1. Mesopotamia

2. Emergence of River Valley Civilizations

3. MESOPOTAMIA “The land between two rivers”

4. Mesopotamia: The Fertile Crescent
This region was the site of sophisticated settlements.
Fertile area located in the northern part of the Syrian desert.
Area includes all or parts of Israel, the West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq.
The Mediterranean Sea to the west and on the east the Euphrates and Tigris rivers

5. Greeks called the northern part of the Fertile Crescent Mesopotamia
The southern part of Mesopotamia was called Babylonia, originally Sumer.

6. Sumer – Southern Mesopotamia
The earliest of the River Valley Civilizations
Sumerian civilization grew up along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Kuwait.

7. Sumer (Kuwait) 3500 to 3000 BC Sumerians created the city-state.
a political unit made up of a city and the surrounding lands.
each city state has its own government
As city-states grew, they fought each other for land and water.

8. Sumerian Writing: Cuneiform
Cuneiform is created by pressing a pointed stylus (sharp pointed tool) into a clay tablet.

9. Sumerians invented: Brick technology Wheel
Base 60 – using the circle degrees
Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in a minute
Arch
Ramp
Ziggurat – stepped tower with religious temple on top
Astronomy

10. Ziggurat– Holy Mountain

11. Sumer becomes Babylon
2340 BCE Akkadians created the first empire controlling the Sumerian city-states.
By 1792 BCE Hammurabi unites much of Mesopotamia, and the city-state of Babylon controlled much of the area
Hammurabi created the first known written code of law and required citizens to live by the “Rule of Law”
rule of law - government can only exercise, or use, its authority as described in written laws. Written laws were adopted through established procedure.

12. Hammurabi’s Code - 1792 BC Hammurabi ruled the
Babylonian Empire for 42
years.
At the end of his long reign,
Hammurabi’s legal decisions
were collected and inscribed
on a stone tablet in a
Babylonian temple.
The 282 laws of the Code of
Hammurabi represent one of
the earliest known legal
systems.

13. “If a man stole the property of church or state, that man shall be put to death; also the one who received the stolen goods from his hand shall be put to death.”
The laws governed such things as lying, stealing, assault, debt, business partnerships, marriage, and divorce.
In seeking protection for all members of Babylonian society, Hammurabi relied on the philosophy of equal retaliation, otherwise known as “an eye for an eye.”

14. REVIEW Mesopotamia means “Between Two Rivers” Name the two rivers.
Name two countries of Mesopotamia today?
Which came first – Babylonia or Sumer?
What is the writing of Sumer called?
Where did Hammurabi rule?
What was Hammurabi know for?

15. Activity
We will read 3 cases about crimes that may have been committed during the time of Hammurabi.

16. Hammurabi’s Code Questions
On a lined piece of paper, answer the following questions about the Code of Hammurabi.
a. What did you find most interesting about each case? 
b. Which laws do you believe were fair? Unfair?  c. Which laws from the Code of Hammurabi are similar to laws we have today?  d. Which laws are different from laws we have today?  e. Which Babylonian values do you think are similar to American values? Which values are different?  f. How would you feel about living in a community that used the laws from the Code of Hammurabi?