1. Mesopotamia

2. Mesopotamia Geography In between Tigris & Euphrates rivers
Fertile Crescent
Mainly in modern day Iraq
N-Desert, mountain. S-marshes, lagoons
Rivers empty into Persian Gulf
The Sumerians seized the region
3000 B.C.

4. Mesopotamia Geography's Role Agriculture Cities built along the rivers
Great irrigation and drainage
Cities built along the rivers
Ur, Uruk, Lagash
Rivers provided
Fish and building materials
“Life and Death”
Trade
Communication

5. What does this say?

6. Mesopotamia Education Sumerians Complicated writing system Cuniform
2500 B.C. scribal schools flourished
Wealthy males were educated
Extremely harsh discipline
Caned for, sloppy work, talking, standing at ease
Akkadians, Babylonians used same model
Mathematics, religion, literature, botany

7. Mesopotamia Thought and Religion Major advancements in math
Place value, tables, word problems
Polytheistic
Belief in multiple gods
Part of their daily lives
Medicine= magic, prescriptions, and surgery
Wrote the 1st epic poem
Gilgamesh

8. Mesopotamia Sumerian Life Best way to honor gods
Build elaborated temples, Ziggurats
4 categories of society
Nobles
King, queen, priests officials
Free Clients
Free people who worked for nobility
Commoners
Free people, own land, not powerful
Slaves
POW’s, criminals, debt. All freed after 3 years
Beaten, branded. Could trade and make $$

9. Ziggurats (Pronounced ZIG oo rat)

10. What does this temple remind you of?

11. Mesopotamia Culture on the Move Sumerians spread Mesopotamian culture
Semitic Chief; Sargon
1st world conquered
Conquered Sumer
Brought its culture where he conquered
Common political, social, economical practices
Wanted by most people

12. Mesopotamia Babylon Sumerians and Sargon ultimately failed
Geography was just too hard to unify
Babylonians settle on the Euphrates
Began to dominate trade
City grew in power
King Hammurabi
B.C.

13. Mesopotamia Hammurabi Had 3 goals Made Babylon the religious center
Secure, unify, and win a place in Mesop.
Made Babylon the religious center
Law Code of Hammurabi
Eye for and eye, tooth for a tooth
Law was equal based off of social ranking
He unified Mesopotamia

14. Mesopotamia Assyrian Empire 1600 B.C. 1st Babylonian Empire fell
Nineveh, Assyrian Capitol
North of Babylon
Constantly defending itself = skilled warriors
1365 B.C. go on the offensive
650 B.C. Large Empire
From Nile River to Persian Gulf
Invented the battering ram
Chariots, Archers, Armor, Slings
612 B.C. Medes and Chaldeans join to defeat Assyrian Empire

15. Mesopotamia Second Babylonian Empire
King Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans
Rebuilt and improved Babylon
Massive walls around the city
Huge, beautiful palace
Gardens (for his wife)
Became center for learning and science
Astronomy
Agriculture
Fell to the Persians in 539 B.C.

16. Mesopotamia
Euphrates Tigris
Babylon
SUMER Ur

17. Cuneiform Activity