Early River Valley Civilizations

 Persian Gulf to Mediterranean Sea  Some of the best farming land, the Fertile Crescent  Plain area called Mesopotamia (land between the rivers.)  Tigris and Euphrates frame Mesopotamia  Flooded once a year, leaving silt

Problem  Unpredictable flooding  Little or no rain  No natural barriers  Natural resources limited Answer  Irrigation ditches  City walls built  Trade

Domino Effect  People had to work together  Leaders needed  Laws began organized government

 Each city acted as independent country  Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, and Ur  Read the Ancient City of Ur

 Temple priests controlled government  Manages the irrigation system from the ziggurat and demanded crop as taxes  Wartime men chose a fighter to command soldiers  Some became full-time rulers who passed power to sons creating a dynasty

 City-states became rich because of food surplus  Long-distance trade increased  Cultural diffusion occurred

 Practiced polytheism  Humans = servants  Discuss views of life  To keep Gods happy, sacrifices offered  Mesopotamian myths and legends found in Epic of Gilgamesh

 Social classes began  Discuss the lives of women  Sumerians invented: wheel, sail, plow, arithmetic, geometry, arches, columns, ramps, pyramid, cuneiform

 Sargon of Akkad defeated city state of Sumer  First empire

 Amorites invade Mesopotamia with their capital in Babylon  Peak during Hammurabi’s reign

 Hammurabi established uniform code of laws ▪ Different punishments for rich/poor/men/wo men