Ancient Mesopotamia
Chapter 3
Section 1
The Fertile Crescent
Standards
• H-SS 6.2 Students analyze the geographic,
political, economic, religious, and social
structures of the early civilizations of
Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Kush.
• E-LA Reading 6.2.3 Clarify and connect main
ideas by identifying their relationship to other
sources and related topics.
Anticipatory Set
• Can you locate the Tigris and Euphrates River?
Objective
• You will learn about farming improvements
and how better farming methods led to the
rise of cities and the world’s first civilization in
a land known as Mesopotamia.
Language of the Discipline
1. Irrigation- a system of watering crops.
2. Population- number of people.
3. City-state- made up of a city and the
surrounding land and villages that it
controls.
4. Barter- a trading system in which people
exchange goods directly without using
money.
The Land Between the Rivers
The Land Between the Rivers
• Ancient Mesopotamia is surrounded by
bodies of water
The Land Between the Rivers
• Ancient Mesopotamia is surrounded by
bodies of water
• Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf
• Euphrates River and Tigris River
The Land Between the Rivers
• Ancient Mesopotamia is surrounded by
bodies of water
• Mediterranean Sea and Persian Gulf
• Euphrates River and Tigris River
• The land became known as ‘The Fertile
Crescent’
• Provided Sumerians with rich, fertile soil for farming
Weather Issues
Weather Issues
• Sumerians had long dry summers
Weather Issues
• Sumerians had long dry summers
• There was no rain for months and the
ground became hard and rocky.
• Due to the bodies of water surrounding
the land = frequent floods
• Sometimes villages were swept away =
danger.
Agricultural Techniques
Agricultural Techniques
• Sumerians developed an irrigation
system to assist with watering crops.
• Adaptation to the hot summers and
flooding
Agricultural Techniques
• Sumerians developed an irrigation
system
• Adaptation to the hot summers and
flooding
• From this Sumerians enjoyed a
plentiful flood supply
Agricultural Techniques
• Sumerians developed an irrigation
system
• Adaptation to the hot summers and
flooding
• From this Sumerians enjoyed a
plentiful flood supply
• Population increased
• City- States formed across the region which
were made up the surrounding land and
villages.
Check for Understanding
• Please determine the BEST answer for the
following question.
• Please write your answer on your white
boards and wait for the teacher’s signal.
• On the teacher’s signal, hold up your white
boards.
Checking for
Understanding
• Name one of the challenges of farming
in Mesopotamia?
• Answers can be:
• Flood waters washed away the fertile soil
and made farming difficult.
• Many times, floodwaters destroyed whole
villages.
• Most of the region beyond the rivers was
a desert where nothing could grow.
Checking for
Understanding
•What rivers did farmers live?
• Answer
• Farmers lived on the banks of the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Checking for Understanding
•_______________ is a system of
watering crops.
• Irrigation
Guided
Practice/Independent
Practice
• Guided Practice
• Complete questions 1 - 2 on the reading comprehension
worksheet.
• Raise your hand and wait to get stamped.
• If you received an “R” go to the back table with Ms. Graham.
• Independent Practice
• Once you have been stamped moved to independent practice
and complete numbers 3 and 4 on the reading comprehension
worksheet.
• Homework
• Note-taking guide on the reverse side.
Chapter 3
Section 2
The Civilizations of
Sumor
Standards
• H-SS6.2.3 Understand the relationship
between religion and the social and political
order in Mesopotamia and Egypt.
• E-LA Reading 6.2.3 Connect and clarify main
ideas by identifying their relationships to other
sources and related topics.
Objective
• You will learn how religion and
government supported the social order
of Sumer. You will also learn about some
of the achievements of the Sumerian
civilization.
Anticipatory Set
• Think back to when you
first learned how to write?
• Was it hard?
• Could people easily read
what you wrote?
• Scribes became an
important part of
Mesopotamia when they
began to document
everything.
Language of the Discipline
1. Polytheism- they worshiped many gods.
2. Scribe- a person who was trained to write and
keep records in ancient times.
3. Kingship- a government headed by a king.
4. Law code- a written set of laws.
5. Technology- the application of human
intelligence in problems to create new and
better ways of doing things.
Social Order
Social Order
• As city-states grew so did the social order
• Social order was supported by religious and
political leaders
Social Order
• As city-states grew so did the social order
• Social order was supported by religious and
political leaders
• Priests were the lifeblood of Sumerian
civilization
Social Order
• As city-states grew so did the social order.
• Social order was supported by religious and
political leaders.
• Priests were the lifeblood of Sumerian
civilization.
• Communicated with the gods, ran the
temples, and developed an early system of
writing to track goods.
• They believed that the gods ate, drank, slept,
and married.
Social Order
• As city-states grew so did the social order.
• Social order was supported by religious and
political leaders.
• Priests were the lifeblood of Sumerian
civilization.
• Communicated with the gods, ran the
temples, and developed an early system of
writing to track goods. Scribes were trained
to write and keep record.
• Eventually military leaders were allowed to
govern city-states.
Kingship
Kingship
• The idea of kingship developed
Kingship
• The idea of kingship developed
• Advances in technology and learning
grew
• Early writing system developed
Kingship
• The idea of kingship developed
• Advances in technology and learning
grew
• Early writing system developed
• From pictures of ideas to shapes representing
a sound
• An alphabet was created
• Sumerians wrote the first mathematics
books and created a number system based
on 60, which is still used to tell time and help
with measuring circles today.
Check for Understanding
• Please determine the BEST answer for the
following question.
• Please write your answer on your white
boards and wait for the teacher’s signal.
• On the teacher’s signal, hold up your white
boards.
Checking for
Understanding
•Sumerians believed that their gods
got married, ate and drank, and
____________?
•Answer
• Ate
Checking for
Understanding
•Cities grew because of trade,
increased population, new
technology, and_________
•Answer
• Farming methods that brought about
a food surplus.
Checking for
Understanding
•A _________________was a person
who was trained to write and keep
records in ancient times.
•Answer
• Scribe
Guided
Practice/Independent
Practice
• Guided Practice
• Complete questions 1 - 2 on the reading comprehension
worksheet.
• Raise your hand and wait to get stamped.
• If you received an “R” go to the back table with Ms. Graham.
• Independent Practice
• Once you have been stamped moved to independent practice
and complete numbers 3 and 4 on the reading comprehension
worksheet.
• Homework
• Note-taking guide on the reverse side.
Chapter 3
Section 4
The First Empires
Standards
• H-SS: 6.2.4 Know the significance of
Hammurabi’s Code.
• E-LA Reading 6.2.3 Connect and clarify main
ideas by identifying their relationships to other
sources and related topics.
Anticipatory Set
• Could you imagine a world
without laws?
• What would happen if no
one had to follow any
rules?
• Well, Hammurabi created
the first law code in
Mesopotamia. His ideas
would change our world
forever.
Objective
• You will learn how strong rulers finally
conquered the city-states to create the
world’s first empires. You will also read
how a ruler named Hammurabi tried to
unite Mesopotamia under one law code,
or set of laws.
Language of the Discipline
• 1. Conquest- when one people defeats and
controls another.
• 2. Empire- a group of countries or peoples who
are ruled by one government.
• 3. Chariots- wheeled war vehicles.
• 4. Barbarians- people without civilization.
Conflict
Conflict
• Conflict increased as city-states grew
Conflict
• Conflict increased as city-states grew
• “Sargon the Great” conquered citystates and formed Mesopotamia’s first
empire called The Akkadian Empire.
• Spread Sumerian civilization for more
than 50 years.
• The Akkadian people adopted the
Sumerian farming techniques, cuneiform
writing, and even religion.
Law Code
Law Code
• After Sargon’s death, Sumer was
united by Ur-Nammu
• Issued the first known law code
Law Code
• After Sargon’s death, Sumer was united by
Ur-Nammu
• Issued the first known law code
• The next king, Hammurabi, issued codes of
laws for his people to follow
• The law code was carved in stone for
people to see.
• He wanted people to know the laws that
they were to live by.
Law Code
• The code was important because
• 1. It was the first known attempt by a ruler
to use laws to unite an empire.
• 2. It provided historians with a great deal
of information about life in Mesopotamia.
Check for Understanding
• Please determine the BEST answer for the
following question.
• Please write your answer on your white
boards and wait for the teacher’s signal.
• On the teacher’s signal, hold up your white
boards.
Check for Understanding
•People without civilization were
known as_________________.
•Answer
• Barbarians
Check for Understanding
• What did Hammurabi do so that all of his
people knew his laws?
• Answer
• King Hammurabi wrote or carved his law
code on huge stones that hung for people to
see.
Check for Understanding
•How did Sargon unite
Mesopotamia?
• Answer
• Sargon united Mesopotamia by
creating Mesopotamia’s first empire
with a well equipped army.
Guided
Practice/Independent
Practice
• Guided Practice
• Complete questions 1 - 2 on the reading comprehension
worksheet.
• Raise your hand and wait to get stamped.
• If you received an “R” go to the back table with Ms. Graham.
• Independent Practice
• Once you have been stamped moved to independent practice
and complete numbers 3 and 4 on the reading comprehension
worksheet.
• Homework
• Note-taking guide on the reverse side.