2. Ancient Civilization very old a highly organized society (group of people)

3. The Five Steps to Civilization Farming Homes Technology Intellectual Achievements Laws and Rules

4. Nomads-Hunter/Gatherers Cultivate –preparing the soil Domesticate-taming of animals The advancement in agriculture made it possible to settle in one place. Homes Review Eventually, the nomads realized that seeds dropped on the ground and grew into plants. By choosing the best seeds, they grew better plants and got bigger harvest.

5. MESOPOTAMIA Mesopotamia is an area (region) where the first civilization began -means the land between 2 rivers Tigris River and Euphrates -another name for Mesopotamia is the Fertile Crescent Good for growing crops, farming

6. Mesopotamia is part of what is today southern Turkey, northern Syria and most of Iraq.

7. Mesopotamia starts by the Taurus Mountains in the north, to the Persian Gulf in the south and from the Zagros Mountains in the east and to the Syrian desert in the west.

8. Geography of the Fertile Crescent Both the Tigris and Euphrates rivers begin at the snow capped Taurus Mountains. The rivers deposit silt as they flow south making the region a good place for farming. The rivers reached a plateau of present day northern Iraq. A plateau is a area of elevated flatland. In southern Iraq the rivers continue to flow to lower land. Here they make their way to the Persian Gulf. Silt- A mixture of tiny bits of soil and rock carried and deposited by a river.

9. TECHNOLOGY Levees and Canals The Tigris and Euphrates often burst into fields in fall, as the crops were about to be harvested. These floods destroyed crops, as well as lives and homes. Mesopotamian farmers found ways to control flooding. FLOOD CONTROL To protect against floods, farmers built a system of levees to keep the flood water back. A levee is a wall that keeps a river within it banks.

10. Mesopotamia was good for farming because: -The rivers provided water for crops. (the farmers learned how to irrigate) -irrigation=means to bring water to dry land so that crops will grow The land was fertile because each year the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers flooded and refertilized the land with rich silt. Mesopotamia had the hardest job of all of the ancient civilizations. They had no one to learned farming from. They had to figure it out all on their own.

11. Vocabulary-check your notebook for the following words Fertile Irrigation Silt Drought Levee Canal Plateau

12. Droughts During the spring and summer, Southern Mesopotamia often needed water for their crops in the hot, dry climate. Droughts, long periods without rain was a constant threat. So, they built a system of irrigation. Irrigation is a system of canals to bring water to crops and fields.

13. fertile drought irrigation levee silt canal plateau Fill in the blanks from the word band below. 1.A long period without rain is called a _______________________. 2.A system of canals to help water crops is called a/an ____________ system. 3.An area of elevated flatland is called a ______________________. 4.Land that is good for growing is called ______________________. 5.A mixture of soil and rocks carried and deposited from the river is called ________________.