1. “Land Between the Rivers” VIDEO
Mesopotamia
“Land Between the Rivers”
VIDEO

2. Map in Public Domain: http://www.mpoweruk.com/figs/Mesopotamia.htm

3. FERTILE CRESENT Mesopotamia
Fertile land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
20 to 150 miles wide
The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers begin in eastern Turkey, flow in a southeast direction, converge in southeast Iraq, and empty in the Persian Gulf. In ancient times, the land between the twin rivers was called Mesopotamia which was the site of the world's first civilization

4. SUMER First Civilization Collection of City-States
Each city-state centered around a temple called a Ziggurat
CITY-STATE
The ancient Sumerians organized themselves into competing city-states. A Sumerian city-state consisted of the city, the surrounding mud brick wall, and the surrounding farmland.
ZIGGURATS
In Mesopotamia, each town and city was believed to be protected by its own, unique god. The temple, as the center of worship, was also the center of every city.
Around the year 2000 B.C., temple towers began to be built to link heaven and earth. The towers, called ziggurats, were very large, pyramid-shaped structures on top of which the temple was built. The ziggurats were built of mud bricks with 3 to 7 terraced levels.
The Mesopotamians believed that these pyramid temples connected heaven and earth. In fact, the ziggurat at Babylon was known as Etemenankia or "House of the Platform between Heaven & Earth". The ziggurats were often decorated with pillars and other ornamentation. At first, religious events were held at the temple. Later, as a priesthood developed, the temple became the center of both religion and learning for the entire community.
 GODS AND GODDESSES The people of Mesopotamia had very many gods, called dingir in Sumerian. Their gods and goddesses looked and acted just like people. They had feasts, marriages, children, and wars. They could be jealous, angry, joyful, or kind. The gods and goddesses had supernatural powers.
Every single city had its own patron god or goddess who owned everything and everyone in the city. Everyone was expected to sing hymns, say prayers, make sacrifices and bring offerings to the local temple (ziggurat) for the gods. The people trusted the priests and the priestesses in the temples to tell them what the gods or goddesses wanted, and they dutifully carried out their wishes. They believed that the gods could be annoyed at what you did and punish you, or they could be pleased and reward you.This made the leaders in the temples almost as powerful as the kings.
In Mesopotamia the people looked to religion to answer their questions about life and death, good and evil, and the forces of nature. The dingir followed themes, or divine laws, that governed the universe. The Sumerians believed in divine order, that is, everything that occurs is preplanned by the gods. There were four all-powerful gods that created and controlled the universe. An was the god of heaven, Enlil was the air-god, Enki was the water-god, and Ninhursag was the mother earth-goddess. Each of these gods created lesser gods who were also important in Mesopotamia. Utu, the sun-god, lit the world with rays shooting from his shoulders. He moved across the sky in a chariot. Nanna was the moon-god who used a boat to travel by night.

5. Vocabulary
What is an independent government made up of a city and its surrounding lands?
City-State

6. Public Domain Image: http://commons. wikimedia

7. SUMERIAN INVENTIONS Wheel, sail, plow Sewer, arch Number system
Geometry
Algebra
Cuneiform
The Tigris and Euphrates rivers made transport of goods easy and economical. Riverboats were used to transport goods for trade. Strong currents moved the boats downstream, but because of the current they could travel in one direction only. The boats had to be dismantled after the trip downstream. The Mesopotamians used three types of boats: wooden boats with a triangular sail, the turnip or Guffa boat which was shaped like a tub, made of reeds and covered with skin, and the kalakku which was a raft of timbers supported by inflated animal skins. The invention of the wheel by the Sumerians revolutionized the transportation. Wagons could be used to carry heavy loads.

8. Cuneiform Oldest written language
Farmers needed to keep records. The Sumerians were very good farmers. They raised animals such as goats and cows. Because they needed to keep records of their livestock, food, and other things, officials began using tokens. Tokens were used for trade. Clay tokens came in different shapes and sizes. These represented different objects. For example, a cone shape could have represented a bag of wheat. These tokens were placed inside clay balls that were sealed. If you were sending five goats to someone, then you would put five tokens in the clay ball. When the goat arrived, the person would open the clay ball and count the tokens to make sure the correct number of goats had arrived.
The number of tokens began to be pressed on the outside of the clay balls. Many experts believe that this is how writing on clay tablets began. A system of writing develops.
The earliest form of writing dates back to 3300 B.C. People back then would draw "word-pictures" on clay tablets using a pointed instrument called a stylus. These "word-pictures" then developed into wedge-shaped signs. This type of script was called cuneiform (from the Latin word cuneus which means wedge).
Who used cuneiform? Not everyone learned to read and write. The ones that were picked by the gods were called scribes. Boys that were chosen to become scribes began to study at 8 years old. They finished when they were 20 years old. The scribes wrote on clay tablets and used a triangular shaped reed called a stylus to make marks in the clay. The marks represented the tens of thousands of words in their language.

9. From The Epic of Gilgamesh
.You know the city Shurrupak, it stands on the banks of Euphrates? That city grew old and the gods that were in it
were old. There was Anu,-lord of the firmament, their father, and warrior Enlil their counsellor, Ninurta the helper, and
Ennugi watcher over canals; and with them also was Ea. In those days the world teemed, the people multiplied, the world
bellowed like a wild bull, and the great god was aroused by the clamour. Enlil heard the clamour and he said to the gods in
council, "The uproar of mankind is intolerable and sleep is no longer possible by reason of the babel." So the gods agreed
to exterminate mankind. Enlil did this, but Ea because of his oath warned me in a dream. He whispered their words to my
house of reeds, "Reed-house, reed-house! Wall, O wall, hearken reed-house, wall reflect; O man of Shurrupak, son of
Ubara-Tutu; tear down your house and build a boat, abandon possessions and look for life, despise worldly goods and save
your soul alive. Tear down your house, I say, and build a boat. These are the measurements of the barque as you shall
build her: let hex beam equal her length, let her deck be roofed like the vault that covers the abyss; then take up into the
boat the seed of all living creatures."
I preface this slide by saying, “Raise your hand when you recognize this story.”

10. Vocabulary What is the oldest written language? Cuneiform
What civilization invented it?
Sumerians

11. THE BIRTH OF EMPIRE Sargon of Akkad ca. 2350 B.C.
Created world’s first empire by controlling northern and southern Mesopotamia
Spread Sumerian culture beyond Tigris-Euphrates Valley
Around 2300 B.C., Sargon I created the world's first empire in the area of ancient Mesopotamia. Since he was from the northern reaches of Mesopotamia known as Akkad, the world's first empire was Akkadian.
Sargon of Akkad gradually conquered the area between the rivers around 2300 BCE. The Akkadians spoke a Semitic language. Sargon, according to Sumerian legend, was born to an Akkadian high priestess and a poor father, maybe a gardener. His mother abandoned him by putting him in a basket made out of reeds and letting it float away down the river (like Moses a thousand years later). But Sargon was rescued, made friends with the goddess Ishtar, and was brought up in the king's court.
When Sargon grew up, he built himself a new city at Akkad, and made himself the king of it. Then he gradually conquered all the land around him. In this way he built the first empire that we know of: the Akkadian Empire. Sargon also brought to West Asia the new idea that a king should be succeeded by his sons; before this the new king had been elected by the rich men of each city.

12. Vocabulary
What do we call it when ideas are spread from one place to another?
Cultural Diffusion

13. Map Creative Commons: https://en. wikipedia

14. Ishtar
Goddess of Erotic Love and patron of Sargon, Ishtar had an affair with Gilgamesh in the epic.
Image in the Public Domain:

15. Naram-Sin attacking a mountain
Sargon's sons succeeded him as king of the Akkadians when he died, first one and then the other. When they were assassinated, Sargon's young grandson Naram-Sin became king. Naram-Sin ruled for 56 years. His Akkadian Empire stretched from Lebanon on the Mediterranean coast, up north into Turkey and south to the Persian Gulf.
Naram-Sin was succeeded by his own son Shar-kali-Sharri, but Shar-kali-Sharri failed to hold the Akkadian Empire together, and around 2100 BCE the empire gradually fell apart into many of small kingdoms.

16. The story of Mesopotamia is the story of the
&
of Empires
RISE
FALL

17. 1st Babylonian Empire Ca. 2000 BCE Amorites invade
Establish capital at Babylon, on the Euphrates River
About 1800 B.C., the Amorites moved into Mesopotamia. They established their own city-states, and Hammurabi was the king of Babylon. He conquered the Akkadians and ruled all of Mesopotamia. His reign is often described as the "Golden Age of Babylon“ because he established many new reforms.

18. BABYLONIAN EMPIRE
The Assyrians conquered the 1st Babylonian Empire, ca BCE
The Chaldeans conquered the Assyrians, ca BCE
They became the Neo-Babylonians, or the 2nd Babylonian Empire
The PERSIANS conquered them, 539 BCE

19. BABYLONIANS First Written Laws: HAMMURABI’S CODE - Tower of Babylon
1st Empire
First Written Laws:
HAMMURABI’S CODE
- Tower of Babylon
--Hanging Gardens
About 1700 B.C. the Babylonian Empire was overthrown by new invaders, first by the Hittites and then by the Assyrians. However, in 612 B.C. neighboring people joined forces to crush the once-dreaded Assyrian armies. An aggressive and ruthless king, Nebuchadnezzar II (neh buh kuhd NEHZ uhr), revived the power of Babylon. His new Babylonian Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the canals, temples, walls, and palaces of Babylon. Near his chief palace were the famous Hanging Gardens, known as one of the wonders of the ancient world. The gardens were probably made by planting trees and flowering plants on the steps of a huge ziggurat. According to legend, Nebuchadnezzar had the gardens built to please his wife, who was homesick for the hills where she had grown up.
Under Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians pushed the frontiers of learning into new areas. Priests-astrologers were especially eager to understand the stars and planets, which they believed had a great influence on all events on Earth. The Babylonians believed in astrology - the superstition that the movement of stars, planets, and other heavenly bodies directly affect the lives of human beings. However, by studying the heavens, the Babylonians learned to recognize planets and to foretell eclipses, thereby recording data later essential to astronomy.
In 539 B.C., Babylon fell to the Persian armies of Cyrus the Great, who went on to conquer the largest empire yet seen.
Image from the Public Domain:
Maps from GNU and Public Domain:
2nd Empire

20. Hammurabi’s Code
Public Domain Images:

21. Phoenicians
VIDEO

22. Traders Collection of city-states
About 1100 B.C. dominated Mediterranean trade
Shipbuilders and seafarers
First Mediterranean people to voyage beyond the Strait of Gibraltar
centered in the north of ancient Canaan. Phoenician civilization was based on trade that spread across the Mediterranean between 1550 BCE and 300 BCE.

23. Map "Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, The University of Texas at Austin."

24. Merchandise Red-purple dye - Made from rotten snails Papyrus Wine
Weapons
Precious metals
Ivory
Slaves

25. Alphabet
Needed to record transactions
Created a phonetic alphabet
22 letters
Same phonetically as the Hebrew
First two letters: aleph, beth

26. Phoenician Alphabet
Public Domain Image:

27. Vocabulary What do we call the Phoenician writing system?
The Phoenician Alphabet

28. Hebrews

29. Canaan “the Promised-Land:” faced drought, famine, starvation
Abraham’s Covenant with God:
A nation out of one
Father of all three major world religions
Isaac and Ishmael
Judaism and Islam

30. Led by Moses out of Egypt 40 years wandering in the desert
Enslaved in Egypt
Led by Moses out of Egypt
40 years wandering in the desert
-10 Commandments
-The Torah
Back in Canaan (Israel), war over land with Philistines
Rather than "Red Sea," the correct interpretation of the term yam sûf in the Hebrew text in Exodus is "Reed Sea." Some people speculate that the crossing mentioned in Exodus was a shallow, marshy area near what today is the northern end of the Suez Canal, where people on foot could have crossed but horses and chariots could have become bogged down in the mud. The Red Sea is salt water and devoid of reeds.

31. Public Domain Map: http://www. godweb

32. AND FINALLY, THE PERSIANS…
Came from present-day Iran
Cyrus the Great seized Babylon.
- Freed the Jewish people
- Allowed them to return to Israel
- Allowed them to rebuild the Temple of Solomon
Public Domain Map:

33. Tolerant rulers
Darius the Great built the city of Persepolis
Zoroastrianism
- Monotheistic
- Good vs. Evil
- Afterlife=a good place & a bad place!

34. Vocabulary
What is the monotheistic Persian religion that believes in a struggle between good and evil?
Zoroastrianism

35. Zoroastrianism is still alive in the world, though greatly diminished because they are not permitted to marry outside of their faith. This Facebook page is a place for young singles to meet.

36. Fertile Crescent Sumerians Akkadians Amorites (1st Babylonian Empire)
Hittites (IRON WEAPONS)
Assyrians (IRON WEAPONS, FIERCE ARMY)
Neo-Babylonians (Chaldeans [related to the Amorites]), 2nd Babylonian Empire
Persians
VIDEO 1
VIDEO 2