3. › The Fertile Crescent gave rise to the Sumerian civilization in the Tigris- Euphrates Valley i.Rivers: Tigris & Euphrates

4. ii. Sumerian Writing 1. Cuneiform: earliest known form of writing (symbol-based)

5. iii.Architecture and Science 1.Ziggurats – wedding cake-shaped temples 2.First to develop and use the wheel 3.Math- 60

6. iv. City-State: included a town or city and the surrounding land controlled by it. iv. Religion:  Believed in a shadowy lower world afterlife

7. a. Akkadians 1. Sargon of Akkad- had first empire in Sumeria

8. b. Babylonians i. Code of Hammurabi - 1 st major collection of laws

9. c. Hittites: Invaders that had iron technology d. Assyrians: Most feared warriors of Sumeria › Kings control through a harsh code of justice

10. e. Chaldeans › Nebuchadnezzar  Ruthless king who encouraged Babylonian learning he received from the Assyrians

11. e. Persians 1. Cyrus the Great  Captured Babylon in 539 BC & freed the Jews from captivity 2. Darius  United Persian Empire

12.  Religion › Zoroaster: a Sumerian prophet that taught that evil and righteousness were in constant battle

13.  Farming › More difficult than Egypt because the flooding was unpredictable