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Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia. Ch. 2, Sec. 1 (pp. 29 - 34) SSWH1a: Describe the development of Mesopotamian societies: include the religious, cultural, economic, and political facets of society, with attention to Hammurabi’s law code. Geography & Background.

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Mesopotamia

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  1. Mesopotamia Ch. 2, Sec. 1 (pp. 29 - 34) SSWH1a: Describe the development of Mesopotamian societies: include the religious, cultural, economic, and political facets of society, with attention to Hammurabi’s law code.

  2. Geography & Background • In the modern Middle East are the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers • The land between these rivers and the land that lies along the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea form an arc of very fertile soil (known as the Fertile Crescent) • The land between the Tigris & Euphrates rivers is called Mesopotamia (which literally means “land between rivers”) • Remember, the city of Ur was located in Sumer, which itself was in Mesopotamia

  3. Environmental Challenges • Unpredictable flooding • So they created irrigation ditches • No natural barriers for protection • So they built walls around their cities • Few natural resources • So they traded with their neighbors

  4. Ancient Irrigation Ditches

  5. Sumerians Create City-States • Sumerians built many cities • Cities each had their own government & rulers (similar to modern countries) • Cities & the surrounding lands were known as city-states (because they operated independently of one another) • Sumerian govt was usually led by both religion & military leaders • Leaders would often come from the same families (dynasties) • Sumerian ideas often spread to neighboring cultures (this process is called cultural diffusion) • In other words, if I’m worshipping a “Rain God” & my neighbor sees me doing this & starts worshipping the “Rain God” then cultural diffusion has occurred

  6. City-States in Sumer

  7. Sumerian Culture • Sumerians were polytheistic (they believed in more than one god) • These gods were anthropomorphic, yet all-powerful & immortal • The afterlife was seen as very dismal • Social classes • (Highest class) kings, landholders & priests • Wealthy merchants • Manual laborers (field & workshop) • (Lowest class) Slaves (debtors & prisoners) • Technology • Base 60 number system • Architecture (arches, columns, ramps, etc.) • Cuneiform

  8. Empire Building • From 3000 - 2000 B.C., Sumerians were almost constantly at war with one another • ~2350 B.C., Sargon (an Akkadian from the north) conquered Sumer & united northern & southern Mesopotamia for the first time • This union lasted ~200 years • ~2000 B.C., the Babylonian Empire (with its capital at Babylon) dominated Mesopotamia • The greatest ruler of Babylon was Hammurabi who created a single set of common laws for Mesopotamia • Hammurabi’s Code dealt with property issues, family issues, crime, etc. • The Code applied to everyone, but dealt differently w/ the rich & the poor • The Code frequently applied the principle “an eye for an eye & a tooth for a tooth”

  9. A Hammurabi Stele & an Inscription of the Code of Hammurabi

  10. The Fall of the Babylonians • ~1500 B.C., the Babylonian Empire fell to the neighboring Kassites • Many groups would later come to dominate Mesopotamia (Assyrians, Hebrews, Phoenicians, etc.) • While all this was going on, other people such as the Egyptians, Chinese & people of the Indus River Valley were experiencing the rise & fall of civilization

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