1. The Ancient Middle East & Egypt
Ms. Saint-Paul

2. 1. Mesopotamia:
"Land Between
the Two Rivers"

3. Controlling the Rivers
Tigris and Euphrates
Alluvial rivers
Flood annually AND deposit fertile silt
Irregular flooding
Rivers flood at different times
Flooding is unpredictable
Flood a different times of the year
Flash floods
Developed canals, dams, dikes & levees
Canals divert water (later used for irrigation)
Dams hold water back
Dikes allow you to open the “flood gates” to allow water to flow when it is needed.
Levees are built up banks

4. The Ancient Fertile Crescent Area
The Middle East: “The Cradle of Civilization”

5. First to develop advanced civilization
Sumerians
First to develop advanced civilization

6. Sumer: Land of Firsts First to develop civilization 12 cities
Division of labor  specialization  trade
Advanced technology
Wheel/axle, plow, potter’s wheel, loom, sail
Complex institutions
Gov: King-priest (theocracy)
Religion: polytheistic ziggurats
Military
Schools
Record Keeping  cuneiform

7. Mesopotamian Trade
“The Cuneiform World”

8. Cuneiform: “Wedge-Shaped” Writing

9. Cuneiform Writing

10. Deciphering Cuneiform
The Rock of Behistun discovered by Henry Rawlinson in 1835

11. Deciphering Cuneiform
Rock of Behistun

12. Deciphering Cuneiform

13. Deciphering Cuneiform

14. Sumerian Scribes
Eduba:
“Tablet House”

15. Sumerian Cylinder Seals

16. Gilgamesh Oldest piece of literature…an epic Story similar to…
…the story of the flood

17. Gilgamesh Epic Tablet: Flood Story

18. Served as an observatory & granary
Ziggurat at Ur
Temple
“Mountain of the Gods”
Served as an observatory & granary
Tower of Babel

19. Empires of Mesopotamia
Sargon of Akkad: The World’s First Empire [Akkadians]
Assimilation

20. The Babylonian Empires

21. Hammurabi’s [r. 1792-1750 B. C. E.] Code

22. Hammurabi, the Judge

23. Babylonian Math

24. Babylonian Numbers

25. The Mesopotamians