INTRO TO
MESOPOTAMIA
IMPORTANCE OF IRRIGATION
READ THE PARAGRAPH AND FILL IN
THE BLANKS
Last chance to get it right; today we start a new
unit on our first civilization. There are 3 different
time periods that we have talked about so far.
_______________________ is the time before writing –
this is when Lucy and the other early
____________________ lived. The Australopithecus
evolved into “Handy Man” a hominid that used
tools. This was the start of the Paleolithic Age, also
called the _______________________. Once the first
seed was planted, in ____________________, people
realized that the life of a farmer was much safer
and easier. That brings us to 3,000 B.C.E. – the rise
of the first civilization.
FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF A HUNTERGATHERER
You are a hunter-gatherer. You really want to change your
life, settle down, and stay in one place. What kind of land
will you choose? List three geographic features you’re
looking for.
1. _____________________________________________
2. _____________________________________________
3. _____________________________________________
4. _____________________________________________
LAND BETWEEN 2 ______________
LETS GET TO LABELING
Mediterranean Sea
BEFORE READING
 Disadvantage
______________________________________
______________________________________
 Advantage
______________________________________
____________________________________
POST-READING
• Why did nomads choose to settle down to
farm in Mesopotamia?
_______________________________________________________
• What was irrigation used for?
________________________________________________________
• What is the name of the two rivers?
_________________________________________________________
CIVILIZATION
GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE
MESOPOTAMIA WAS CALLED “THE
CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION.”
Civilization= a group of people that share six major
characteristics:
1. Political Structure
2. Economy
3. Religion
4. Social Structure
5. Intellectual Achievements
6. Culture
PERSIC QUESTIONS
PERSIC Questions
Proof that New Jersey is a Civilization
Political structure:
 How is order created in
society?
 Who makes the laws?
 What kinds of laws are
made?
Citizens elect a government.
Elected legislature makes
laws.
Economy:
 How do people earn their
money?
 What do people choose to do
with their money?
Most citizens have jobs.
People spend or save their
money in a bank.
PERSIC QUESTIONS
PERSIC Questions
Religion:
 What do people believe about
god/gods?
 What are the sacred (holy) texts
people use to define their
beliefs?
Social structure:
 Which people have the most
power, money, and respect in
society?
 Which people have the least
power, money, and respect in
society?
Proof that New Jersey is a Civilization
People who are elected to the
gov’t or have a lot of money,
Celebrities, educated people
People who don’t have much
money
PERSIC QUESTIONS
PERSIC QUESTIONS
Proof that New Jersey is a Civilization
Intellectual Achievements:
 What advances in science and
mathematics has society made?
 What kinds of technology do
people use?
Culture:
 How do people express
themselves through art, music,
and literature?
 What types of food and
clothing are common in
society?
Internet, cell phones
Brass bands, paintings,
parades, novels.. Etc!
RELIGION AND SOCIAL
STRUCTURE
DO NOW: POLITICAL MAP OF
SOUTHEASTERN U.S.
1)What direction do you have to travel to
go from Troy, Alabama to Atlanta,
Georgia?
________________________________
2) What are the two cities in Florida?
________________________________
3)What river goes through Arkansas?
________________________________
4) What is the capitol of Tennessee?
_______________________________
5)What direction is it from Denmark to
Frankfort?
_______________________________
VOCABULARY: FILL IN THE BLANKS WITH THE WORDS IN THE
BOX BELOW.
irrigation
economics culture
Mesopotamia
civilization
There are six parts that make up a civilization. We remember
them by using the acronym PERSIC. The United States has all of
the parts of PERSIC so it must be a ____________________________.
In order to have a government, culture and economics, people
had to live in one place. For cities to be built, they needed to
farm and in order to farm, people had to invent
______________________ to get water to the dry land. Once
farming began, civilizations grew in between the Tigris and
Euphrates in a place called _________________________. These
groups of people developed their own communities and their
own way of life. They had different jobs and traded different
goods – which is all part of ___________________________. They
also had time to develop their own _____________________ by
creating art and music in their cities. Today, we are going to dig
deeper into our first civilization.
RELIGION AND SOCIAL STRUCTURE
What is Sumer?
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
Why do you think
cities in Sumer had
walls surrounding
them?
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
_____________________________
RELIGION
Why was religion
important in Sumer?
What are
Ziggurats?
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Who is the most powerful?
Least powerful?
LETS READ TOGETHER AND
ANNOTATE
Life in ancient Mesopotamia was dictated (ruled) by the belief in
the will of the gods. Most actions and systems in Mesopotamia are
related to the people’s desire to show devotion to the gods.
Ancient Mesopotamians believed in 7 gods. The gods were
considered to be temperamental and unpredictable so people
spent their lived trying to please the gods and make them happy.
Mesopotamian built ziggurats and statues to honor the gods. Priests
were the only ones allowed in the temple on top of a ziggurat.
Twice a day, they brought the gods food to keep them happy.
The common class and slaves constantly prayed to the gods to
show their devotion. They even made statues of them praying so
that when they could not pray, their statues were still praying.
Farmers prayed to the gods for rain and good crops. If something
bad happed to them, they believed it to be the will of the gods.
People in the common class even played music to honor the gods.
QUESTIONS
How did Sumerians express their religious beliefs?
What is a ziggurat? What does it look like? What is on
the top of it?
Why did Sumerians build religious statues? What did
the religious statues look like?
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Social Class
Upper Class
Common Class
Lowest Class
Who Belongs to
this Class?
What was life
like in this class?
SOCIAL STRUCTURE
What did the common class
and slaves believe was the
difference between them
and the upper class?
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
_____________________________________________
How did Kings get their
power?
What special power did
the priests have?
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
________________________
HAMMURABI’S CODE
THE FIRST-EVER WRITTEN DOWN SET OF LAWS WAS CREATED IN
MESOPOTAMIA. THIS WAS SO IMPORTANT, BECAUSE FOR THE
FIRST TIME, ALL PEOPLE IN MESOPOTAMIA WERE HELD TO THE
SAME LAWS. THE LAWS DID NOT CHANGE, BECAUSE THEY WERE
“SET IN STONE” – NOT SPREAD BY WORD OF MOUTH.
Do you believe in the death penalty? If someone kills
someone, should they also be killed? Why or why
not?
THE CODE OF HAMMURABI.
Hammurabi was brilliant war leader. His armies fought
many battles to expand his power. Eventually, he brought all
of Mesopotamia into his empire, called the Babylonian Empire,
after his empire – which was called Babylonia.
Hammurabi’s skills were not limited to the battlefield,
though. He was also an able ruler who could govern a huge
empire. He oversaw many buildings and irrigation projects and
improved Babylon’s tax collection system to help pay for
them. He also brought more money through increasing trade.
Hammurabi, however, is most famous for his code of laws.
Hammurabi’s Code was a set of 282 laws that dealt with
almost every part of daily life. There were laws on almost
everything from trade, loans, stealing, and murder. Some
ideas of this code are still found in laws today. One of the most
important part of Hammurabi’s Code was that it was written
down for all people to see. People all over the empire could
read exactly what was against the law.
QUESTIONS
• For each question, answer in complete sentences.
1. Who was Hammurabi?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
2. What was Hammurabi’s most important accomplishment?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
3. Why was writing down laws so important?
_________________________________________
_________________________________________
The Law
Put in my own words
Fair or not fair? Why?
The law
Put into my own words
Is it fair? Why or why not?
Code #196
“If a man put out the eye of
another man, his eye shall be
put out.”
Code #25
“If fire break out in a house,
and some one who comes to put
it out cast his eye upon the
property of the owner of the
house, and take the property of
the master of the house, he shall
be thrown into that self-same
fire.”
Code #195
“If a son strike his father, his
hand shall be hewn off.”
(hew = to cut off with an axe)
Code # 202
CUNIEFORM
CHARGE UP!
Why do you think humans were able to start using
agriculture in Mesopotamia? What 4 geographic
features must have been present?
LETS REVIEW
• Hammurabi was the king of Mesopotamia. Hammurabi
was one of the first people in history to have laws written
down.
• The first set of written laws was called the “Code of
Hammurabi.”
• Hammurabi stated that the gods told him what to write,
and because it was god’s will, the laws could never
change.
• Since these laws were written down and spread across
the empire, the laws applied to everyone.
• Most of these laws, such as “eye for an eye,” would
seem harsh to us now. Big question: Would it be
effective?
VOCABULARY
• Cuneiform= name for Sumerian writing using
wedges shapes
• Stylus= Sharp stick used for writing in wet clay
CUNEIFORM
Describe the appearance of
cuneiform letters.
What did Sumerians use to write?
What did Sumerians write on?
Why did Sumerians need writing?
DO YOU KNOW YOUR STUFF?
1. What shape are most letters is in cuneiform made from?
_________________________________________________________________
2. What did people in Mesopotamia write on? What tool did they
use for writing?
_________________________________________________________________
3. Does cuneiform look similar to the letters we use today? How is it
the same or different?
_________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________
QUEEN OR KING FOR A DAY!
Tell me about your law above. How is it better or the
same as some of Hammurabi’s laws?
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________
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