1. Civilization and Mesopotamia

2. Civilization
AIM: Students will understand the 5 themes of civilization and the birth of civilization in Mesopotamia.
Do Now: What were the social changes and economic changes that turned villages into cities?

3. Meme of the day

4. Social Economic Labor from many people Social classes
Organized Religion
Leaders
Food Surplus
More farm land / Better farming technology
Irrigation system
Craftwork – Art, pottery, clothes, metal objects
Technology – Sail & wheel – Trade to further places

5. From Village to City https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki8S5I83Ccc
Event A: Food Shortage (The Cause)
Critical thinking question 1?

6. Civilization – 5 characteristics
1) Advanced cities - a center of trade for a larger area.
A) Barter – trading goods and services without money
2) Specialized workers - such as traders, artisans, government officials, and priests.
What led to specialized workers?
3) Complex institutions - made government, or a system of ruling, necessary. In
civilizations, leaders emerged to maintain order among people and to establish laws.
A) Institutions - long-lasting pattern of organization in a community. (Church, government, economy
Why would record keeping be important?

7. Record Keeping
4) Record keeping - officials had to document tax collections, the passage of laws, and the storage of grain. Priests needed a way to keep track of the calendar. Merchants had to record accounts of debts and payments
A) Sumerian scribes—or professional record keepers—invented a system of writing called cuneiform. (KYOO•nee•uh•FAWRM)
B) cuneiform, meaning “wedge-shaped.” (Earlier
Sumerian writing consisted of pictographs
symbols of the the scribe’s tool, called a stylus, was a sharpened reed with a wedge-shaped point. It was pressed into moist clay to create symbols. Scribes baked their clay tablets in the sun to preserve the writing.

8. The Sumerian Civilization
Cuneiform = Sumerian system of writing
The symbols represented complex ideas

9. The Sumerian Civilization
Scribes were trained to read & write documents and stories
Epic of Gilgamesh = oldest story in the world

10. Event B
Uncontrolled Water Supply
Describe your design?

11. Technology
5) Technology – What was some of the Neolithic technology advancements?
Sumerian artisans relied on new technology to make their tasks easier.
A) Around 3500 B.C., they first used the potter’s wheel to shape jugs, plates, and bowls.
B) Sumerian metalworkers - certain amounts of copper and tin made bronze.
Bronze Age refers to the time when people began using bronze, rather than copper and stone, to fashion tools and weapons. The Bronze Age started in Sumer around 3000 B.C.

12. Sumerian Inventions Wagon Wheel Arch Potter’s Wheel Sundial
12-month Calendar
Metal Plow

13. Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent = moon- shaped strip of land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf that is excellent farm land
Located in modern-day Middle East

14. Event C: Building and Maintaining
Critical thinking Question C – What is the best way to maintain complex irrigation system?

15. Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia = located within the Fertile Crescent, between the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
Rivers were NOT a reliable source of water (unlike the Nile)
Ran dry in summer; flooded in spring
Villages joined together to build dams, canals, and ditches

16. The Sumerian Civilization
People from Asia arrived in Mesopotamia
Formed 12 city-states = the city and the land surrounding it
Considered the world’s 1st cities
Created ziggurats = stepped pyramids with a temple at the top

17. The Sumerian Civilization
Sumerians shared common culture, language, and religion
City-states governed themselves
Were theocracies = kings served as both government leaders AND high priests
Laws regulated the roles of women & men  men had far more rights

18. Event D: Attacks from neighboring communities
How would you design a defense to protect your city