1. Directions: Go through this slide show and use the information to fill in the boxes on your Chart.
Use each link. Some will be helpful to your chart and some will supplement that information.

2. Middle Eastern-Southwest Asia Civilizations
Ancient Civilizations of Mesopotamia and the
Fertile Crescent

3. The Fertile Crescent

4. Geography
Fertile Crescent – Is an area in the Middle East that is shaped like a crescent moon and contains fertile soil that includes Mesopotamia to the Nile River Valley.

5. Geography:
Mesopotamia: The “Land Between Two Rivers” Lies in the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

6. Mesopotamia

7. Current Area of Mesopotamia
Assyria
Babylon
SUMER

8. Sumerians Babylonians Phoenicians Hebrews
Ancient Civilizations that Occupied the Mesopotamia in the Middle East:
Sumerians
Babylonians
Phoenicians
Hebrews

9. Ancient Sumer Sumer is considered the “Cradle of Civilization”
Hunter-Gatherers settled into the First civilizations
First settled in the Fertile land in Lower Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Severe Flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates
floods bring in silt - makes for Fertile farmland
irrigation systems with Canals and Dams
Geography allows for a food Surplus
Economic Pattern
Traded with people of Nile river valley and Indus river valley

11. Sumer Geography Location:
Around the southern portions of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Small, about the size of the state of Massachusetts.
Located on a flat open plain with little to no natural barriers
Dates:
3500 to 2000 BCE

12. Ancient Sumer
Sumerians formed their civilization around 3500 B.C. and fell to foreign invaders 1500 years later (around 2000 BC)
The Sumerian Civilization was a collection of city-states that shared a common culture, language and religion
What is a city-state?

13. City-State – consists of the city itself and the land surrounding it
Many city-states in ancient Sumer:
City-states were originally run by a council but most would later be run by a king or monarch.
A monarchy is when one person has total control of the government and passes the rule down to their heir.
AKA. Hereditary Rule (Father to son or Mother to child)
Monarchies are sometimes more efficient ways to govern (means to rule).
The Role of the King
Military Ruler
Religious Leader
god
Political and Government Leader

14. Social Pattern
Religion  The Ancient Sumerians built huge temples called Ziggurats to honor their gods and goddess. The Sumerians practiced a polytheistic religion, meaning that they worshipped many gods.   Their gods were often related to forces in nature or human activities.   Each city-state was typically dedicated to one particular god or deity. The Sumerians payed tribute to all Sumerian gods but focused primarily on the one from their city-state. Genders Men enjoyed much more legal rights than Women did.   Men could sell their wives or children into slavery to overcome a debt
Click Here
to explore the Great Ziggurat at Ur.

15. Ancient Sumer Social Class
“Important” people:
Kings
Nobles/Priests
Merchants
Artisans
Scribes
Farmers
Slaves
Slaves – built the great Ziggurats and irrigation projects
Try to build your own Zuggurat by managing your slaves
Click Here to build a Ziggurat at Ur (a great city)
Scribes – the people of ancient Sumer that could write. They trained in schools and wrote in Cuneiform, which uses pictures to represent words.
Farmers- Grow the food

16. Sumer Cuneiform wrote by pressing a tool into a clay tablet.
Most symbols were some type of wedge.
developed from Sumerian Pictograms:
image meant words
which are some of the earliest known forms of writing

17. Technology Sumer Other Contributions Irrigation systems
Ditches and canals that are built to traffic water to crops.
may have been the first to invent and use the wheel.
Potters wheel
invented the arch. It is one of the strongest forms in building.
developed an early form a clock (we use the same time system)
Built Ziggurats
Large temples dedicated to a god
A form of step pyramid: the sides are not straight they are tiered.

18. At this point you should have everything filled in in your chart for the Sumerian Civilization.
If you do not, go back over the slide show to find what you missed. (use your right-click to move back)

19. Location of Babylon
Began in Lower Mesopotamia:

20. Babylonia
Location:
Starting in the middle of Mesopotamia, eventually spreading north and south to control the majority of the region.
Dates:
1792 to approximately 1600 BCE

21. Expanded to include most of the Middle East in a great empire: controlled a large territory of many city-states.

22. Ancient Babylonians Hammurabi: Empire at its height from 1800-1600 BC
Located in the middle region of Mesopotamia
Led by its most famous ruler
Hammurabi:

23. Ancient Babylonians
Large Empire that needed to be governed fairly and consistently
Existed from B.C.
Created the very specific, very strict written code of laws.
Hammurabi’s Code

24. Babylon Hammurabi He created the Code of Hammurabi,
Became a powerful ruler in the city of Babylon around 1792 B.C.E..
Conquered most of the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley, and built on the Sumerian civilization that had begun there.
Great military and political leader.
He created the Code of Hammurabi,
The 1st written set of LAWS

25. Babylon Code of Hammurabi
Collection of laws that dealt with all aspects of life.
Punishment was harsh, as the code was based on the idea of “an eye for and eye”
Punishment was also given according to social class.
Ex: If a rich man destroyed the eye of a poor man, he would have to pay a fine… and get to keep his eye

26. Ancient Babylonians
Hammurabi’s Code survives to this day:

27. At this point, you should have everything you need to know about the Babylonians. If not, go back through and find the correct answers.

28. LYDIA

29. Lydia Location: Dates: Asia Minor or Anatolia 650’s to 540 BCE
present day Turkey

30. Lydia first civilization to establish a system of coined money.
Began to use c. 600 BCE
Before coined money merchants had to barter
Barter: the exchange of one good or service for another.

31. Lydia
Through trade the concept of a money economy was spread to other civilizations
Eventually adopted by the Greeks and Persian, and then slowly continued to be picked up by civilizations across the world

32. At this point, you should have everything you need to know about the Lydian. If not, go back through and find the correct answers.

33. The Phoenicians

34. Phoenicians: Location
The Phoenicians lived on a piece of land along the Western bank of the Mediterranean Sea.
They did not have good farmland, but they did have access to the sea. They became great traders, sailing around the Mediterranean to trade for food and goods.

35. Phoenicia
Location:
Long the eastern coast of the Mediterranean sea
present day Israel, Lebanon (mainly), and Syria
smaller than other Fertile Crescent civilizations, but still managed to become an economic force in the region
Dates:
Approximately 1500 to 300BCE

36. Phoenicia bordered by the Lebanon Mountains to the east
made traveling eastward difficult
This forced the focus of movement to the west, The Mediterranean Sea
became the greatest traders in the ancient world.
traded all over the Mediterranean Sea and Basin (notice the sailed close to the coast line)

37. Phoenicia Known for producing: blown glass
purple dye (made from a shellfish.)
Lumber (their most important natural resource)
Many ancient peoples used this lumber for building houses and boats (ships)

38. Phoenicians: Accomplishments
The Phoenicians did not govern a large territory like the Babylonians, instead they set up small city-states around the Mediterranean as bases for their trade routes.
What is a city-state?
The Phoenicians became great explorers, spreading Babylonian and Sumerian culture all around Europe and North Africa.

39. Phoenicians: Important People
Each Phoenician city-state was its own country and had its own king. As a result, history does not focus on any one king or leader from this loose union of cities.
We do not need to know any important people from the Phoenicians, but we do need to know what they created.

40. Phoenician Trade Routes

41. Phoenicia
Products used for trade: - metal work - purple textiles - glass - carved ivory (imported from Africa) - cedar logs (lumber)

42. Phoenicians: Contributions to the world
In order to keep records on all that they traded around the Mediterranean Sea, the Phoenicians developed the world’s first alphabet.
In the Phoenician writing system, unlike the Cuneiform of Sumer, symbols, or letters, represented sounds instead of words.
The alphabet we use is based on the Phoenician alphabet!

43. Language
Pictograms
Are the first written symbols
In the ancient civilization of Sumer Cuneiform developed
Phoenicians developed the Alphabet.

44. Got everything about the Phoenicians?

45. A group of people founded by Abraham
The Hebrews
A group of people founded by Abraham

46. Location:
In the southern part of the Fertile Crescent lies a land called Canaan, where many groups lived. One group was the Hebrews

47. Location
Geographic problems (famine and drought) forced the Hebrews to Egypt.
They were enslaved by the Egyptians and then led out from slavery by Moses in what was called the Exodus.

48. Accomplishments:
Religion: The Hebrews developed the first religion that worshipped one god, or was Monotheistic. It was called “Judaism”
Law Code: The Ten Commandments
According to the Bible, Moses received this list of ten rules from their one God.
King David eventually established a kingdom in Canaan called Israel.

49. STOP Did you get all three important people from the Hebrews?
Did you click on all of the links and answer the extra credit assignments?
The last slide has a link that will help you with the last question on your chart.

50. Mesopotamia Basic Review!
Is the land between 2 rivers
The TIGRIS and the EUPHRATES
Achievements of Civilizations:
The Lydians developed money (silver coins)
Phoenicians Developed the Alphabet
Jews developed Monotheistic religion
Babylonians developed Law codes
Sumerians invented the wheel