6th Grade UBD - Unit 3 - Geography of Mesopotamia

Location- Mesopotamia was one of the earliest city-based
civilizations established between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Land and Water- Mesopotamia had rich soil for growing crops.
However, the climate and annual floods made farming difficult.

Agricultural Innovations- Advances in agriculture helped
Mesopotamians become better farmers.

Trade- Mesopotamia did not produce all the resources it needed.
But it did produce extra crops that could be used for trade.

Ancient Mesopotamia
had a lot of dry land.
Yet civilizations were
able to develop there.
How can people bring
water to dry areas of
land? (5 minutes)

Work with a
neighbor and
compare your
answer with theirs.
What things are
the same and what
things are
different? (3
minutes)

Mesopotamia was located where modern Iraq
and eastern Syria are now.

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were the two
main rivers in Mesopotamia.

Eridu, Ur, and Uruk were three of Mesopotamia’s
important cities. They were found along the
Euphrates River.
Key Term
Civilization- An
advanced state of
human society, in
which a high level
of culture,
science, industry,
and government
has been reached.

Mesopotamia was one of the
earliest known civilizations
in human history.

Mesopotamia sprang up
near the banks of a major
river, where the land was
fertile and good for growing
crops.

The abundance of
food grown in
Mesopotamia allowed
the civilization to
expand and trade with
other civilizations.

Mesopotamia was
established in the valley
between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers in the
Fertile Crescent.

The Fertile Crescent is a
plain in Southwest Asia.

Most ancient cities that
developed thousands of
years ago do not exist today.

How do we know about
them? We can thank
archaeologists who study
the remains of long-gone
places.

Mesopotamia was a civilization
made up of separate
settlements sometimes called
city-states.

Each city-state usually was
controlled by a strong ruler.

At different points in history,
different empires or kingdoms
ruled these cities.
Key Term
City-State- An
independent
kingdom or state
made up of a city
and the
surrounding lands
it controls.
Key Term
Empire- A large
group of
territories and
people who are
ruled by a single
sovereign leader
or nation.

Eridu, Ur, and Uruk
were three of
Mesopotamia most
important cities

All three developed
along the banks of
rivers.

Mesopotamians developed a system of irrigation to
control water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

Irrigation provided water for crops year round.

Annual floods destroyed crops, huts, and other
structures. Irrigation stopped the rivers from flooding.

With irrigation, the Mesopotamians produced more
food than they needed.

The Tigris and Euphrates
rivers flooded each year,
bringing nutrient-rich silt to
the river valley where
Mesopotamia developed.

This soil and the water from
the rivers were both
extremely important to
agriculture.
Key Term
Silt- A mixture of
rock and soil that
is carried by water
that creates
fertile soil that is
good for growing
crops.

Mesopotamians had to
learn to adapt to the
annual flooding and
figure out a way to
survive through the dry
times when there was
little water for crops in
the fields.

To farm the land, the
Mesopotamians had to
learn to control the
flooding.

They had to learn how to
capture river water to
use year round. The
answer was irrigation.
Key Term
IrrigationThe artificial
application of
water to land.
Reading Handout- Floods in the Fertile Crescent

Mesopotamians invented a seeder plow. It
allowed them to plow and plant at the same time.

Mesopotamians tamed and raised animals. The
animals were used for food and farm work.

Producing extra food meant that not everyone
had to farm. People could do other things for
work.

Mesopotamians
developed irrigation
techniques that allowed
them to harness water
from the rivers and
control the flooding.

Mesopotamians built high
walls of earth near the
sides of the rivers. These
are called levees or dikes.
These walls of earth kept
the water from flooding
over the banks of the river.

Mesopotamians also built a
system of canals and
ditches. This system would
drain off the high water,
helping to prevent flooding.

These advances helped to
protect both crop fields and
villages from flood damage.

They built dams to raise or
lower the water levels in the
canals and ditches. This
meant they could provide
more water for the crops
when it was needed. They
could also keep water out
when it was not needed.

With large irrigation
systems, they were able to
produce enough crops to
feed an entire city and
then some!

Irrigation was an
important advance that
allowed crops to thrive.
Key Term
Levee- A ridge
or embankment
built along the
edges of a river
or stream to
prevent
flooding.
Key Term
Dam- A barrier
that people build
across rivers or
other bodies of
water so they can
store the water or
move it to
another location.

Mesopotamians
domesticated animals
and invented a new
seeder plow that made
planting more
efficient.

Plows made out of metal
are stronger and longer
lasting than plows made
of wood.

Work animals such as
cattle would pull the plow
through the fields.

The advances in
agriculture made it so that
it was easier for people to
grow more food.

With this abundance of
food people began to take
on other roles in society.

As the cities grew,
different members of
Mesopotamian society
continued to develop
specialized skills that
met the needs of people
living in the cities.

Some people worked as
potters, making pottery
and utensils. Others also
worked as weavers,
making cloth.

Scribes were employed
to write texts and keep
track of trading.
Key Term
Scribe- A
person who
was educated
and wrote
books or other
documents by
hand.

Traders bought and
sold goods, and
musicians played music
for people.

Still, most people had
jobs dealing with
agricultural production.

Thanks to the farmers,
cities were supported
with surplus food and
other jobs thrived.

With plenty of food to
feed everyone, the cities
continued to grow.
Reading Handout- Mesopotamian Farming Tools

Mesopotamians traded grains, oils, and textiles with
outside societies for goods such as gems and wood.

Merchants traveled to trading centers by land or sea. They
used boats and donkeys to transport their goods.

Trade meant even more growth for Mesopotamia.
Mesopotamians were able to meet all of their needs by
trading. Trade also made Mesopotamia important to
outside cultures.

An abundance of
agriculture allowed for a
system of trade to spring
up, first within individual
cities and later between
different cities and
outside civilizations like
ancient Egypt.

People in Mesopotamia
traded food and available
resources for goods and
items they did not have
locally.

Goods were transported
overland via donkey and
carts or on the backs of
traders.

The rivers were also
important means of
transporting heavier or
bulkier items.

Sea routes for trade also
sometimes included the
Persian Gulf.
Key Term
Commerce- The
act of buying and
selling goods and
services.

Thousands of years later,
our societies are still
affected by the geography
around us.

Like the people of ancient
Mesopotamia, we are
constantly inventing tools
and methods that help us
use natural resources.

What has been the
“muddiest” point so far in
this lesson? That is, what
topic remains the least
clear to you? (4 minutes)

Work with a
neighbor and
compare your
muddiest point with
theirs. Compare
what things are the
same and what
things are different?
(3 minutes)