MESOPOTAMIA
BY Faith Hayes 10/28/13
Per. 1
Mrs. Mohammed
WHAT IS MESOPOTAMIA?
Mesopotamia is a Greek
word that means “ land
between rivers’’ .
WHERE IS MESOPOTAMIA?
Mesopotamia is located at Tigris and
Euphrates river system. Known as modernday Iraq the northeastern part of Syria and
closer to southeastern Turkey, smaller parts
of southwestern Iran and Kuwait.
CHALLENGES
Mesopotamians had many challenges to get to where
they are . They were uncontrollable water supply , food
shortages , difficulties in building and maintainig the
irrigation
systems,
attacks
from
neighboring
communities. The snow from the winter melted and
flooded the plains. Having uncontrolled water supply
causes food shortages because the water flooded the
crops . So having controllable water supply is very
important . Sometimes their people moved out because
they were driven by food . They built irrigation systems ,
leeves , and dams to fix this problem . Also the growth
of communities caused a fight over water usage . They
built sun baked bricks to protect the villages .
FOOD
The type of meat Mesopotamians ate where
pigs , chicken , cows , doves , ducks , geese ,
gazelles , Oryx , ibex , wild bulls , boars , hares ,
sheep , and onagers [a type of monkey ] .They
also drank beer , wine , milk made from
cow/goats , and water . Many fruits they ate
where grapes , pears , apricots , apples , figs ,
plums , pomegranates , and berries . Also they
liked butter , cheese , bread , salt , garlic , and
onions .
CLOTHING
Their clothing was made from wool or flax
which Sumerians could raise and harvest.
(Flax is a plant with blue flowers. Men were
bare chested and wore skirt-like garments
that tied at the waist. Women usually wore
gowns that covered them from their
shoulders to their ankles. The right arm and
shoulder were left uncovered.
SHELTER
The rich lived in large houses .Some of the larger homes were wide as well as
high, but nearly all the homes were three stories high.
Rich and poor, most homes were clustered around the Ziggurat and each
other.
Most houses shared walls, like townhouses do today.
There was little wood and stone available for building materials. People built
their homes of sun-dried brick.
Homes, and the poor lived in smaller homes, but nobody lived in huts. Roofs
were flat. Roofs provided a fourth living space. People cooked and slept on
their roofs, when weather permitted. Some of the fancier roofs were
designed with four walls for privacy. Some had grape arbors that provided
food, privacy, and shelter from the sun.
CULTURE
To worship the gods and goddesses, the people of
Mesopotamia built large structures, called Ziggurats that
served as temples. Inside the worshiping area of the
Ziggurat people would place carved stone human figures
with wide eyes and clasped hands, praying on behalf of
the people of Mesopotamia. This area was also where
people could make offerings to please the deities or
regain their favor.