MESOPOTAMIA Means(The Land Between the Rivers)From Village to City
L. Axelson
Rm 28
MESOPOTAMIAmeans(The land between the rivers)From Village to City
First civilizations started in river valleys because of farming, fish, fresh water and transportation
Vocabulary
irrigation- bringing water to dry land
astronomy- study of the stars
civilization- a complex society that usually has 5 characteristics
1. stable food supply
2. specialization of labor
3. a system of government
4. social levels
a. government/soldiers/priest
b. merchants/teachers/laborers
c. slaves (prisoners of war/criminals/enslaved to pay off debts)
5. highly developed culture: art/music/law/architecture/writing
urban- city
rural- farm
empire- several cities under control by one power
artisans- skilled workers who made metal products, cloth or pottery
I. AGRICULTURE SPREADS
A. Mesopotamia (the land between the rivers) located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
1. irrigation is learned (
a. used channels and dams to control flooding
b. built waterways, walls and ditches to bring water to the field
II. VILLAGES GROW THE RISE OF THE SUMERIANS(began about 3000 BC)
A. Harvest is important
1. Belief in God for a good harvest
2. Belief in many gods
a. each had power over a natural force or a human activity
b. Sumerians tried hard to please their gods and built temples(ziggurats) for them
B. Priests
1. Take charge of religious ceremonies
2. Become more important
3. Temples grow larger
C. Sumer Civilization
1. divided into three classes (see social levels) Usually born into social level
2. Men and woman had separate roles
a. Men headed the household and could attend school (not women)
b. decided who their children would marry
c. women could buy and sell property and run businesses
3. Called the cradle of civilization (their inventions left a mark on world history)
III. SUMERIAN INVENTIONS
A. Calendar invented to know best times to plant crops
B. Plow to make farming easier
C. Wagon Wheel to help carry people and goods
D. Sails for boats to muscle power with wind power
E. Literature
1. Epic of Gilgamesh (world’s oldest known story)
a about a king that travels around the world with a friend and does good deeds.
1. Gilgamesh was a real king (king of Uruk in Babylonia)
F. Sails for boats
G. Brought firstWriting
1. invented by Sumerians to keep track of business deals and other events
a. Cuneiform (hundreds of wedge shape marks)
b. Mostly boys from wealthy families learned to write
1. Became scribes (record keepers)
H. Developed first cities
1. City of Ur
a. use of irrigation brought water to the city of Ur
b. showed importance of working together
1. had great planning and leadership
c. built great temples (Ziggurat/type of temple tower with a one room
shrine at the top)
1. important religious centers/importance of great temples
d. special buriel practices
1. buriels at Ur gave insight to the person’s social standing
I. Advances Math
1. used geometry to measure fields and put up buildings
2. created a number system based on the number 60
IV. Empires
A. King Sargon
1.conquered all of Mesopotamia and created the world’s first empire
2. lasted over 200 years before being taken over by invaders
B. City of Babylonbuilt by the Euphrates River
1. center of trade
2. Babylonian King Hammurabi
a. Hammurabi’s code ( an eye for an eye)
1. code forced all people to follow the law in how they treated others
a. protected the people from cruel rulers
b. influenced later laws in Greece and Rome
C. Assyrians
1. came 1000 years after Hammurabi
2. had a well organized strong army that captured cities, carried away people and goods
a. first large army to use iron weapons
3. well organized government
4. their cruel treatment of people led to many rebellions
5. began fighting each other over who would be the next king
6. their disunity led to their take over by the Chaldean people
D. Chaldeans
1. conquered by Assyrians, but able to conquer Assyria when the Assyrians were busy fighting
each other
2. King Nabopolasser led the rebellion against the Assyrians
3.Nabopolasser’s son King Nebuchnezzar went on to build their own empire
4. Rebuilt the city of Babylon (made it the world’s largest and richest city)
WHY DID THE EMPIRE FALL?
WEAK LEADERS, POOR HARVEST AND DECREASED TRADE
IN 539 BC. PERSIANS CAPTURED BABYLON AND MADE MESOPOTAMIA A PART OF THE NEW PERSIAN EMPIRE