Mesopotamia
Middle Eastern
Civilizations:
3500 BCE-395CE
The Neolithic Revolution:
 Hunter-gatherers began farming and herding animals about
10 000 years ago
 Food supply increased dramatically
 Larger groups could now live together, leading to
permanent villages and communities
 Learned to make pottery, baskets, cloth, jewellery, eating
utensils, weapons etc from metal
 Crafts lead to trade, transportation inventions, and a
government (ruler/priest)
What makes a civilization?
 A) Written language
 B) Technology (buildings that last)
 C) Specialization of labour
 Began in places where agriculture could flourish and the
population could grow rapidly such as moderate climate
zones (not too hot or cold), near river valleys with rich
soils
 The Middle East has all of these features
Middle East Map:
 -Follow the instructions on the map handout
 -Label and color the places and features indicated
 Use your textbook as a guide (page 38)
Sumerians (3500 BCE):
 First group to establish communities along the two rivers
(Euphrates and Tigris). Small farming communities
eventually grew into the first great cities of the world.
 Had independent city-states ruled by separate kings.
 Each city state had its own government, laws, military and
independently managed its affairs from the others nearby.
 Largest Sumerian city state was called Ur.
Accomplishments:
 First to develop and use the wheel
 Potter’s wheel
 Chariots
 Pulley system
 Yoke
 Seed drill
 Mathematics
 Sundial
 Writing
 Bronze
Mesopotamia: “The Fertile Crescent”
*Fill in the chart with appropriate information from pages 37 and 38.
Feature:
Lay of the land
Weather
Soil
Animals
Natural Resources
South:
North:
Mesopotamia: “The Fertile Crescent”
*Fill in the chart with appropriate information from pages 37 and 38.
Feature:
South:
North:
Flat Flood plain.
Mountains.
Hot with droughts in summer
Heavy rain with floods in spring.
Rainfall more reliable, floods rare.
Very fertile (silt deposited by flood
waters).
Superb farmland.
Lots of fish and waterfowl (water
birds).
Lots of animal life in forests.
The plains had herds of wild cattle,
gazelles, antelopes and elephants.
Valleys had wild boars. Sheep and
goats on the foothills of the
mountains.
Few except for clay which was used
for making bricks (building).
Close to resources from surrounding
areas such as tin, gold and silver.
Lay of the land
Weather
Soil
Animals
Natural Resources
Babylonians (1900 BCE):
 A new kingdom, led by
King Hammurabi was
established by taking
over what the
Sumerians controlled.
 Hammurabi united
many city-states under
his control.
 Hammurabi is famous
for creating one of the
world’s first written
codes of law; “The
Hammurabi Code”.
 Scribes wrote the laws
on tablets and later
inscribed them on a
stela for all to see.
Hammurabi Code:
 There were 282 laws. (Page 50 of your textbook)
 Based on the idea that “The punishment should fit
the crime”, or “An eye for an eye.”
 Hammurabi wanted justice for all of his people.
Ticket to leave:
 On a piece of paper to be handed in to me:
 Choose one of Hammurabi’s laws and tell me:
 A) What the law said
 B) If you agree or disagree
 C) Why you feel this way (explain your
reasoning)
 *Hand this in before you leave today
Assyrians (1300 BCE):
Started from the city-state of Ashur.
Assyrians were known as war-loving
people. Many of their leaders were
hungry for power.
Assyrians were known for the creation of
professional armies and made their
weapons from iron.
Ashurbanipal: (Famous Assyrian Leader)
 Built schools and
temples.
 Had a library in his
palace (22 000 tablets).
 Kept a zoo at his home
with animals from all
of his conquered lands.
Chaldeans (610 BCE):
 Also known as New
Babylonians.
 Nebuchadnezzar was
their most famous
king.
 Built the Hanging
Gardens, temples to
Gods (ziggurats).
Everyday Life:
 1. Describe the role of each of the following people(s) in
Mesopotamian society: A) Priests, b) Scribes, c) Merchants and
Artisans, d) Common people, e) Slaves
 2. What power did the father have in a Mesopotamian family?
 3. How were women treated?
 4. a) What is monogamy?
b) Did the Mesopotamians practice monogamy?
 5. a) Who attended school?
b) What skills were taught to boys (wealthy and poor)
and girls?
Good afternoon!
Please take out your
answers to the
questions you were
working on last class.
Answers to the questions:
 1. a) Priests:
-only people capable of communicating with the gods
-responsible for distribution of farmland and running schools
 b) Scribes:
- the educated class (able to read and write)
-wealthy and prestigious jobs (temple, palace, government, army etc)
 c) Merchants and Artisans:
-traders and craftspeople
-developed the civilization by trading ideas and products
-made jewelry, statuettes etc
Answers continued….
 d) Common people:
-lower class and were farmers
 e) Slaves:
-had no rights
-did household labour and chores
-Two types of slaves:
1) captured in battle
2) Debtors who sold themselves and/or their family to pay
off their debt
Answers continued…
 2. What power did the father have in a
Mesopotamian family?
-father “owned” his children
-parental respect was the focus of a child’s
upbringing
-father could deposit his kids with a creditor as
security for debt payment
Answers continued…
 3. How were women treated?
-women were respected, but not considered equal to men
-could own land and property, but they could not vote or rule
 4. a) What is monogamy?
-having only one spouse at a time
b) Did the Mesopotamians practice monogamy?
-Monogamy ruled, but some men took secondary wives called
Concubines (often slaves)
Answers continued…
 5. a) Who attended school?
-school started at age eight or nine and only for boys of the
wealthy
b) What skills were taught to boys (wealthy + poor) and girls?
-students wrote on clay tablets
-lessons in writing, arithmetic, grammar, history and geography
-in school from sunrise to sunset
-students who did not do work perfectly were punished
-lower class kids learned trades at home such as brick making or
boat building etc. Girls were trained as wives and mothers
Mesopotamia Video:
"From Nomads to Farmers“

(14 minutes)
Cuneiform Writing:
 Copy the following story into your notes, then using your
legend of cuneiform writing provided, transcribe the story
into the appropriate symbols:
 “One sunny day, a woman came down from the mountain
with her dog by her side. She asked me for some food and
water as she was feeling so weak that she could hardly
stand. I gave her some fish and barley which she offered to
pay for with her shiny metal bracelet. When I asked her
what she was doing so far from home she explained that
she had been looking for her lost cow who had wandered
off from her orchard.”
Assignment: Answer all questions in complete
sentences and hand them in when complete:
 Religion (pages 53-56):
 1. Mesopotamian religion was “polytheistic” with gods that were
“anthropomorphic”. What do these two terms mean?
 2. What were “Ziggurats” and how were they used by the people?
 Trade (pages 64-65):
 3. What is a “barter system”?
 4. Which of their products was the Sumerian barter system based on?
 5. Why and how did the Babylonians change this system?
 Mathematics (page 71):
 6. For what purposes did the Sumerians use mathematics?
 7. How does their choice of the number 60 as their base unit affect us
today?
Assignment answers:
 1. Mesopotamian religion was “polytheistic” with gods that
were “anthropomorphic”. What do these two terms mean?
 Polytheistic means that they worshipped many
gods/goddesses. Anthropomorphic means that their gods
had human-like qualities, such as eating, drinking, getting
married, having kids etc.
 2. What were “Ziggurats” and how were they used by the
people?
 Ziggurats were temples built as houses for the gods. Food
and gifts would be placed in them for when the gods came
down from the heavens to visit earth.
3. What is a “barter system”?
Instead of using money, people traded goods for other goods.
4. Which of their products was the Sumerian barter system
based on?
The system was based on sacks of grain. Every product was
equal to a certain number of sacks of grain.
5. Why and how did the Babylonians change this system?
The Babylonians changed the system by introducing money
(coins) which were equal to an amount of grain. This made
things easier because people no longer had to carry heavy
sacks of grain.
6. For what purposes did the Sumerians use mathematics?
They used math to help build canals, to keep records of farms
and trades, and to calculate taxes owed to the state.
7. How does their choice of the number 60 as their base unit
affect us today?
Their choice of the number sixty has given us the 360 degree
circle, the 60 minute hour and 60 second minute.
Cuneiform Writing Assignment:
 On plain white paper:
 Use cuneiform symbols to create your own story of
at least ten symbols.
 Be sure to also include your translation of that story
into words and sentences on a separate page.
 Create a title page with a colored drawing related to
your story, staple the sheets together and hand it in
to me.
Nova Video:
 Cracking the Mayan Code (Hieroglyphics)
 (53 minutes)
Video:
 Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
 Answer the questions provided as you
watch the video in class.