1. Mesopotamia

2. Things to know Where was Mesopotamia
How did the Fertile Crescent get its name?
What was the most important factor in making Mesopotamia’s farmland fertile?

3. Simple Outline Hunter-gatherer groups first settled 12,000 years ago
Tigris and Euphrates rivers flooded bring silt (rich soil and tiny rocks)
Mesopotamia means “between the rivers” in Greek

4. Farming and Cities
Early settlements were located near rivers, but water was not controlled and flooding was a problem
Later, people built canals to protect houses from flooding – and moved water to fields
With irrigation, the people were able to grow more food
Food surpluses allowed some to stop farming and concentrate on other skilled jobs

5. The Rise of Sumer The World’s first civilization
Most Sumerians were farmers, however, centre of society was the urban areas
The 1st cities had about 10,000 residents
By 2000 BC, some had more than !

6. City-States A city-state was a city and all the countryside around it
City-states fought each other to gain more land
Individual city-states gained and lost power
Cities like Ur (above) and Uruk fought for dominance

7. Read the handout and watch Epic
Gilgamesh
One of Uruk’s kings – Gilgamesh became a legendary figure in Sumerian literature
Considered 1st piece of literature
Read the handout and watch Epic

8. Rise of the Akkadian Empire
Another society at the same time was the Akkadians – lived at peace with Sumerians
... Until Sargon built a capital in present day Baghdad – which was in Sumer
Akkadians and Sumerians go to war, and Akkadians win – creating the world’s first Empire

9. Sargon’s story
According to legend, a gardener found a baby floating in a basket on a river and raised him as his own child. This baby later became the Akkadian emperor Sargon.
Sargon is believed to be among the first military leaders to use soldiers armed with bows and arrows.

10. After Sargon After his death, the Akkadian Empire only lasts 50 years.
City-state of Ur rebuilds and conquers Mesopotamia.
Sumerian Society
Polytheistic
Priests
Social hierarchy (Priests – craftsmen – merchants – traders – farmers)
Role of women

11. Sumerian Achievements
Invention of writing - cuneform (kyoo-nee-uh-fohrm)
Epics
The Wheel
Potter’s Wheel
Plow
Clock (used water to measure time)
Sewers
Bronze metal work
Makeup
Math system (based on 60 – circles, months, ...)
Medicine from plants and animals
Architecture – most significant was the ziggurat
(first to build these large temples
(Stylus)

12. Hammurabi’s Code
Hammurabi has sent a delegate to a tribe not following his law code. It is that delegate’s job to convince the people of that particular tribe to adopt Hammurabi’s Code and become a part of the civilized world.
Look over the CODE

13. Hammurabi’s Code
1792 BCE - Babylon’s Monarch (Hammurabi) lays out world’s first written laws
282 Laws that dealt with daily life
Laws were etched into a stone that was placed in the middle of the city
Social class did matter – injuring a
rich man brought a tougher penalty
than injuring a poor man

14. Moving Forward …. Big Picture
Babylonians conquered Mesopotamia and created a code of Law
Invasions of Mesopotamia changed the region’s culture
The Phoenicians built a trading society in the eastern Mediterranean region
Big Picture
After the Sumerians, many cultures ruled parts of the Fertile Crescent

15. Invasions of Mesopotamia

16. Invasions of Mesopotamia
Hittities – (present day Turkey)
First to master iron working and to use Chariots in battle
Rule for about 400 years
Assyrians (uh-sir-ee-unz)
Very strong army and ferocious in battle
Roads built to link the empire
The Chaldeans (kal-dee-unz)
Built the hanging gardens (why so called?)
Became epicentre for astronomy and tracked weather, politics and economics

17. The Phoenicians
Not a militaristic empire – rather a wealthy trading society
Often ruled by foreign governments
Trade made written communication essential – thus they develop an alphabet