Ancient
Mesopotamia
Geography of the Fertile Crescent

Fertile crescent between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers

Mesopotamia= Land between rivers

Annual flooding left silt (thick bed of mud)
which was very fertile soil

4500 BCE people settle

3500 BCE Sumerians settle
Challenges and Solutions to
Geography


Disadvantages of the region

Unpredictable flooding

Small region and no natural defenses for protection

Limited natural resources
Solutions for the Problems

Irrigation systems developed

Built city walls with mud bricks for protection

Traded for more resources

These led to the rise of leaders and laws to organized these solutions
Sumerians Create City-States

They possessed the 5 key
traits for civilization

3000 BCE city-states
develop each with their
own culture and
government
 Ur,
Kush, Lagash, Uruk
Power of Priests
 Temple
priests controlled
the government
because farmers
believed they were
necessary for good crop
production
 Ziggurats
also a city hall
 Responsible
collection
for tax
Monarchs Take Control
 After
3000 BCE wars
became more
frequent and power
shifted to commanders
who controlled
standing armies
 Eventually their
temporary control led
to full time leaders or
monarchs, controlled
by a family= dynasty
Spread of Cities
 Surplus
food
increased wealth
 Increase
in
population
 Increase
diffusion
in cultural
Religion in Sumer
 Polytheism
 3,000
 Many
 Built
gods
dedicated to weather
ziggurats
 Offered
 Epic
sacrifices
of Gilgamesh
 Quest
for immortality
 Influenced
the Hebrews
and Greeks
Life in Sumer

Social classes- Priests and kings, wealthy
merchants, ordinary Sumerians, Slaves

Gender

Women could hold property

Women could pursue occupations

No female scribes suggests limited
access to education
Science and Technology
 Wheel,
sail, plow,
bronze, cuneiform,
maps, symptoms of
disease, number
system with a base
of 60 (time and
degrees still used
today), arches,
columns, pyramids
First Empire Builders: The Akkadians

3000-2000 BCE city states at war
with each other

Sargon of Akkad (Akkadians)
 Akkadians
were a semitic group
(spoke a language related to
Arabic and Hebrew)
 2350
Sargon defeated the city
states of Sumer
 Created
the first empire (bring
different people under one ruler)
 Sargon’s
years
dynasty lasted 200
The Babylonians



Amorites- also semitic- invaded
Mesopotamia and established the
Babylonian Empire
Hammurabi 1792-1750 BCE
 Developed a Code of laws
 282 laws- many based on
property issues
 Retaliation is a major aspect of
laws
 Different punishments
according to rank and gender
 Reinforced the idea that
government had responsibility
for society
2 centuries after Hammurabi Babylonia
fell to invaders