1. FOUNDATIONS OF CIVILIZATION

2. BIG 7 CHARACTERISTICS DEVELOPED CITIES ORGANIZED GOVERNMENT
FORMALIZED RELIGION
SPECILAIZATION OF LABOR
SOCIAL CLASSES
RECORD KEEPING AND WRITING
*CUNEIFORM
ART AND ARCHITECTURE

3. CULTURE DEFINED
The customs, arts, social institutions, and achievements of a particular people or other social group
The attitudes and behavior characteristic of a particular social group.

4. THE NEOLITHIC REVOLUTION
THE NEW STONE AGE
Began in 8000 BC and ended until 3000 BC
People learned to polish and grind stones to shape tools with sharper edges
New tools are made
Animals and plants are domesticated
Growth in agriculture – Transition period of hunter-gathering to permanent farming settlements

5. MESOPOTAMIA GEOGRAPHY PROMOTES CIVILIZATION
Greek word meaning “between the rivers”
What made Mesopotamia the perfect location for civilizations to start and thrive?

6. QUESTION
In which geographic location would the beginning of a civilization most likely occur?
Alongside a lake
Alongside a river
In the middle of a forest
In the middle of a desert

7. SUMERIANS First developed civilization Polytheistic
Major contributions:
Developed a math system
Established a writing system (cuneiform)…the way to move up the social ladder
Arts: Arches, ramps, columns, large temples
Invented the wheel and plow

8. THE AKKADDIANS FIRST CONQUEREORS IN HISTORY Led by Sargon I
Formed the world’s first empire (a land that includes different kingdoms and people under one rule)
Stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf
Lasted about 140 years – spread Sumerian culture

9. THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE Settled in what is now modern day Baghdad, Iraq
King Hammurabi became king of Babylon
United all of Mesopotamia
Absorbed elements of previous cultures
Most famous for Hammurabi’s Code
282 laws dealing with everything from trade and theft to injury and murder

10. FIRST MAJOR CIVILIZATIONS
The Sumerians along the Tigris and Euphrates River
The Chinese along the Yellow River
The Harappans along the Indus River
The Egyptians along the Mediterranean/Nile River
The Assyrians
The Babylonians
The Hittites