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Chapter 3 Lesson 2 Continued. The Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia. Sumerians. Between3500 BC-and 3000BC a great civilization arose in Mesopotamia They established cuneiform writing, schools, democracy, and the use of the vault and arch
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Chapter 3 Lesson 2 Continued The Ancient Near East: Mesopotamia
Sumerians • Between3500 BC-and 3000BC a great civilization arose in Mesopotamia • They established cuneiform writing, schools, democracy, and the use of the vault and arch • For well over 1000 years the Sumerians dominated until the Babylonians, the Assyrians and finally the Persians ruled the region
Sumerians • Each worshipped gods • Every city state had its own god and human ruler who led the populace in serving the deity • They built ziggurats to worship at • Sumerians believed the eyes were the windows to the soul
Ziggurat • The function of the ziggurat was to bridge the gap between human and divine, the earth below an the spirit world above. • Sumerian kings and queens were buried in tombs in all their finery, together with their servants, who were killed so they could accompany their royal masters into the next world, along with their palace furnishings
The Cultural Evolution of Mesopotamia • In about 2300 BC a Semitic speaking people, the Akkadians, moved in from the north and conquered the Sumerians . • They did not rule long and the Sumerian regained their control, establishing the Neo Sumerian Period • The most important of the New Sumerian rulers was Gudea of Lagash Gudea of Lagash about 2255 BC
Babylonians • After the second rule of the Sumerians, Neo Sumerian Period, The Babylonians emerged in 1700 BC • Their first leader was Hammurabi a powerful figure, who composed a generally humane code of laws • Code of Hammurabi was inscribed on a black basalt stele • http://www.commonlaw.com/Hammurabi.html
Hittites • Defeated the Babylonians in 1595 BC and then were overrun by a succession of warring peoples • In 900 BC Mesopotamia was taken over by the Assyrians who expanded their control as far away as Egypt and built palaces in the northern parts of the plan • In 539 the Persians brought an end to the Assyrian empire, under King Darius they built huge palaces such as Persepolis • The Persians remained dominant in this area until Alexander the Great toppled them in 331 BC