1. Ancient Sumer
3300 – 1900 B.C.

2. Fertile Crescent

3. Today…

4. Mesopotamia Land “between the rivers”
Literally: Tigris & Euphrates
Why was this a good place to settle?
What did the Sumerians have to get really good at?

5. Sumerian Society Organized into city-states Social Hierarchy:
Each city-state was responsible for its own security, irrigation system, laws, taxes, record keeping and building its own walls.
Social Hierarchy:
Ruling family, officials, high priests
Scribes, merchants, artisans, lesser priests
Peasant farmers (about 90% of the pop.)
???

6. Sumerian Religion Polytheistic
Meaning…?
Gods controlled every aspect of their life
A Sumerian’s job was to keep these gods happy at all times
Each city-state built a ziggurat
Afterlife?

7. Cuneiform! Sumerians were the first to invent a system of writing
Cuneiform used symbols (called pictographs) to represent things, concepts, ideas, etc.
Scribes went through rigorous study to master the art of cuneiform.
Bad handwriting & talking during class was punished by caning.
Oh how times have changed…

9. Sumer’s Legacy
Culture spread through trade to Asian Minor, Egypt and as far east as the Indus River Valley
Cuneiform
Astronomy
First to identify constellations
60 minutes in one hour; 24 hours in one day
Epic of Gilgamesh
First story to be written down, passed on

10. After Sumer…
2300 B.C. Sargon, the ruler Akkad, came down from the north and conquered Sumer
By 1790 B.C. Mesopotamia was unified under the rule of Hammurabi, the King of Babylon

11. Hammurabi’s Code
King Hammurabi’s greatest accomplishment was writing down (codifying) the laws of the land
WHY?
“Eye for an eye”
Fair?

12. Many empires follow… Hittites: Ironworking
Assyrians: Warriors; Libraries
Babylon (again): Nebuchadnezzar
Re-built canals and temples
Fortified the city with a moat and giant wall
Built gateways meant to please the gods and allow people to pass through the defensive wall
Ishtar Gate 

13. Persia 539 B.C. Babylon falls to Cyrus the Great’s Persian army
Built the largest empire to date, encompassing a wide variety of cultures and beliefs
How do you think Cyrus treated the diverse groups in his empire?
Emperor Darius I creates a complex system of government; built roads to unite the far-reaches of his empire
Darius transitioned Persian from a barter economy to a money economy
Linked his empire economically

15. The Phoenicians Small state on the Mediterranean Sea
What was their main industry?
“Carriers of Civilization”
Set up trading outposts, or colonies, around the Mediterranean Sea
Phoenician alphabet
How is this different than cuneiform?