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Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia. This is known as the “cradle of civilization” or the location for the emergence of civilization. When did this civilization emerge? http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/time/explore/frame_mes.html Where was t his civilization?

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Mesopotamia

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  1. Mesopotamia

  2. Mesopotamia • This is known as the “cradle of civilization” or the location for the emergence of civilization. • When did this civilization emerge? • http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/time/explore/frame_mes.html • Where was this civilization? • It was the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. • Mesopotamia literally means “land between two rivers.”

  3. Characteristics of Mesopotamia • Cities • They were the first to develop cities among anyone else. • Babylon was a famous city • It was considered a marvel of the ancient world with a population of 200,000. • Defensive walls around the city for 10 miles.

  4. Babylon

  5. Characteristics of Mesopotamia • Farming • They were the first farmers in the world. • They domesticated animals such as cattle, goats, and pigs. • Some of Mesopotamia did not have steady rainfall in the summer, so they were the first to come up with irrigation.

  6. Irrigation

  7. Characteristics of Mesopotamia • Religion – These people were polytheistic – worshipped many gods. • Actually they worshipped hundreds of gods. • Every city even had its own god. • Yet, only certain gods received major attention. Like god of the sky, sun etc. • Main god = Anu father of the gods and god of the sky.

  8. Religion

  9. Characteristics of Mesopotamia • Writing – Developed the first form of writing. • It was known as cuneiform – wedge shaped symbols. • They wrote on clay tablets, and eventually had a very systematic form of record keeping. • Wealthy students went to school as scribes which was very important and a very difficult job.

  10. Cuneiform - Very hard to decipher

  11. Characteristics of Mesopotamia • Literature • The first piece of literature was developed here. • It was passed down orally, but written on clay tablets around 2000 bc, 1,000 years before the Illiad or Odyssey. • It is called the Epic of Gilgamesh • It describes a part man, part god as he journeys through life facing obstacles.

  12. Gilgamesh This one is Gilgamesh 

  13. Characteristics of Mesopotamia • Laws • Laws of Hammurabi - The longest and best organized written laws that survived from Mesopotamia. • It details crimes and punishments. • It also has a prologue stating that laws very divine from the gods.

  14. Code of Hammurabi

  15. Characteristics of Mesopotamia • Architecture • They made structures out of the mud bricks which was good because they had a lot of it. • They also made structures called Ziggurats – Stepped towers made of mud-bricks, every city had one, and it was part of a temple complex.

  16. Ziggurats

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