1. MESOPOTAMIA AND SUMER

2. MESOPOTAMIA
Mesopotamia is the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Also known as the Fertile Crescent due to an abundance of crops
There are three main areas:
Assyria
Akkad
Sumer
The city-state of Babylon is also found in Mesopotamia

5. SUMER By 3000 BC independent city-states had been established Cities
City-state = a city that has political and economic control over the surrounding countryside
Cities
Surrounded by walls and defensive towers
Building made from sun-dried bricks
Sumerians invented the arch and the dome
The most prominent building was the ziggurat (a pyramid- shaped structure), the temple dedicated to the chief god or goddess of the city

7. Monotheistic = belief in one God Polytheistic = belief in many gods
Rulers and Religion
Believed that gods and goddesses owned the cities
Polytheistic
Monotheistic = belief in one God
Polytheistic = belief in many gods
Much wealth was given to build the temples
Worked hard to please the gods
Priests and priestesses had a great deal of power
Started off as a theocracy, but eventually power passed into the hands of kings
Kingship was seen as divine, kings believed to get their power to rule from the gods and served as the gods’ chief representative

8. Society
Economy based mainly on farming, also did some trading
Known for their metalwork
major social groups:
Kings, priests, nobles
Large landowners and wealthy merchants
Artisans and farmers
slaves
Society was patriarchal = dominated by men
Scribes also held very important positions
Few people could read and write, took years of schooling

9. Paid scribes (writers) to create written documents
Advancements
Created a system of writing called cuneiform
Made wedge-shaped impressions on clay tablets and then baked them in the sun
Paid scribes (writers) to create written documents
The Epic of Gilgamesh – famous epic poem
Developed the wagon wheel
Were the first to make bronze out of copper and tin
Invented the plow and performed basic surgery
Used geometry to measure fields and erect buildings
Developed a math system based on the number 6
Hour divided into 60 min., circle into 360 degrees