Mesopotamia
The Cradle of Civilization
Land Between the Rivers
Where is Mesopotamia located?
A Fertile Valley
Known as the Fertile Crescent
Ideal for farming
Land was rich in edible plants – fruit,
wheat, and barley
Fish and birds were plentiful
Pigs, sheep, and goats lived in wild
 Why was it beneficial to be surrounded
by mountains and desert in developing
a civilization?
Activity:
Locate various cities, rivers, places on a
map
Colour and label the places
Agriculture/Farming
Read pgs. 66-71; answer the following
questions
What made this area an ideal place for farming?
How do the hot climate and the river systems
work together to make this a fertile land?
How does silt create fertile soil?
What effect would being able to grow such an
abundance of food have on the lives of the
people?
How would people living in this area meet their
needs?
Describe the climate of Mesopotamia.
How did the people of Mesopotamia
overcome these hardships?
Read Pg. 70-71
What did the Mesopotamians invent?
Agriculture/Farming
The development of irrigation changed
from being controlled by the
environment to becoming capable of
changing the environment.
The area did not supply enough rainfall
for crops so irrigation was needed from
the river
Was the development of irrigation a
positive or negative change? Was it both?
In what ways are we changing the
environment today? Do these changes
have both positive and negative aspects?
What can we do to continue growth
without damaging the ecosystems around
us?
Cause and Effect
Using page 71 as a reference, compose a
cause and effect scenario with your desk
partner.
Complete Think For Yourself, pg. 71
Government
Early societies were
organized as villages
Villages were small,
allowing everyone to
make decisions
Overtime, Sumerian
settlements grew
into city-states
Government
City-State - a self contained urban
centre with its own ruler and
government
Usually surrounded by a small dependent
rural area, villages, or towns
Government
By 3000 BCE, between 15 - 20
Sumerian city-states had been founded
Uruk was one of the most powerful
Other important city-states were Lagash,
Ur, Kish, and Nippur.
Conflicts between city-states were
frequent, and stronger cities were able
to conquer and control other cities
Government
First governments were ruled by priests
Had religious and government
responsibilities
As conflicts between city-states
increased, military leaders were chosen
as rulers
These rulers became Kings
Government
Kings…
Made and enforced the laws
Supervised the building of dams, temples,
and canals
When rulers died, they were replaced by
relatives creating a dynasty
Government
Dynasty - a succession of rulers who are all
related to a common ancestor
Sumerians believed that their cities had been
created by deities, the lands and people
belonged to these deities
Deities - gods and goddesses
Government
As cities grew in size, the
responsibilities of the kings grew
Additional workers were hired to collect
taxes and write and enforce laws
These people were part of the upper class
Imagine you are the second King of
Mesopotamia…what rules would you
make? What kind of buildings would
you build?
 Remember…you are living 2,500 years ago…no electricity…no
power tools…no shopping malls…
Review
What is a deity?
What is a dynasty?
What is a city-state?
Social Organization
Each city state has its own king or ruler
Societies consisted of upper, middle,
and lower classes, and slaves
Men were head of the household and
were responsible for arranging the
education of his sons and the marriage
of each daughter
Social Organization
Many households had slaves
Slaves were treated fairly because anyone
could be a slave through bad luck, debt, or
being captured in war.
Slaves could own property, become traders
and craftspeople, and buy their freedom.
Social Order
King/Ruler
Upper Class
(nobles, priests, important government officials, wealthy landowners)
Middle Class
(trades people, craftspeople, soldiers, well-to-do land owners
Lower Class
(fishermen, farmers)
Slaves
What They Ate
 Sumerians ate grain; such as barley and
wheat.
 Barley was used for bread and cereal
 Also ate vegetables; such as chickpeas,
lentils, beans, onions, and lettuce
 Raised cattle and goats for milk, cheese,
butter, and yogurt
 Raised sheep for wool
 Only the wealthy ate meat
What They Wore
 Clothing varied with the seasons and social status
 During summer…
 Wealthy women wore colourful (orange, yellow, green,
and scarlet), long, loose-fitting gowns
 Wealthy men wore short, wide skirts
 Poor men and women wore simple knee-length tunics
 During winter…
 Everyone wore heavy clothes made of
sheepskins and other animal skins
 Cloaks made from wool
What They Wore
Women wore makeup, such as lipstick
and eye-shadow, and used perfumes
and body oils
Both men and women wore jewellery
The wealthy wore jewellery made of gold
The poor wore jewellery made of coloured
stones or shells
Activity:
Draw a picture of a Mesopotamian woman
or man detailing what they wore and the
kind of jewellery they used
Housing
 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.
Doors led into a small family courtyard. Kids played in
the courtyard.
 Roofs were flat. Roofs provided a fourth living space.
People cooked and slept on their roofs, when weather
permitted.
Cities
Most cities were surrounded by a moat
and a high, strong wall
Usually made from sun-dried mud bricks.
Gates into the cities were made from
bronze
Cities
Inside the gates…
The city was a maze of narrow streets that led to the
city centre.
The city centre, called the temenos, was the ceremonial
area and included important buildings such as temples
and the king’s palace.
Important buildings were made from kiln-dried bricks,
rather than sun-dried brick
The closer a family lived to the city centre, the
more important and the wealthier the family was.
Trade
Development of Writing
People living in southern Mesopotamia
developed one of the earliest writing
systems in the world.
The system was developed so that
information could be recorded.
This writing system began with pictures
or signs drawn on clay tablets and has
changed over many years.
Around 3100 B.C. people began to record
amounts of different crops.
Barley was one of the most important crops in
southern Mesopotamia and when it was first
drawn it looked like this…
Cuneiform Name Tag