1. Tigris & Euphrates River Valley

2. Map
SUMER

3. Fertile Crescent =Located in present day Iraq =Areas 1. Mesopotamia
- Cities: Akkad, Babylon
2. Sumer
-City: Ur

4. Farming
T & E flooded at least once a year, left a thick bed of mud called silt
Used irrigation to produce a surplus of wheat and barley
Surpluses allowed for growth of villages and specialized jobs

5. City-States and power
city-state-a city and its surrounding lands functioning as an independent political unit (like a country functions today)
Features: surrounded by a high wall, ziggurat (temple) in the center
Priests ruled at first, during war time power was given to military commanders who eventually became rulers

6. Population growth More surplus=>more people=>more trade
Cultural diffusion-process of a new idea or a product spreading from one culture to another

7. Polytheism Believed in many different gods
Various forces in nature were controlled by gods (ex. Floodings and droughts)
Epic of Gilgamesh-earliest work of literature, told myths and legends of Mesopotamia

8. Social Structure
PRIESTS & KINGS WEALTHY MERCHANTS FARMERS AND WORKERS SLAVES

9. Science and Technology
Wheel
The sail
Plow
1st to use bronze
Writing system: Cuneiform

10. Early Rulers Hammurabi was the ruler of Babylon
Created a single code of laws and engraved them in stone, placing copies all over Babylon
282 laws that dealt with everything from family relations to crime
WHAT WOULD YOU DO?