1. Geography of Mesopotamia

2. Guiding Question How did geography encourage the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia?

3. Questions and Titles Geography of Mesopotamia

4. Where was Mesopotamia, the ‘Cradle of Civilization,’ located? The “land between the rivers” – the Tigris and Euphrates rivers Part of a larger region called the Fertile Crescent A group of people known as Sumerians migrated to Mesopotamia and settled.

5. What is the Fertile Crescent? Area of fertile land that stretched in a large curve from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea in the Middle East Mostly mountains or desert The location of the world’s first farming communities

6. Why was Mesopotamia a good place to farm? The Tigris and Euphrates provided fertile soil called silt When the rivers flooded the silt spread across the plain After floods cleared the silt was left behind.

7. What were the challenges to farming? Heavy flooding also brought danger – sometimes taking out entire villages The areas beyond the rivers were desert Southern Mesopotamia: droughts [long periods of dry weather] Northern Mesopotamia: rocky, slanted land

8. How did Sumerians adapt to the geography of Mesopotamia? They dug miles of irrigation canals to carry water from the rivers to the fields to keep crops alive during hot & dry summers. They invented the plow to make preparing the ground for planting easier

9. Agriculture Creates Civilization Caused surplus of food People able to create cities and specialize/division of labor Large projects/achievements started Structure and rules needed Creation of laws and government

10. ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA (4000 B.C.) Why was this a perfect place for the 1st civilization?

11. Summary Directions: At the bottom of your notes or on the next page, write a 1 paragraph summary about the Geography of Mesopotamia.

12. Chapter 3 Section 1 Vocabulary Irrigation – (pg. 68) system for watering crops Population – (pg. 69) City-state – (pg. 69)Barter – (pg. 70)