Mesopotamia The Worlds First Civilization

What is a civilization? Civilizations (SIHvuhluhZAY shuhns) are complex societies. They have cities, organized governments, art, religion, social classes, and a writing system. The first civilizations developed in River Valleys

4 early River Valley Civilizations Sumerian Civilization - Tigris & Euphrates Rivers (Mesopotamia) Egyptian Civilization - Nile River Harappan Civilization - Indus River Ancient China - Huang He (Yellow) River PP Design of T. Loessin; Akins H.S.

Why were river valleys important? Farming - large amounts of people could be fed Trade - goods and ideas to move from place to place. Cities - grow up in these valleys and became the centers of civilizations.

Mesopotamia: The First Civilization Means: “The Land Between Two Rivers”.

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia was the world’s first known civilization. The two rivers that allowed Mesopotamia to succeed were the Tigris and Euphrates.

The Fertile Crescent Fertile: producing large amounts of vegetation In the spring, the rivers often flooded, leaving behind rich soil for farming. The Problem: The flooding was very unpredictable. It might flood one year, but not the next. Every year, farmers worried their crops might be destroyed by floods.

Irrigation Over time, the farmers learned to build dams and channels to control the seasonal floods. They also built, waterways, and ditches to bring water to their fields. This way of watering crops is called irrigation = man made ways to water crops

Sumer The first major civilization in Mesopotamia was in a region called Sumer.Sumer

City-States Each Sumerian city and the land around it became a separate city-state. Each city-state had its own government and was not part of any larger unit. The main Sumerian city-states were; Kish, Uruk, and Ur.

Religion in Sumer Practiced Polytheism: The worship of many gods. The worship of one god is called monotheism Gods represented aspects of nature and human behavior. Examples: God of wisdom, God of war, God of the harvest, God of the sun, etc. Gods were worshipped in a Ziggurat, a pyramid shaped temple used for religious rituals.

Temple at Ur now Nanna, god of the moon Temple at Ur Back in the day

Social Classes in Sumer Upper class - kings, priests, warriors, and government officials. Middle class - artisans, merchants, farmers, and fishers. These people made up the largest group. Lower class - enslaved people who worked on farms or in the temples.

Writing The writing of the Sumerians was called cuneiform. Used pictographs, pictures that represent objects. Written on clay tablets. Written by a scribe, or official writer.

Cuneiform alphabet

The Epic of Gilgamesh The most famous piece of literature from Sumer is the Epic of Gilgamesh. Epic: A long poem/story that tells the story of a hero. The hero Gilgamesh is a king who travels around the world with a friend and performs great deeds. When his friend dies, Gilgamesh searches for a way to live forever.

Gilgamesh Grieves for His Friend

What Makes an Epic? 1). Hero is unique, different from others. 2) Accomplishes superhuman deeds. 3) Setting is vast, including space and time. 4) Unique style of presentation. 5) The narrator is outside the story.

Modern Epics

Sumerian Inventions wagon wheel plow sailboat number system based on 60 geometry 12 month calendar

Sargon In about 2340 B.C., Sargon conquered all of Mesopotamia creating the world’s first empire. An empire is a group of many different lands under one ruler. Sargon’s empire lasted for more than 200 years before falling to invaders.

Hammurabi Hammurabi became King of Babylon in 1792 BCE. Hammurabi is best known for his law code, or collection of laws. Was the first law that was written down There were 282 laws in all. Punishments were connected to crimes The law was not equal for all: example: a poor man would be punished more harshly than a rich man.

Hammurabi’s Law Code Why Was it Important? * All people could see the law. * The idea of ‘an eye for an eye’ came from here. * Men had more rights than women & children. When men dominate a society it is called a patriarchy. * Many laws were about economics/money

Discussion Questions: River Valleys 1. The earliest civilizations developed (started) in river valleys. Why? 2. What two rivers were most important to Mesopotamia?

Discussion Questions: Mesopotamia & The Fertile Crescent 1. What does the meaning of Mesopotamia tell us about the place? 2. What is the most important natural resource in the Fertile Crescent? Why?

Discussion Questions: Sumerian Government & Society 1. How do you think social classes in Samaria impacted the way people lived? 2. What is the big difference between the way Sumerian government was set up vs. our government?

Discussion Questions: Sumerian Religion 1. What might the advantage be of polytheism? 2. What might the advantage be of monotheism?

Discussion Questions: Writing 1. What are some differences between Sumerian writing and modern writing? 2. What problems would using Sumerian writing cause? 3. Can you think of a modern story/book/movie that would be considered an epic? 4. Who might you compare Gilgamesh to in a modern story?

Discussion Questions: Sumerian Inventions 1. How are these Sumerian inventions still used today? 2. What do these inventions say about the Sumerian people?