Ch. 2, Sec. 1 (pp. 29 - 34)
SSWH1a: Describe the development of
Mesopotamian societies: include the religious, cultural, economic, and political facets of society, with attention to Hammurabi’s law code.

• In the modern Middle East are the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
– The land between these rivers and the land that lies along the eastern coast of the
Mediterranean Sea form an arc of very fertile soil (known as the
Fertile Crescent )
– The land between the Tigris &
Euphrates rivers is called
Mesopotamia (which literally means “land between rivers”)
• Remember, the city of Ur was located in Sumer, which itself was in Mesopotamia

• Unpredictable flooding
– So they created irrigation ditches
• No natural barriers for protection
– So they built walls around their cities
• Few natural resources
– So they traded with their neighbors

• Sumerians built many cities
– Cities each had their own government & rulers (similar to modern countries)
– Cities & the surrounding lands were known as city-states (because they operated independently of one another)
• Sumerian govt was usually led by both religion & military leaders
– Leaders would often come from the same families ( dynasties )
• Sumerian ideas often spread to neighboring cultures (this process is called cultural diffusion )
– In other words, if I’m worshipping a “Rain God” & my neighbor sees me doing this & starts worshipping the “Rain God” then cultural diffusion has occurred

• Sumerians were polytheistic (they believed in more than one god)
– These gods were anthropomorphic, yet all-powerful & immortal
– The afterlife was seen as very dismal
• Social classes
– (Highest class) kings, landholders & priests
– Wealthy merchants
– Manual laborers (field & workshop)
– (Lowest class) Slaves (debtors & prisoners)
• Technology
– Base 60 number system
– Architecture (arches, columns, ramps, etc.)
– Cuneiform

• From 3000 - 2000 B.C., Sumerians were almost constantly at war with one another
• ~2350 B.C., Sargon (an Akkadian from the north) conquered
Sumer & united northern & southern Mesopotamia for the first time
– This union lasted ~200 years
• ~2000 B.C., the Babylonian Empire (with its capital at Babylon) dominated Mesopotamia
– The greatest ruler of Babylon was Hammurabi who created a single set of common laws for Mesopotamia
• Hammurabi’s Code dealt with property issues, family issues, crime, etc.
• The Code applied to everyone, but dealt differently w/ the rich & the poor
• The Code frequently applied the principle “an eye for an eye & a tooth for a tooth”

A Hammurabi Stele & an Inscription of the Code of Hammurabi

• ~1500 B.C., the Babylonian Empire fell to the neighboring Kassites
– Many groups would later come to dominate
Mesopotamia (Assyrians, Hebrews,
Phoenicians, etc.)
• While all this was going on, other people such as the Egyptians, Chinese
& people of the Indus River Valley were experiencing the rise & fall of civilization