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Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia . Geography. Desert climate Arc of land = Fertile Crescent Unpredictable flooding Harvest wheat and barley Surpluses  Job specialization – WHAT ELSE HAPPENS? No natural boundaries – so…INVASION Natural resources had to be imported What would they want to import? Why?.

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Mesopotamia

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  1. Mesopotamia

  2. Geography • Desert climate • Arc of land = Fertile Crescent • Unpredictable flooding • Harvest wheat and barley • Surpluses Job specialization – WHAT ELSE HAPPENS? • No natural boundaries – so…INVASION • Natural resources had to be imported • What would they want to import? • Why?

  3. Sumer • Cities • Built cities with mud and brick surrounded by walls • Each city independent (city-states) • Ur was the largest and most powerful • Rulers • Cities ruled by temple priests • Why? • Go-between with the gods • Generals led the cities during war • System of Writing • Cuneiform • Wedge-shaped writing • Scribes – professional record keepers • Why couldn’t anyone do this job?

  4. Ziggurat • “Mountain of god” • Priests conducted rituals, irrigation, and ran gov’t from ziggurat • Storage areas for grains, fabrics, and gems Ziggurat at Ur

  5. Religion • Polytheistic – gods controlled forces in nature • Animal sacrifices/wine – WHY? • No after life • “Dust is their fare and clay their food” • What does this reveal about their society?

  6. Achievements?

  7. Achievements • Wheel, sail, and the plow • What purpose does each one serve? • Developed number system based on 60 to measure time (60 seconds = 1 min) • Cuneiform • First writing system record on a clay tablet around 2300 BC

  8. The evolution of simple to complex symbols. Why would this have occurred?

  9. examples of cuneiform Pictures from the Pergamon Museum, Berlin

  10. Babylon • 2000 BCE nomadic warriors invade Mesopotamia • Capital at Babylon • Golden age during reign of Hammurabi from 1792-1750 BCE • Hammurabi’s Code – Single, uniform code of laws to unify the diverse people in his empire • Copies brought throughout the empire • “To bring about the rule of righteousness sin the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak”

  11. The Ishtar Gate in Babylon

  12. Extent of the Empire

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