2. Mesopotamia Mesopotamia = In Greek means “Land between rivers”
Tigris and Euphrates
Many different civilizations developed in this region
Sumerians- began about 4000 BC
Assyrians
Babylonians
Mesopotamia = no natural boundaries = difficult to defend
They lack stone and wood, so they built walls of mud bricks.
City-State was the dominant political unit

5. Fertile Crescent

7. Five Characteristics of Civilization
Advanced cities
Specialized workers
Complex institutions
Record keeping and writing
Advanced Technology
2 important rulers- Sargon of Akkad unified Mesopotamia in 2360 BC
Hammurabi of Babylon- Code of Laws, 282 of them, “eye for an eye”

8. Five Characteristics of Civilization
Advanced Cities – More than large population centers, cities were centers of religion, politics, and trade for large areas.

10. Advanced cities
A City-State is a city and the farm land that surrounded it.
Mesopotamia is swampy and the separation made the area hard to unify.
The rulers of city-states like Sumer, Ur, Uruk, and Kish had absolute power and were considered gods on Earth
A strong central government was required to keep the irrigation canals in working order.
Every city had thick brick walls and a ziggurat, or temple, at the center.
Homes were built around a courtyard in the center.

13. Religion and the Ziggurat
1. The characteristic Mesopotamian temple was a ziggurat, a stepped platform made out of mud-bricks, with a temple at the summit.
2. The ziggurat was not only a religious center but also an economic redistribution center--the temple base was a huge warehouse where grain and other valuable substances were stored.
4. Mesopotamian religion was essentially fatalistic--the gods were removed from people, who were basically the slaves of the gods: the most humans could hope for was that the gods would ignore them! To what degree was this fatalism a result of the harsh environment of Mesopotamia?

15. Complex Institutions Are ways of organizing people
Religion- people faced unpredictable floods and constant war- rituals were designed to persuade the gods to leave them alone.
Only gods were immortal, when people died they entered a place under the Earth- no pleasure or pain- a realm of shadows
Society- Kings/priests, nobles, commoners, criminals and slaves, patriarchal society- male dominated
Hammurabi’s Code of Laws

16. Five Characteristics of Civilization
Specialized Workers -
Scribes
Wrote letters for people
Copied down laws
Kept business records for merchants
School Masters
Merchants
Priests
Potters
Metal workers
Weavers
This was all possible because they were able to produce a surplus of food.

17. Five Characteristics of Civilization
Record Keeping Writing –
Another essential trait of civilization made its appearance in Mesopotamia – Writing.
Cuneiform- means wedge-shaped. Written with a reed called a stylus.
What are the advantages/disadvantages of the writing systems of Mesopotamia and Egypt??

19. Advanced Technology Advanced Technology – (3000 BC)
The plow - Could raise more crops
The Sailboat – Move goods
The wheel – Moved goods
The arch
The 360 degree circle and math system based on 60
Bronze working
Calendar- 12 months, 7 day week, 24 hour day, 60 min. hour

20. Plank wheel