The Land Between Two Rivers

Chapter Two

The Land Between Two Rivers

Section One

I. Geographic Setting of Sumer

A. Mesopotamia- Land Between Two Rivers

1. Lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

2. Part of the Fertile Crescent

•  Crescent shaped region of SW Asia

•  Site of world’s first civilization

B. Why Do They Call it the Fertile Crescent?

1. Rich soil

2. Life givers

II. The Good, the Bad and the Flooded

A. The Good

B. The Bad

III. The First Cities

v  3500 B.C. earliest known cities arose

A. Independent Cities Form

1. Successful farming and surplus of food = growth of cities

2. Cities of Sumer

•  Shared common culture and language

•  No single ruler

•  City State

q  City that is also a separate, independent state

B. Description of a City State

1. Own gods and goddesses

2. Separate government

3. Army

4. King/ruler

IV. Sumerian Religion

A. Identifying a Place of Worship

1. Ziggurat-Giant brick building at the heart of the city

•  Used worship main god or goddess of the city

•  Made of brick steps

•  Several stories high

2. Sumerians believed that gods and goddesses descended to Earth using the Ziggurat as a stairway

3. All religious, social and economic activities took place at the temple sites

B. Ancient and Religious Beliefs

1. People of Sumer worshipped more than one god or goddess

q  Polytheism

2. Mythology- Stories to explain beliefs

·  Gods would either punish or reward behavior

C. Honoring the Gods

1. Used religious ceremonies to show honor

2. Music, incense and food were used during the offering

V. The Fall of Sumer

v  The Collapse

1. Became too wealthy

2. City-states fought over land and river usage

3. 2300 B.C. King Sargon united Sumerian city states

4. 1700 B.C. – Sumer was conquered by Babylonia