Unit 2, Ancient Civilizations & the 6
Elements of Civilization:
MESOPOTAMIA
Mr. Pagliaro
Seymour High School
Part 1 Main Ideas
• Geography: The Land between the Tigris &
Euphrates Rivers was a good region for
agriculture.
• Geography: The environment of
Mesopotamia presented challenges to the
people that lived there.
• Geography: Mesopotamians changed their
environment to improve life.
Part 1 Goals
• Describe how the earliest civilization in Asia
arose in Mesopotamia, organized into citystates, and developed into the world's first
empire.
Vocabulary
Terms
Names
• flood-plain
• silt
• semi-arid
•
•
•
•
•
Fertile Crescent
Mesopotamia
Euphrates River
Tigris River
Sumerians
Ancient Fertile Crescent Area
The Middle East: “The Cradle of Civilization”
The Tigris & Euphrates River Valley
Mesopotamia:
”Land Between the Two Rivers”
Rivers provided water,
transportation
Marsh Arabs, So. Iraq
Dead Sea: Lowest Point on Earth
2,300’ below sea
level
Highest
Salt
Content
(33%)
How did the region support
agriculture?
Fertile Soil
• Irregular floods
• Flood-plain overflowed
• Silt deposits
Climate
• Semi-arid
• Warm
• Dry
How did the geography affect
farming?
• c. 6000 BC – Irrigation
• Controlled floods
• Diverted water to fields
• c. 4000 BC – Many
Sumerian farming villages,
cities like Ur
How did Mesopotamians cope
with a lack of resources?
• Mud bricks
• Homes
• Walls
• No natural
defenses from
other peoples
• Surplus crops
• Traded outside
region
Part 1 Summary
• The floods of the Tigris & Euphrates rivers
left rsilt in Mesopotamia for growing crops.
• People developed irrigation to control
floods and water crops.
• With few resources, Mesopotamians
traded surplus crops
Why it matters now…
• Mesopotamians 8000 years ago through
today have worked to overcome a lack of
natural resources and natural barriers.
Part 2
SUMERIANS: THE FIRST
CIVILIZATION
Part 2 Main Ideas
Government: A new type of government developed in Sumer
(southern Mesopotamia) that included the city and the
surrounding lands.
Government: Religion dominated life in Sumer, but
eventually men who were not priests became political
rulers.
Culture: Sumerian society was divided into several classes
Science & Technology: Sumerians invented tools and
developed special knowledge to improve their lives.
Part 2 Goals
• Describe and analyze Sumerian city-states
and how other cultures learned about
them.
• Apply the 6 elements of civilization to
Sumerian religious beliefs, artistic activity,
social classes, writing, and examine the
technology
Part 2 Key Vocabulary
Terms
Names
•
•
•
•
•
• Sumer
• Sumerians
• The Epic of Gilgamesh
city-state
cuneiform
scribes
ziggurat
priest-kings
Sumerian Civilization
• World’s 1st civilization-Sumerians: c. 3300 BC
• What are the 6 elements of civilization?
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Cities
Government
Written records
Artistic activity
Religious Activity
Social Classes
Sumerian farmers
Emerging civilization
Examples of Cities
Features of Cities
• Places for:
• storage & trade of surplus grain
• specialized jobs & markets
• home to ziggurats
Government
• City-states
• Who ruled early Sumerian city-states?
Why may
priests have
been able to
take power?
Priest-kings or
Ensi
Religion
• Polytheism (polytheistic)
• Many gods
• anthropomorphic
Other institutions
• Schools for scribes
• military
Writing
• Cuneiform
• Wedge-shaped
• Reed stylus
• Clay tablets
Writing as art…
• Literature-The Epic of Gilgamesh
Artistic Achievements
Royal Game of Ur – Try to play?
Harp: music & art
Harp: music & art
Jewelry: fashion & art
Social Classes
• Complex, unequal
• Upper class
• Kings, priests, landowners, royal
officials
• Middle class
• soldiers, scribes, merchants, artisans,
farmers
Why were the kings and
priests in the highest class?
• Lowest class
• laborers, slaves
Sumerian Technology
•
•
•
•
•
Wheel
Sailboats
Plows
Calendar
Irrigation
Why was Sumer a good
example of a civilization?
Let’s see…
Lesson Summary
• Sumerians were the first civilization to
include all 6 elements
• Sumerian society had several classes: kings
at the top, slaves at the bottom
• The Sumerians created the first organized
religion, governments, and writing system
Why it matters now…
• The governments of Mesopotamia set
examples for later civilizations.
• Writing makes it easier to pass knowledge
from one generation to the next.
Part 3
AKKADIANS & BABYLONIANS
Part 3 Main Ideas
Government: Empires emerged in Mesopotamia, combining
multiple cultures.
Government: Law codes help organize people within a
society.
Part 3 Goals
• Identify the contributions of the Akkadians
and Babylonians.
• Identify Sargon I and Hammurabi.
• Evaluate Hammurabi’s Code
Part 3 Key Vocabulary
Terms
Names
• empire
• dynasty
• retribution
•
•
•
•
•
Akkadians
Babylonians
Sargon
Hammurabi
Hammurabi’s Code
Sargon of Akkad:
The World’s First Empire
[Akkadians]
The Babylonian Empires
Hammurabi
• Babylonian Emperor
• Ammorite dynasty
• Hammurabi’s Code
• World’s 1st uniform law code
• retribution
• “An eye for an eye. A tooth for a tooh.”
• Applied to all classes, all cultures
Hammurabi’s [r. 1792-1750
BC] Code
Hammurabi, the Judge
Babylonian Math
Invented Geometry
Babylonian Numbers
Base 60 number system