Aim: Was the ancient Middle East the cradle of civilization? Do Now: What is going on with these statues?? NY State Standards 2, 3 Common Core Standards.

Aim: Was the ancient Middle East the cradle of civilization?

Do Now: What is going on with these statues?? NY State Standards 2, 3

Common Core Standards RS 3, 4, 5, 7, 9, WS 1, 2

A) Mesopotamia means the land between two rivers; the Tigris and Euphrates (in modern Iraq).

B) Mesopotamia is often called the Fertile Crescent due to its rich soil.C) The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flood yearly like Egypt. *Unlike

Egypt, their floods are less predictable. This caused the people of Mesopotamia to fear their gods.

TIGRIS RIVER

I Geography of Mesopotamia

II Mesopotamian GovernmentA) Sumer was the first Mesopotamian civilization. Sumer was a collection of city-states, each ruled by a King. Similar to ancient Egypt, Mesopotamian city-states had developed a bureaucracy. Different government officials regulated taxes, irrigation, public works, etc…B) In the center of each city-state was the ziggurat (temple). All of the buildings were built of sun-baked mud brick. Each city-state was surrounded by a protective city wall. A city-state is a city that

governs itself.

Mesopotamian Government Continued…C) In 2300 BCE King Sargon of Akkad attacked Sumer. He created the

Akkadian Empire, one of the first empires in the world. After his death, his empire quickly fell apart.

An empire is a group of states that is under the

control of a single authority. Unlike individually ruled city-

states, an empire has a centralized government.

Mesopotamian Government Continued…D) In 1790 BCE Hammurabi, King of Babylon, conquered most of Mesopotamia. He created the Code of Hammurabi; the world’s first known written law code. Code of Hammurabi:

300 laws carved into a stone pillarDisplayed in publicIncluded civil and criminal lawsPunishments were specific to the crime. However, the punishment was also based on your social status and wealth. (The lower your status, the harsher the penalty)

Code of Hammurabi Excerpts1. If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death. 2. If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition, and does not so keep it; if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined. 3. If any one fail to meet a claim for debt, and sell himself, his wife, his son, and daughter for money or give them away to forced labor: they shall work for three years in the house of the man who bought them, or the proprietor, and in the fourth year they shall be set free.4. If a man violate the wife (betrothed or child-wife) of another man, who has never known a man, and still lives in her father's house, and sleep with her and be surprised, this man shall be put to death, but the wife is blameless. 5. If a man take a wife, and she be seized by disease, if he then desire to take a second wife he shall not put away his wife, who has been attacked by disease, but he shall keep her in the house which he has built and support her so long as she lives. 6. If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off. If he put out the eye of a freed man, or break the bone of a freed man, he shall pay one gold mina. 7. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value. 8. If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out. 9. If he knock out the teeth of a freed man, he shall pay one-third of a gold mina.

Mesopotamian Government Continued…E) In 1400 BCE the Hittites (from Asia Minor) settled in Mesopotamia. They brought with them the knowledge of iron working.

A Hittite iron helmet.

Mesopotamian Government Continued…F) By 1100 BCE the Assyrians conquered Mesopotamia. King Assurbanipal founded one of the world’s first libraries.

Mesopotamian Government Continued…F) In 626 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Assyrian Empire, and began the Neo-Babylonian Empire… out of… you guessed it… Babylon! He conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the first Jewish temple and forced many Jews leave Jerusalem for Babylon. He rebuilt the city walls of Babylon, including the Ishtar Gate. It is covered in blue tile, with images of lions.He built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon for his wife.

A design from the Ishtar Gate

Recreation of the Ishtar Gate

Recreation of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

III Achievements of MesopotamiaA) By 3200 BCE Sumerians invented cuneiform, a true writing system.

They marked clay tablets with a stylus (sharp pointed tool).

The Development of CuneiformBefore the appearance of writing in Mesopotamia, there were small clay tokens that were used for counting agricultural and manufactured goods. As time went by, the ancient Mesopotamians realized that they needed a way to keep all the clay tokens securely together, so they started putting multiple clay tokens into a large, hollow clay container (bulla) which they then sealed up. However, once sealed, the problem of remembering how many tokens were inside the container arose. To solve this problem, the Mesopotamians started impressing pictures of the clay tokens on the surface of the clay container with a stylus. Subsequently, the ancient Mesopotamians stopped using clay tokens altogether, and simply impressed the symbol of the clay tokens on wet clay surfaces. In addition to symbols derived from clay tokens, they also added other symbols that were more pictographic in nature, i.e. they resemble the natural object they represent.

Achievements of Mesopotamia Continued…B) Mesopotamians were using the wheel by about 3,500 B.C. They used the potter’s wheel to throw pots and wheels on carts to transport both people and goods. This invention had an impact on ceramic technology, trade, and warfare in the early city-states.

Achievements of Mesopotamia Continued…C) The Sumerians developed the earliest known number system. They

divided space and time by units of 6.D) Like the Egyptians, Sumerians studied astronomy, and created a 12

month calendar. *We still use Sumerian math!-60 degrees in a circle

-60 seconds in a minute-60 minutes in an hour

Below is a Sumerian star chart

The Sumerians also gave us the 12 signs of the Zodiac! Unlike astronomy, astrology is not science. Rather, astrology is the belief that the positions of the stars affect our lives.

Achievements of Mesopotamia Continued…E) The Epic of Gilgamesh may be the oldest written story on earth!

Written in cuneiform About a Sumerian King

It contains a story of a great flood, eerily similar to the story of Noah and the Ark!

"I will reveal to you, Gilgamesh, a thing that is hidden, a secret of the gods… a city that you surely know, situated on the banks of the Euphrates.. The hearts of the Great Gods moved them to inflict the Flood…Tear down the

house and build a boat! Abandon wealth and seek living beings! Spurn possessions and keep alive living beings!

Make all living beings go up into the boat.”

V Religion in MesopotamiaA) Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic. Abraham began the monotheistic religion of Judaism in Mesopotamia. However, the majority of Mesopotamians remained polytheistic. Mesopotamians kept their Gods happy with offerings and ceremonies. If you were wealthy, you had statues built in your image and placed in the ziggurat to pray for you.B) Unlike Egypt, Mesopotamians believed the afterlife was misery. This was because the flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates was not very predictable.C) Priests performed ceremonies on top of ziggurats.

“The house where one goes in and never comes out again… the place where they live on dust and

their food is mud…” – Epic of Gilgamesh

One burial chamber in the city-state of Ur contained the bodies

of 74 sacrificial victims!

Above are statues made to pray 24/7! On the left is a

royal headdress of a female Queen found in the royal

burial at Ur.

US Soldiers Climbing the Ziggurat at Ur

VI The Persians are coming!

The Persians Continued…A) The Persian Empire was founded in 550 BCE by Cyrus the Great, beginning the Achaemenid Dynasty. B) Persians are of Aryan descent. Aryans were Indo-European (“white”) nomads who conquered northern India. Today, most Persians live in Iran and speak Farsi.C) In 370 CE after conquering Babylon, Cyrus the Great allowed all exiled people (including the Jews) to return to their homelands.D) The empire was divided into different regions, each ruled by a Satrap.E) The Royal Road was built in the 5th century BCE to allow easier access for their army and postal service! The road was 1677 miles long, and had 111 “post office relay stations”. With this system messages could cross the empire in 7 days!E) The official religion of Persia was Zoroastrianism. Zoroastrians believe God has an evil rival. People must choose between good and evil. F) 331 BCE the Persian Empire was conquered by Alexander the Great!

The Persians Continued…

On the left is a Zoroastrian Fire Temple. On the right is the remains of the Palace of Darius in Persepolis (in modern Iran).

Sumerians 3200 – 1900 BCE Invented cuneiform writing.

Akkadian Empire 2300 – 2150 BCE Sargon attacked Sumer and created one of the world’s

first empires.

Babylonian Empire 1790 – 1595 BCE King Hammurabi created the world’s first written law

code.

Hittites 1650 – 1200 BCE Expert iron craftsmen.

Assyrian Empire 1350 – 609 BCE King Assurbanipal created a world famous library.

Neo Babylonian Empire 626 – 539 BCE King Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of

Babylon for his wife.

Persian Empire 550 – 331 BCE The Royal Road was 1677 miles in length!

Mesopotamian Civilizations Summary

Focus Questions

Scene of a bombing north of Baghdad Jan 6, 2012

1. How did geography affect ancient Mesopotamian civilizations?

2. Describe Mesopotamian religion. How does it compare to ancient Egyptian religion?

3. Choose any 4 laws from the Code of Hammurabi. For each- explain the law- is it just for its time?- is it just today?

4. What were the 2 most important achievements of Mesopotamia?

Key Vocabulary