1 / 22

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia. MAP. The Fertile Crescent. Mesopotamia means “between the rivers” in Greek. Because of this region’s shape and the richness of its soil, it is called the Fertile Crescent . Sumerians were first to settle in this region, attracted by the rich soil. Geography.

derek-alexander
Download Presentation

Mesopotamia

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Mesopotamia

  2. MAP The Fertile Crescent

  3. Mesopotamia means “between the rivers” in Greek. • Because of this region’s shape and the richness of its soil, it is called the Fertile Crescent. • Sumerianswere first to settle in this region, attracted by the rich soil. Geography

  4. PROS: warm climate and good soil, the rivers often flooded leaving behind rich soil (silt) for farming • CONS: little rainfall, unpredictable flooding (farmers worried about their crops), limited natural resources, no natural barriers for protection Geography

  5. SOLUTIONS! • Unpredictable flooding: • Farmers used irrigation and canals as a way to control river flow. • Farmers also built up the banks of the rivers to hold back the floodwaters. • Increased amounts of food led to surpluses, which meant that fewer people needed to farm. • As a result, new occupations developed. But Sumerians were smart..

  6. Irrigation (way of supplying water to an area of land)

  7. Built walls out of mud bricks to protect themselves • Traded with others for materials they needed like wood, stone, and metal. They also came up with…

  8. It probably required some organized government… How did they come up with all of that?

  9. CITY-STATE • each city had its own government / rulers, warriors, it’s own patron god, and functioned like an independent country • Included the city within the walls, as well as surrounding farm land • Examples include Sumerian cities of Ur, Uruk, Kish, Lagesh • The amount of countryside in each city-state depended on its military strength. • Fought each other to gain more farmland • Gained and lost power over time Government

  10. At center of each city was the walled temple with a ziggurat – a massive, tiered, pyramid-shaped structure. Government

  11. Powerful priests held much political power in the beginning • Military commanders eventually became ruler / monarch • - then began passing rule to their own heirs, • creating a new structure of government called a • Dynasty– a series of rulers descending from a single family line Government

  12. Sumerian polytheism was the basis for all Sumerian society. • Polytheism is the worship of many gods. • Gods had enormous powers. • Priests had great statues built in Sumer. • Priests were people who performed religious ceremonies. Religion

  13. God of the clouds / air was Enlil – the most powerful god. • Nearly 3,000 others – with human qualities. (anthropomorphic) • The Sumerians viewed their gods as hostile and unpredictable – • similar to the natural environment around them. Religion

  14. Social hierarchy: the division of society by rank or class • Three social classes • a. Priests and royalty (kings) • b. Wealthy merchants • c. Ordinary workers • [Slaves] –were not free citizens and thus not included in class system Society

  15. Women • Had more rights than in many later civilizations • (could own property, join lower ranks of priesthood, divorce, engage in trade) • Some women were priestesses in Sumerian temples. • Enheduanna, a priestess who wrote hymns, is the first known female writer in history. Women in Society

  16. The most important invention of the Sumerians was writing. • The writing system of the Sumerians was called cuneiform. Culture

  17. Scribes • Writers • Kept track of items people traded and wrote down government records • Scribes could move up in social class. • Cuneiform • World’s first system of writing • Cuneiform symbols could represent syllables. Earlier pictographs had represented only objects. • The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets with a stylus. Culture

  18. Don’t forget cunieform led to us learning about the BFF’s

  19. Development of the wheel • Used for carts and wagons • Potter’s wheel • The plow increased farm production. • Math and science • Number system based on 60 Other Culture

  20. Babylonian • Overtook Sumerians around 2,000 B.C.E. • Built capital, Babylon, on Euphrates river • Reign of Hammurabi [1792-1750 B.C.E.] • Hammurabi is best known for his law code, or collection of laws. • Hammurabi’s Code was a set of 282 laws he created that dealt with almost every part of daily life. Law

  21. he wisely took all the laws of the region’s city-states and unified them into one code. This helped unify the region. • Engraved in stone, erected all over the empire. Law

More Related