Mesopotamia
Land between two rivers
p. 9
Vocabulary Due Tomorrow.
Chapter 1 Reading Questions Due Thurs.
Mesopotamia – Land between two rivers
City States
-Where people lived All were near farming fields
-Ziggurat was at center It was like a city hall
Cuneiform
-Writing system of the Sumerians
Polytheism
-Many gods were worshiped
-Enil – god of storms was the most powerful
-Rulers were representatives of gods
Hammurabi -Leader of the Sumerians Created a Code of Laws
-Posted these laws for all to see
Babylonian
Empire
-Sumerians were conquered and the new capital
was in Babylon which is on the Euphrates
River
1. What two rivers
run through the
Fertile Crescent?
Tigris & Euphrates
Rivers
2. Which two river
valley civilizations
are shown on this
map?
Egypt & Mesopotamia
3. In what present
day country is
Mesopotamia
located?
Iraq
*NOTES*
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA (4000 B.C.)
“land in between the rivers”
Why was this a perfect place for the 1st civilization?
1. Fertile Crescent - large arc of fertile land in
the Middle East
2. Tigris & Euphrates Rivers made it possible for
farming
3. Cattle, pigs, goats & sheep were accessible
*NOTES*
WHAT CHALLENGES DID PEOPLE FACE IN
MESOPOTAMIA?
1. Unpredictable floods destroyed
crops, homes & people
2. Some areas were marshy and
unsuitable for farming, few natural
resources,
3. This land was vulnerable to
attack and invasion
Sumerians invented:
 Brick technology
 Wheel, sail, plow
 Base 60 – using the circle . . . 360 degrees
 Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in
a minute
 12 month lunar calendar
 arch
 ramp
 ziggurat
Religions have attempted to build their sanctuaries on
prominent heights. Since no such natural heights were
available in the flat flood plains of Mesopotamia (modern Iraq),
ancient priests and kings determined to build ziggurats, square
or rectangular artificial stepped temple platforms. Functionally,
temples were placed on raised platforms to give them
prominence over other buildings in a city, and to allow more
people to watch the services performed at the temple.
Symbolically, however, the ziggurat represents the cosmic
mountain on which the gods dwell. The priests ascent up the
stairway to the temple at the top of the ziggurat represents the
ascent to heaven. The great ziggurat at Khorsabad, for
example, had seven different stages; each was painted a
different color and represented the five known planets, the
moon, and the sun.
WHAT DOES THIS PASSAGE REVEAL ABOUT THE
RELIGIOUS BELIEF OF PEOPLE IN MESOPOTAMIA?
Ziggurat: a multistoried temple
tower from ancient
Mesopotamia.
BABYLONIAN ZIGGURAT
*NOTES*
THE MANY PEOPLE OF MESOPOTAMIA:
1. Sumerians (ancient Sumer’s city-states)
They developed a writing system called Cuneiform (3000
B.C. - 1800 B.C.)
2. Babylonians (Babylonian Empire)
They developed a system of law. ( 1800 B.C. - 1200 B.C.
3. Assyrians (Assyrian Empire) Warlike people that invented
siege machines, like battering rams and mobile towers
shooting arrows.
(1200 B.C. - 539 B.C.)
4. Persians (Persian Empire) The first great empire
(539 B.C. - 330 B.C.)
HW: Discuss the importance of water to the people of
the Middle East. How has climate and topography of
the Middle East effect how people lived?