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Societies of Mesopotamia

Societies of Mesopotamia. “Mesopotamia”. Means = land between the rivers Area = Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Also known as = The Fertile Crescent Historians say = “The Cradle of Civilization”. Sumerian City-States. Sumerians. First known inhabitants of the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys

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Societies of Mesopotamia

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  1. Societies of Mesopotamia

  2. “Mesopotamia” • Means = land between the rivers • Area = Tigris and Euphrates Rivers • Also known as = The Fertile Crescent • Historians say = “The Cradle of Civilization”

  3. Sumerian City-States

  4. Sumerians • First known inhabitants of the Tigris and Euphrates River valleys • Few natural resources in region, building made from clay bricks • First cities were Ur and Erech

  5. Artifacts from the city of Ur, one of the first known cities in the Sumerian city-states

  6. Sumerian Religion • Polytheistic – belief in many gods • Gods controlled all forces in nature • Gods behaved like ordinary citizens • Gods favored truth and justice but also created suffering and violence

  7. Epic of Gilgamesh • Story of a flood that destroyed the world while king Gilgamesh is off looking for immortality • The one who saw all [Shanagbaimuru]I will declare to the world,The one who knew all I will tell about[line missing]He saw the great Mystery, he knew the Hidden:He recovered the knowledge of all the times before the Flood.He journeyed beyond the distant, he journeyed beyond exhaustion,And then carved his story on stone. [naru: stone tablets ] • Introduction to Epic of Gilgamesh

  8. Sumerian CITY-STATES • cities that controlled all the land around it & had its own form of government. • 12 city-states & they competed against each other.

  9. Sumerian WRITING - • The Sumerians were the 1st people to leave written records. • Their writing system was called cuneiform, which means “wedge”. Writing was done on moist clay cones using a wedged-shaped reed. • Cuneiform contained approx. 600 word symbols.

  10. PHONENICIANS • Geography impacted them significantly. • Poor, hilly soil made farming unsuitable. • so they turned to the sea to becometraders & merchants. • They became great sailors and shipbuilders • This enabled them to explore and set up city-states throughout the Mediterranean • These city-states were used for trading posts for goods found throughout the region • Traded goods such as purple dye

  11. Phoenicians

  12. Phoenician merchants acted as middlemen for their neighbors. • They transported linen and papyrus from Egypt, copper from Cyprus, embroidered cloth from Mesopotamia, spices from Arabia, and ivory, gold, and slaves from Africa to destinations throughout the Mediterranean. • The Phoenicians also had valuable resources and highly skilled artisans. From a small shellfish called the murex they produced a brilliant purple dye. • This dye was applied to woolen garments, which were highly prized not only for their beauty, but also for their high cost. • It took 60,000 murex to produce one pound of dye. The dye became known as royal purple and was worn by Roman emperors.

  13. Phoenician's Alphabet • Developed as a means of recording trade transactions-spread throughout the Mediterranean • Was a phonetic system: one sign represented one sound • Other cultures based their alphabet on the Phoenicians (Greece)

  14. Babylonian Empire

  15. Amorites • This group created the city of Babylon, & from it they built a large empire. • One of the most famous Amorite kings was Hammurabi who united the city -states of Mesopotamia & wrote a uniform law code for all. These laws clearly stated which actions were violations & assigned specific punishments (eye for eye).

  16. Persian Empire

  17. PERSIANS • Persians will create the largest empire in the ancient Middle East or Mesopotamian area. • The greatest leader of the Persians was Cyrus the Great - the greatest conqueror in the history of the ancient Middle East.

  18. PERSIANS • How they maintained their huge empire: 1. It was divided into provinces, - which made it easier to control. 2. built an excellent road systems between the major cities – helped the military & trade 3. used a standardized coinage system

  19. PERSIANS 4. known for their generosity & tolerance toward conquered peoples. They were allowed to keep their own languages, religions, & laws. 5. a new religion – Zoroastrianism – (600BC) in which a single wise god (monotheism)

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