MESOPOTAMIA
SWBAT
Identify primary and secondary sources
Use AP PARTS to analyze a primary source & describe how this primary source helps us understand Sumerian society
Civilization Bell Work 9/4
 What does it mean to be called civilized? What does it mean to be called a
savage?
7 Features of Civilization
 What do you think makes a civilization?
 1. Organized Government
 2. Complex Religion
 3. Job Specialization
 4.Social Classes
 5.Arts & Architecture
 6.Public Works
 7.Writing
Famous example of sedentary society
 Çatul Hüyük, 6700-5700 B.C
 It was a walled Neolithic community sustained by
food surpluses enabling
Religion, specialization of labor, government,
writing, etc…
Today
 Take out your civilization chart, compare your
answers with your neighbor and finish up anything
that you haven’t completed
 By the end of today you should be able to
 Distinguish between secondary and primary sources
 Explain the purpose & implications of Hammurabi's
code
Notes – Mesopotamia & AP PARTS – 9/5/14
 Copy the following into your notebook
 Primary Source- A primary source is a
document or physical object which was
written or created during the time under
study. These sources were present during an
experience or time period and offer an
inside view of a particular event
 Secondary Source - A secondary source
interprets and analyzes primary sources.
These sources are one or more steps
removed from the event. Secondary sources
may have pictures, quotes or graphics of
primary sources in them
IDENTIFY THAT SOURCE!
APParts – How to Break down Documents in AP
 AUTHOR: Who created the source? What do you know about the author?
What is
the author’s point of view?
 PLACE AND TIME : Where and when was the source produced? How might this
affect the meaning of the source?
 PRIOR KNOWLEDGE : Beyond information about the author and the context of its
creation, what do you know that would help you further understand the primary
source? For example, do you recognize any symbols and recall what they represent?
 AUDIENCE: For whom was the source created and how might this affect the
reliability of the source?
 REASON : Why was this source created at the time it was produced?
 THE MAIN IDEA: What point is the source trying to convey?
 SIGNIFICANCE
Why is this source important? What inferences can you draw from
this document? Ask yourself, “So what?” in relation to the question asked.
AP PARTS Practice – Code of Hammurabi
 Read the primary source on page 11 in your book and work through the AP
PARTS sheet
 Once you’ve finished compare notes with the person next to you
Bell Work 9/9 Mesopotamia WH
 You are the king of Mesopotamia sent by the god Shamash
to rule its people. You live in the capital city of Babylon
which is located right between the Tigris and Euphrates
rivers. After decades of bountiful harvests the population of
the city has skyrocketed. The people have been hardworking; many have left the farms due to the surplus of
crops to start new businesses. The city now has merchants,
artists, blacksmiths, scribes, warriors and even street
entertainers who dance, tell jokes or do magic for passersby.
Unfortunately though this years harvest was ruined by a
devastating flood. People who were once peaceful and
joyous towards their neighbors have turned on one another
and the city has been engulfed in a wave of crime. Your city
officials have come to you for answers, what would you do?
Bell Work 9/9 AC
 How do you think your environment affects you as a person?
 Think about it, how do you think people from wealthier areas grow up
compared to people from poorer areas? How do people from urban areas
(big cities) grow up differently than people in rural areas (farming towns)
Mesopotamian
Environment
- Located in the Middle East in
modern day Iraq between the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
-
Unpredictable floods
- No natural borders – people
had to build walls to defend
from invaders
- Had to use irrigation to bring
water to dry land
- Not many natural resources
Question:
How could Mesopotamia's environment
have influenced the civilization?
Kingdoms of Mesopotamia
 A kingdom occurs during a period of stability, with strong
rulers and cultural growth – called dynasties
 Sumerians – the 1st Civilization 3300 BC- 2300 BC

1. Made up of several independent city -states
2. Each city state responsible for their own walls,
irrigation, tax collection
City
State
City
State
City
State
Regional
Problems
City
State
City
State
City
State
City
State
City
State
 Kings Ruled by DIVINE RIGHT
 “You in your judgment, you are the son of Anu; your commands,
like the word of god cannot be reversed; your words like rain
pouring down from the heavens are without number
 Society was structured in a Hierarchy
City
State
Kings
Priests & Nobles
Merchants &
Artisans
Farmers
Ziggurats
 1. Built to keep gods happy.
 2. Used for social events – animal sacrifices ,religious ceremonies & for defense
against in coming armies
Bell Work 9/10 Take out the worksheet from yesterday
and compare answers with your neighbor
 Based on the graph, explain in detail what occurred around 10,000 years
ago
 Why do you think the first evidence of recorded laws are from about 4,000
years ago?
Ancient Civilization 9/10 - QUIZ
 You have a quiz, you have 5 minutes to look over your vocabulary.
It will then be collected. Once you finish come place your quiz in
the tray on the front table and grab a marker. In the mean time I
have posted what will need to be in your notebooks below.
 Things you should have in your notebook include:
 Moon landing Bell Work
 Origin Story Notes 8/27
 Near East Homework #1 (1.1 FOR WORLD HISTORY)
 Bell Work & Notes - Neolithic Revolution 9/2/14 (cartoon as well)
 Bell Work 9/3/14 – Zombie Apocalypse
 Civilization Bell Work 9/4 (Civilized vs. Savage)
 Bell Work 9/9 Mesopotamia & Notes
 Near East #2 ( 1.3 FOR WORLD HISTOTRY)
Empires come and Go
 Akkadian Empire 2300-1800 BC
 Started by Sargon when he conquered all of the surrounding Sumerian city states
 Babylonian Empire 1790- 1400 BC

Hammurabi establishes a code of law “Eye for an Eye”
 “if a house collapsed because of poor construction the houses builder could be put to death”
What would it be like if we had laws like that today?
 Hittites 1400 – 1200 BC

Develop iron working – Iron swords are stronger than bronze
 Why do you think so many empires came and fell in Mesopotamia?
Mesopotamian Religion
 1. Pessimistic - saw the gods as cruel & angry
 2. Polytheistic – believed in many gods and goddesses
 3. Afterlife- Everyone lived in a grim underworld from which there was no release
 “The place where they live on dust, their food is mud,
blackness.”
and they see no light living in
 4. Divination – arose to discover the purposes/desires of the gods & took a
variety of forms, from animal sacrifices to analyzing smoke patterns from incense

Open Book Quiz – 2/6/14
you have 15 minutes to answer the following – in complete sentences.
 1. Describe the "Miracle of the Nile."
 2. What were the 3 periods of Egyptian history characterized
by? (in essence, what did they have in common that made
them worthy of being called the Old, Middle, and New
Kingdoms)
 3. Explain the role of the vizier.
 4. How was the role of the pharaoh different during the
Middle Kingdom?
 5. Describe how the story of Osiris symbolically represented
the flooding of the Nile.
Bell Work 9/11 World History
 TAKE OUT YOUR
HOMEWORK SO I CAN
CHECK IT IN!
 Describe the social classes of
MacArthur High School, who
do you believe to be at the
top of the social pyramid?
Who is at the bottom?
 Also, Write your name in
Hieroglyphs!
Mesopotamian Social Patterns
 1. Social Classes/ Hierarchy

Most people were farmers
 2. Cuneiform wedge writing
 3. Women had some rights but were not equal with
men
 4. Created the wheel, plow &
were the first to use bronze &
Iron - also 1st to come up with
TAXES!
Kings
Priests & Nobles
Merchants &
Artisans
Farmers
Note Book Check! – Ancient Civilizations & World
History
 Things you should have in your notebook include:
 Moon landing Bell Work
 Origin Story Notes 8/27
 Near East Homework #1 (1.1 FOR WORLD HISTORY)
 Bell Work & Notes - Neolithic Revolution 9/2/14 (cartoon as well)
 Bell Work 9/3/14 – Zombie Apocalypse
 Civilization Bell Work 9/4 (Civilized vs. Savage)
 Bell Work 9/9 Mesopotamia & Notes

Near East #2 ( 1.3 FOR WORLD HISTOTRY)
Egypt’s
Environment
-
Located in Africa
-
Civilization grew up along the
Nile River
-
The Sahara Desert is a natural
barrier to the west
-
The Red Sea is a natural
barrier to the east
-
The Mediterranean Sea is a
natural barrier to the north
Mediterranean Sea
HOW COULD THOSE LANDFORMS HAVE INFLUENCED THE
CIVILIZATION?
Kingdoms of Egypt
-
Periods of Stability, strong pharaohs and
cultural growth – called dynasties
-
Old Kingdom (2686-2125 BC)
Pharaoh
-
1. Egyptian kings called Pharaohs organize a strong
central state
-
2. Pharaohs were thought of as gods in the flesh
-
3. They used a bureaucracy to control their kingdoms
-
Vizier
Vizier
Viziers = Managers (think adviser)
-
4. Great Construction Projects - the Pyramids
-
The Middle Kingdom 2055-1650
-
New Kingdom 1567-1100
Irrigation
Tax
Collection
Farming
Construction
Trade
Pyramids
 - 1. Built to be the eternal resting place of the Pharaoh's

-They would be buried with everything they needed

-Mummification
Egyptian Religion
 1. Optimistic- saw the gods as kind & helpful
 2. Polytheistic – believed in many gods and goddesses
 3. Afterlife- Gods promised eternal life after death so long as a person could
prove themselves to Osiris


Mummification
They would remove all of the organs and save
them in jars, except the brain which they pulled out through
nose and tossed in the garbage. Then the wrap the body.
the
Egyptian Social Patterns
1.

Social Classes/ Hierarchy
Most people were farmers
 2. Hieroglyphs- Egyptian picture writing
 3. Used Geometry & developed a Calendar
 4. Medical- could fix broken bones, take
heart rate & had some surgeries
 5. Women had the same rights as men
Bell Work 9/16 Egyptian Odds & Ends AC
 Imagine that when Barack Obama was elected
president he outlawed all religions and tried to force
everyone to treat him as the son of a new god. What
would your reaction be?
Bell Work 9/16 Compare & contrast Egypt and
Mesopotamia W.C.
 What is one similarity and one difference
between the two Empires of Egypt and
Mesopotamia?
 Also take one from the folder and one
Venn Diagram.
The Three Kingdoms of Egypt
 Old Kingdom –
 Ended with a series of droughts that caused
people to lose faith in the Pharaoh which caused
devolution or the decline of central authority
 Intermediate Period- kings of individual cities
compete for power
 Middle Kingdom Begins with the rule of Mentuhotep
 Pharaoh becomes a “shepherd of the people”
 Religion becomes more important, the people worship
Re – the son god
 Osiris – God of the dead and judgment
 Isis – the wife of Osiris
 Ends when the Hyksos, a Semitic speaking
people invade Egypt
The Three Kingdoms of Egypt
 The Hyksos bring new military
tech. that the Egyptians use to
throw off Hyksos domination
 New tech = horse drawn chariot, heavier
swords and compound bows.
 Pharaoh Ahmose expels the
Hyksos & begins the New
Kingdom
 Hatshepsut- Egypt’s most famous female
pharaoh goes on to expand the borders of
Egypt into new territory in search of gold
and slaves
 Amhenotep III (Ahmose’s great – great –
great Grandson) faces a military challenge
from the Hittites in the north
The New Kingdom –
When Egypt Got Weird
 Ahmenhotep IV introduces the worship of
Aten, god of the Sun-disk & changes his name
to Aten
 Moves capitol from Thebes to a new city
called Akhetaten
 Dies mysteriously & is replaced by the boy king
Tutankhamun who returns the government to
Thebes and restores the old gods.
 The empire declines from there and is
eventually conquered by a group of IndoEuropeans from the Caucus region north of
the black sea who were the first to use Iron
weapons.
Aten and the Hebrew Bible
 Page 25