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Mesopotamian Civilization
Chapter 1, Section 2
Mesopotamia
• Means “the land between the rivers”• A land that lies between the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers• Earliest civilization. Arose in what is
now Southern Iraq.
What is a Civilization?
• Complex societies that have…- cities- organized governments- art- religion- class divisions- writing system
Why were river valleys important?
• Good farming conditions• Provided fish and freshwater to
drink• Provided easy transportation
routes for trade
FARMING• Floods often ruined crops.• Farmers built irrigation systems to
control floods.
IRRIGATION• Farmers built walls, waterways and
ditches to bring water to their fields.• Helped food growth
An ancient irrigation system
Rise of Sumer
• A region in southern Mesopotamia• Many cities formed there by 3000
B.C.• Sumerian cities were isolated from
each other because of Geography • Each Sumerian city became a
separate City-State with its own government.
City-State
ANY REGION THAT HAS ITS OWN GOVERNMENT AND IS NOT PART OF
A LARGER UNIT.
Sumerians at War
• Sumerian city-states often went to war with each other.
• Fought for glory and control of territory.
• To protect their lands, each city-state surrounded itself with a strong brick walls made of river mud and crushed reeds.
Sumerian Beliefs
• Believed in many gods.• Each god had power over natural
forces or human activity (flooding, basket weaving)
• Each city-state built a temple called a ziggurat to honor its chief god.
• Ziggurat means “mountain of god”
Ziggurat
Life in Sumer
• Kings lived in palaces• Ordinary people lived in mud-brick
houses.• Some people were artisans. Artisans
are skilled workers who make metal products, cloth or pottery.
• Most people farmed and others worked as merchants or traders.
Social Classes in Sumer
• People were divided into three classes.
• Rarely could one move up in class.
Upper Class
• Kings• Priests• Warriors• Government Officials
Middle Class (the largest class)
• Artisans• Merchants• Farmers• Fishers
Lower Class
• Enslaved people who worked on farms or in the temples
• Forced to serve others
Men and Women in Sumer
• Men headed the households• Men decided whom their children
would marry.• Only males could go to school.• Women could buy and sell
property.• Women could run businesses.
Sumerians invented writing!
• Their writing was called cuneiform.• Only a few people learned how to
write, mostly boys from wealthy families.
• These boys became scribes, or record keepers.
Sumerian cuneiform tablet
Sumerian Literature
• Oldest known story comes from Sumer
• Epic of Gilgamesh• An epic is a long poem that tells
the story of a hero.
Other Inventions
• Wagon Wheel• Plow• Sailboat• Geometry• Number system based on 60• 12 month calendar
Sumerian City-States Lose Power
• The Akkadians from Northern Mesopotamia launched attacks on Sumerian City-States.
• Sargon, king of Akkadians, conquered all of Mesopotamia and created the worlds first empire.
• An empire is group of many different lands under one ruler.
• Sargon’s empire lasted 200 years.
Babylon
• A new group of people took over Mesopotamia in 1800s B.C. and built the city of Babylon.
• The Babylonian king was Hammurabi.
• Hammurabi created the Babylonian empire.
Code of Hammurabi
• Hammurabi is best known for his law code, or collection of laws.
• The code covered crimes, farming and business activities, and marriage and the family.
• Hammurabi’s code influenced later law codes, including those of Greece and Rome.
Statue of King Hammurabi
