1. The Worlds First Civilization
Mesopotamia
The Worlds First Civilization

2. What is a civilization?
Civilizations (SIH•vuh•luh•ZAY• shuhns) are complex societies. They have cities, organized governments, art, religion, class divisions, and a writing system.

3. 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.

4. Indo-European Migrations: 4m-2m BCE
The Middle East: “The Crossroads of Three Continents”

5. Mesopotamia
The land between two rivers.

6. Mesopotamia Area was first settled about 4500- 4000 B.C.
These people were originally farmers, herders, and fishermen.
They made tools, bricks, clay figures, and pottery.

7. Fertile Crescent
Fertile Crescent = moon-shaped strip of land from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf that is excellent farm land
Located in modern- day Middle East

8. Mesopotamia Mesopotamia was the worlds first civilization.
The two rivers that allowed Mesopotamia to succeed were the Tigris and Euphrates.

9. The fertile crescent
In the spring, the rivers often flooded, leaving behind rich soil for farming. The problem was that the flooding was very unpredictable. It might flood one year, but not the next. Every year, farmers worried about their crops.

10. Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia = located within the Fertile Crescent, between the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
Rivers were NOT a reliable source of water (unlike the Nile)
Ran dry in summer; flooded in spring
Villages joined together to build dams, canals, and ditches

11. Irrigation
Over time, the farmers learned to build dams and channels to control the seasonal floods. They also built walls, waterways, and ditches to bring water to their fields. This way of watering crops is called irrigation. Irrigation allowed the farmers to grow plenty of food and support a large population.

13. THE MANY PEOPLE OF MESOPOTAMIA:
Sumerians (ancient Sumer’s city-states)
(3000 B.C B.C.)
2. Babylonians (Babylonian Empire)
( 1800 B.C B.C.
Assyrians (Assyrian Empire)
(1200 B.C B.C.)
4. Persians (Persian Empire)
(539 B.C B.C.)

14. Sumerians

15. The Sumerian Civilization
People from Asia arrived in Mesopotamia
Formed 12 city-states = the city and the land surrounding it
Considered the world’s 1st cities
Created ziggurats = stepped pyramids with a temple at the top

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

17. Food in Sumer
The Sumerians grew several kinds of crops. The most valuable one was barley, which was used to make flour and bread. Dates were also very valuable to the Sumerians. They were eaten once ripe or else they were dried for future consumption. Dates also made an excellent wine.

18. Barley and dates

19. 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.

20. 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.

21. The Sumerian Civilization
Sumerians shared common culture, language, and religion
City-states governed themselves
Were theocracies = kings served as both government leaders AND high priests
Laws regulated the roles of women & men  men had far more rights

22. Sumer The people who lived there were called Sumerians
The first known civilization around B.C.
The Sumerian people made wagon wheels, used copper and bronze, made sail boats, used plows, wrote laws, and studied astronomy.

23. Board Game From Ur

24. Sumer Important city states developed
Built strong walled cities for protection from outside invaders
Important Sumerian city-
Ur (capital of Sumer) had a population of around 200,000
Most cities were unattractive- no public services available to remove garbage and sewage. This was left to pile up on the streets.

25. Religion Sumerians constructed shrines or temples called Ziggurats.
Ziggurats were to serve as a pedestal for the gods to descend to Earth.
On top was a shrine room where people would pray or hope to entertain a divine visitor.

26. Ziggurat at Ur
Temple
“Mountain of the Gods”

27. Sumerian Religion - Polytheistic
Enki
Innana
Anthropomorphic Gods

28. Religion
Public was not invited to engage in temple rituals, but they needed to constantly pray or the gods would not bless their lands.
Around the ziggurat were courts where artisans worked, children went to school, and people traded and stored goods there.
Sumerians believed that all of nature was controlled by gods

29. Sumerian Cities Streets were narrow, unpaved, winding
Houses were one story mud brick structures with flat roofs.
Members of the upper class had 2 story houses with many rooms that included sleeping quarters and servants quarters and burial plots below the house
Household utensils made out of stone, copper and bronze
Merchants supplied the townspeople with material items

30. Writing The most important invention of the Sumerians was writing.
The writing of the Sumerians was called cuneiform.

31. Writing
Writing helped man maintain a complex economic and political society
Sumerian writing dates back as early as 3100 B.C.
Dried Mud tablets with a sharp pointed reed called a stylus was how they wrote the cuneiform.
This writing was adopted by their conquerors and used for about years.

32. Cuneiform: “Wedge-Shaped” Writing

34. The Sumerian Civilization
Cuneiform = Sumerian system of writing
The symbols represente d complex ideas

35. Cuneiform alphabet

36. Sumerian Scribes
“Tablet House”

37. Education
The Sumerian schools were called “tablet houses” and were used to educate scribes for various religious, governmental, and commercial jobs.
Schools at first were mostly religious and were for rich children
Male only
Classes went from morning until sunset
Curriculum included- grammar, penmanship, science, and math

38. The Sumerian Civilization
Scribes were trained to read & write documents and stories
Epic of Gilgamesh = oldest story in the world

39. Gilgamesh

40. TheEpic of Gilgamesh
The most famous piece of literature from Sumer is the Epic of Gilgamesh.
An epic is a long poem 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.

41. Gilgamesh Epic Tablet: Flood Story

43. The Sumerian Civilization
Practiced polytheism = belief in more than one god
Each city-state had its own god
Negative outlook on life and the afterlife
Believed gods were selfish and had no regard for humans

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

45. Sumerian Inventions Wagon Wheel Arch Potter’s Wheel Sundial
12-month Calendar
Metal Plow

46. Inventions and Contributions
Developed a 12 month calendar based on the cycles of the moon
It marked the times for religious festivals and planting

47. wagon wheel
plow
sailboat

48. Mesopotamian Harp

49. Sophisticated Metallurgy Skills at Ur

50. Family Life Woman had rights in Sumerian society
They could buy and sell property and could run businesses
The husband was the head of the household
He could divorce his wife or rent out his wife and children for up to three years
Children were expected to support their parents when they became old

51. Priests and Kings Priests were also the kings of the city-states
Gilgamesh was the most famous
Received advice from an assembly of free men
During wars, the assembly chose a military leader to serve until the war was over
Eventually, these leaders stayed in charge and became kings.
Kingship became hereditary

52. 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.

53. First Mesopotamian Empires The Akkadians
Empire under Sargon I
Kingdom was called Akkad
Conquered & united all of the Sumerian city- states
Empire fell apart after his & his grandson’s death

54. Sargon of Akkad: The World’s First Empire [Akkadians]

55. Sargon I Ruled an area called Akkad
Began to conquer city-states one by one and became king of all of them
Created world’s first empire
Ruled for 50 years

56. First Mesopotamian Empires Babylon
Ruled by Hammurabi
Strict Code of Laws = Hammurabi’s greatest achievement
Rules and consequences that addressed daily life
Law code covered entire region of Mesopotamia
“Eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth” type of laws
Government assumed the responsibility of protecting its citizens
People now had laws to protect their rights & didn’t need to resort to violence

57. Hammurabi of Babylon
Hammurabi was king of Babylon who conquered Akkad and Sumer
The Babylonians took on the language and religion of the people they conquered
Hammurabi improved irrigation systems and changed the religion
Developed his own set of laws called the Code of Hammurabi

58. The Babylonian Empires

59. Hammurabi’s [r. 1792-1750 B. C. E.] Code

60. Hammurabi
Hammurabi is best known for his law code, or collection of laws.
Law 5: If a judge makes an error through his own fault when trying a case, he must pay a fine, be removed from the judge’s bench, and never judge another case.
Law 195: If a son strikes his father, the son’s hands shall be cut off.

61. Hammurabi, the Judge

62. Hammurabi Appointed judges to carry out the code
Judges were punished if not honest
He believed people were innocent until proven guilty
During Hammurabi’s rule, Babylon became a trade center
Hammurabi’s reign is known as the Golden Age of Babylon

63. First Mesopotamian Empires Babylon
Social classes were similar to the Egyptians, but they had far more slaves
Hammurabi’s empire fell apart after his death

64. Babylonian Math

65. Babylonian Numbers

66. INTERNET SOURCES:
schools.nycenet.edu/region4/...%20Mesopotamia/03%20-%20Mesopotamia.ppt