1. Ancient Mesopotamia Stripes Team L. Nabulsi
All information in this PowerPoint came from Banks, J. World Adventures in Time and Place. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2001.

2. Timeline 4000 BC – Mesopotamia 3000 BC - Ur 2300 BC – Kish
1800 BC – Babylon
1250 BC - Canaan

3. Vocabulary Plateau Drought Fertile Crescent Tigris River
Euphrates River
Mesopotamia

4. Geography of the Fertile Crescent

5. This is a direct quote so it needs quotation marks around it
This is a direct quote so it needs quotation marks around it. The period goes outside the
Parentheses which give the documentation information.
If you used this quote in a paper, however, you would indent it because
of its length, over 25 words.
Read Aloud
“For six days and seven nights the wind blew, flood and tempest [storm] overwhelmed the land; when the seventh day arrived the tempest [and] flood…blew themselves out. The sea became calm, the …wind grew quieter, the flood held back….Silence reigned, for all mankind returned to clay” (Banks 104).
NOTE: clay” (Bank 104).

6. The Big Picture
The Fertile Crescent was located northeast of Egypt and was developing at the same time as Egypt.
It is called a crescent because it is shaped “like a quarter moon” (Banks, 104).
Modern countries that are located in the Fertile Crescent are Lebanon, Israel, Syria and Iraq.

7. The land of two rivers
The Tigris River and the Euphrates River made the rocky, desert a fertile valley.
These rivers compare to the Nile in the way they affected the lives of the people near the river both positively and negatively (Banks, 104).

8. Between Two Rivers pp

9. Between two rivers
The area between the two rivers was called Mesopotamia, which is its meaning in Greek.
Present day Iraq.

10. From Mountains to the Sea
Mountains – Taurus Mountains – the source of the two rivers in present-day Turkey
Flow from mountains through canyons to valleys below
Extend to a plateau in “present-day Iraq” (Banks 105).
Plateau –
Southern Iraq – land is lower where rivers eventually empty into the Persian Gulf

11. Flood Mesopotamians “depended on river deposits of silt” (Banks 105).
Farmers challenged
Flooding not regular
Often at harvest time
Cost crops and lives
Farms needed protection
Crops needed watering
South Mesopotamia experienced droughts
Northern Mesopotamia had sufficient water but not large areas of
fertile soil
Less silt in the North than in the South
South known for fertile fields

12. Maps that might help

13. Assignment Take a piece of paper. Divide it in half horizontally.
On the back of the paper, put your name, Social Studies, Fertile Crescent, date
On the front which has a line halfway down the page horizontally, draw the map of the Nile on page 71 in the upper half of the page. Give an arrow to indicate the flow of the river. Determine from a world map the longitude and latitude. Mark these degrees on the map. Color the map and code the colors. On the lower half of that same page, draw a map of the Fertile Crescent as seen on p Indicate the longitude and latitude. Color code the map.

14. In Class Assignment: Can you compare the impact of the Nile River with the Tigris and Euphrates?

15. Outline Information from VENN diagram
I. Compare/contrast geography and effect of two rive cultures, the Nile River Valley and the Fertile Crescent
A. River
1. Nile
2. Tigris and Euphrates
B. Source
1. Nile Source – mountains in Africa
2. Fertile Crescent source – Taurus Mountains
C. Flow
1. Nile – south to north
2. T and E – north to south
D. Empties
1. Nile – Mediterranean Sea
2. T and E – Persian Gulf
E. Carries silt
F. Effect on people
1. Nile – predictable so they could plan where to live and when to harvest
2. Fertile Crescent – unpredictable causing loss of life
g. Effect on land
1. Nile – fertile land along the river which allowed for the development of land the length of the river
2. Fertile Crescent
a. North as water but not much silt or land area
b. South had land area and silt but no water
Outline Information from VENN diagram

16. From River to Field PROBLEMS:
Fall – Planting season in south; no water
Spring – Harvest time, but floods came.
SOLUTIONS
Built “water-control and irrigation systems” (Banks 106).
See page 106 and

17. Farming in Ancient Mesopotamia
Crops grown in Mesopotamia
Barley
Wheat
Beans
Onions
Lettuce
Cucumbers
Spice plants
Date Palm
Apple
Pomegranate
Animals
Sheep
Milk
Wool
Goats
Cattle
Work animal
Leather
Meat
Wild animals
Jackals
Lions

18. Why it matters
Uninviting area of the world developed into one of the “earliest civilizations developed” (Banks 107).
Geography – the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers made the civilization
Farmers solving problems –
managing the geography- made it work
Over producing lead to growth.

19. Assignment- Cause/Effect Problem/solution
Journal Topic: You are a farmer in the North visiting in the South during the flooding season. Make a speech to the leaders of the south showing how the ability of man to handle the problems of the geography will result in prosperity for the farmers. Outline by listing each problem and then give the solution. Write
Greet your audience and tell the purpose of your speech.
Give the problems
Give the solution
End with a call for action

20. Research
Find information about devastating three floods along the Mississippi River.
What season of the year did they happen?
What was destroyed?
What are other effects?
What was learned from these floods?
What adjustments were made?
Did this culture handle the situation as well as the Egyptian and Mesopotamians did?
Place this information on a chart.
Write a five paragraph paper. Use MLA template. Document and have a works cited page.

21. Location
When
Effects
Learned
Adjustments
Flood 1
Flood 2
Flood 3

22. Outline for paper Introduction
Give historical background about Egypt and Mesopotamia
Floods still exist
Thesis: Modern man does/not learn and conquer nature the way ancient man did.
Development
Flood One – Topic sentence what/where and if anything learned simply stated
Where
When
Effects
Learned
Adjustments
Evaluate
Flood Two - Topic sentence what/where and if anything learned simply stated
Flood Three - Topic sentence what/where and if anything learned simply stated
Conclusion – Who learned the most from nature and prospered

23. Grade for this unit 1. Answer the questions on page 107. Answer in
complete sentences. (10 points- in class)
2. Draw the maps of the Nile and Fertile Crescent
as indicated. (25 points – in class)
3. Make a Venn diagram comparing/contrasting
the Egypt and Mesopotamia. (10 points – in class)
4. Write a journal entry (part of notebook grade)
5. Make a chart for the research. ( 25 points – in class)
6. Write the paper from the chart: MLA, Outline,
five paragraph paper with documentation, work
cited page. (100 points – in class)
7. Ticket Outs – (10 points each)
8. Test – (100 points)

24. Timeline January 25 – Read pp. 104-107l do study questions on p. 107
January 29 – Go over PP in class, TO 1, Venn Diagram.
February 2 – TO 2, Write journal (outline, write rough draft, peer evaluation, correct errors)
February 6 – TO 3 -Do research on floods, make charts
February 8 – TO 4 -Write outline for paper; fill in and document as you go (last para. #) or “Word in title” para. #).
February 12 – TO 5 – Test ; Read pp and do questions p. 115.