7 Characteristics of Civilization 1) Urban centers (cities) 2) Centralized government 3) Organized religion 4) Social classes 5) Writing or record-keeping 6) Monument building 7) Specialized jobs and occupations

Mesopotamia: The World’s First Civilization (Began c BC)

Geography Literally “land between two rivers” (Tigris, Euphrates) -Soil is fertile -Food supply is stable -Flooding is unpredictable -Few natural barriers

The Sumerians By 3000 BC, villages grew into city-states (ex.: Ur, Erech, Kish) -Each was independent -Controlled surrounding farmland -Constantly battled w/each other for resources and control

Sumerian City-States

Sumerian City-State of Ur

Lugals (leaders)… were the representatives of the gods on earth commanded absolute power

Religion Sumerians believed… -in many gods (polytheistic) -that a council of gods and goddesses ruled the earth -that the gods decided the fate of individuals and cities -in an unhappy afterlife

Ziggurats- temples to the gods of the city-states

Written Language Need for accurate records led to the development of writing -System began with pictograms and ideograms -Later simplified with the use of symbols to represent sounds and syllables (cuneiform)

A stylus was used to make wedge-shaped symbols on tablets of wet clay.

Legacy World’s first civilization First to use the wheel, sail, and plow Developed a base 60 number system 12 month calendar Ziggurats may have influenced Egyptian pyramids