a "sister of god" (or nun) enters the wine shop for a drink?
What should be done if a son is adopted and then the birth-parents want him back?
What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts?
What should happen to a boy who slaps his father?
What happens to the wine seller who fails to arrest bad characters gathered at her shop?
How is the truth determined when one man brings an accusation against another?
Compiled and Illustrated by Phillip Martin copyright 1998 42

43. What should be done to the carpenter who builds a house that falls and kills the owner?
If a builder builds a house for a man
and does not make its construction sound, and the house which he has built collapses and causes the death of the owner of the house, the builder shall be put to death.
-Code 229

44. What happens if a man is unable to pay his debts?
If a man be in debt and is unable
to pay his creditors, he shall sell his
wife, son, or daughter, or bind them
over to service. For three years they
shall work in the houses of their purchaser
or master; in the fourth year they shall be
given their freedom.
-Code 117

45. What happens to the wine seller who fails to arrest bad characters gathered at her shop?
If bad characters gather in the house of a wine seller and she does not arrest those characters and bring them to the palace, that wine seller shall be put to death
-Code 108

46. What should be done about a wife who ignores her duties and belittles her husband?
If the woman has not been careful but has gadded about, neglecting her house and belittling her husband, they shall throw that woman into the water.
-Code 143

47. What should be done if a son is adopted and then the birth-parents want him back?
If a man takes in his own home a young boy as a son and rears him, one may not bring claim for that adopted son.
-Code 185

48. What should happen to a boy who slaps his father?
If a son strikes his father, they shall cut off his hand. -Code 195

49. How is the truth determined when one man brings an accusation against another?
If any one bring an accusation against a man, and the accused go to the river and leap into the river, if he sink in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river prove that the accused is not guilty, and he escape unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser.
-Code 2

50. What should be done when a "sister of god" (or nun) enters the wine shop for a drink?
If a "sister of god" (nun) who is not living in a convent opens a wine shop or enters a wine shop for a drink, they shall burn that woman.
-Code 110

51. Have society’s
problems changed or
remained the same?
Which people were
favored by the laws
and which were not?
Did Hammurabi
accomplish what he
set out to do?
“to bring about the
rule of righteousness
in the land…so that
the strong should not
harm the weak.

52. Constructive Response Questions
Classify the characteristics that make up a civilization?
Describe the geography of Mesopotamia.