1. Ancient Mesopotamia: The Sumerians

2. Mesopotamia: Land Between Two Rivers

3. The Ancient Fertile Crescent The Cradle of Civilization

4. The Sumerians Votive Statues: Sumerian Human Sculpture

5. The Sumerians Votive Statues: Sumerian Human Sculpture

6. The Sumerians

7. Sumerian Civilization: Social Pyramid

8. Sumerian Religion: Polytheistic Enki God of Water and Knowledge Inanna Goddess of Love and War Enlil God of the Wind and the Earth

9. Flooding in the Fertile Crescent and Religious Belief The spring floods of Mesopotamia’s rivers left behind rich farming soil called silt. The Problem: The flooding was very unpredictable. It might flood one year, but not the next. Sometimes the flooding could be excessive. This could result in ruined fields. Each year, farmers had to worry about their crops. Occasionally, the floods could be destructive, causing the ruin of homes and even cities. As a result of this, the Sumerian people saw their gods as wrathful. They lived in fear of their gods and had a very negative view of the afterlife.

10. Gilgamesh Epic Tablet: Flood Myth

11. Sumerian City-States: After the Flood

12. Modern Day Iraq

13. The Sumerians

14. Sumerian City-States Sumerian cities consisted of a large Ziggurat in the center of town surrounded by government buildings, markets, craft shops and homes. Outside of the main city was farmland and the homes of the people who worked the land.

15. Mesopotamian Trade The Cuneiform World

16. Cuneiform: Wedge-Based Writing

17. Cuneiform Pictographs

18. Sumerian Scribes

19. Sumerian Inventions Cuneiform (First known writing system) Hydraulic Engineering (Irrigation system) Wheeled-Chariots The Plow Industrial Scale Textile Mills Mass Produced Bricks and Pottery Copper Metallurgy Mathematics (Base 60 system)

20. Sumerian Cylinder Seals

21. Lapis Lazuli

22. The Royal Standard of Ur 2600 BC

23. Lyres of Ur (2550-2450 BC)

24. Sumerian Silver Lyre 2600-2300 BC

25. Lyre Depicted on the Royal Standard of Ur

26. Ram in a Thicket 2600-2400 BC

27. Sumerian Metallurgy

29. Warka Vase from ruins of Uruk 3200-3000 BC Dedicated to the Goddess Inanna

30. The Royal Game of Ur 2600-2400 BC Dr. Irving Finkel of the British Museum

31. Ziggurat at Ur “Mountain of the Gods”

32. Ziggurat at Ur ●Holy Temple ●The center of Sumerian religious devotion ●Believed to be the dwelling place of the gods ●Only Priests were allowed inside ●All major Sumerian cities built ziggurats ●Also offered flood protection for the city’s officials

33. Ziggurat at Ur Although only priests were allowed inside, the ziggurat served as an administrative center and public meeting place in Sumerian society

34. The River Valley Civilizations

35. Sargon of Akkad: The World’s First Emperor Akkadian Empire

36. The Akkadian Empire

37. First Babylonian Empire Hammurabi

38. The Babylonian Empire

39. Code of Hammurabi 1755-1750 BC

40. Code of Hammurabi Stele Louvre Museum - Paris, France

41. Hammurabi the Judge The top portion of the stele (pictured) shows Hammurabi with Shamash, ancient Mesopotamian god of the sun, truth, and justice. This image symbolized the emperor’s divine right to serve as judge of his people and issue law.

42. Babylonian Math

43. Babylonian Numbers

44. Ancient Mesopotamia: The Sumerians Created by Scott Caro 2021 Please visit my store at www.teacherspayteachers.com for similar resources. Thank You! This work is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Materials may be printed or copied for student use only. Please do not post this product, in any part, on a personal or school website. Created by Scott Caro 2021 Please visit my store at www.teacherspayteachers.com for similar resources. Thank You! This work is protected by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Materials may be printed or copied for student use only. Please do not post this product, in any part, on a personal or school website.