1. City-States in Mesopotamia
Chapter 2
Section 1

2. Key Terms Fertile Crescent Mesopotamia City-state Dynasty
Cultural diffusion
Polytheism
Empire
Hammurabi

3. Geography of the Fertile Crescent
Best farming in southwest Asia
Fertile Crescent- curved shape and richness of land
Mesopotamia- means between two rivers
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers

4. Environmental challenges
Sumerians 4500bc
Advantage- Good soil
Three disadvantages
Unpredictable flooding
No natural barriers for protection (defenseless)
Sumer limited resources

5. Solving problems through organization
Provide water
Dug irrigation ditches
Allowed for surplus
Defense
Built wall of mud bricks
Traded grain, cloth, tools
Received stone, wood metal
Leaders organized construction

6. Sumerians Create City-States
3000 BC built many cities
Surrounded by fields of grains
Cities had own rulers and governments
City-State-Each city and surrounding land it controlled

7. Priests and Rulers Share Control
Ziggurat was like city hall
Sumerian priests started standing armies
Leaders of army became rulers
Passed down to son
Dynasty-series of rulers from a single family

8. Spread of Cities
2500 BC
Long distance trading
Cities all over fertile crescent
Syria, Turkey, northern Iraq
Cultural diffusion new ideas spread from one culture to another

9. Sumerian Culture Polytheism- belief in many gods
Enlil god of storms and air
Believed gods did human things
Fall in love
Have children
Quarreled

10. Sumerian Culture Gods could strike at any time
Tried to appease the gods
Sacrificed animals
Death went to “land of no return”
Between earths crust and the sea
Dismal place

11. Sumerian Society Top- Kings, landholders and priests
Next-Wealthy merchants
Majority- the people who worked with their hands
Slaves
Sumerian women could work and join the priesthood

12. Sumerian Science and Technology
Invented the wheel, sail and plow
Arithmetic and geometry
Based on 60 (minutes, hours) circle 360
Architecture- Arches, columns, ramps
Cuneiform-system of writing

13. First Empire Builders 3000-2000 Sumerians defeated
New rulers adopted their culture

14. Sargon of Akkad Defeated Sumer, adopted their culture
Sargon’s conquest spread Sumerian culture
Empire-brings together several people, nations under one ruler
Sargon’s Dynasty lasted 200 years

15. Babylonian Empire Amorites in 2000 BC defeat Sumerians
Capital at Babylon
Hammurabi’s code
Single uniform code of laws
Engraved in stone
Place throughout the empire
Had 282 laws

16. Babylonian Empire Government had a responsibility to the people
Included family relations
Crimes
Laws related to property
Protected women and children from unfair treatment
Eye for an eye a tooth for a tooth
If thief not caught government paid the victim
Government had a responsibility to the people

17. Babylonia Empire Hammurabi’s Code
Different punishments for rich and poor
Different for men and women
To bring about rule and righteousness