ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- “THE LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVERS ” Energy 6 th Grade Social Studies Mr. Spooner

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- “THE LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVERS”Energy 6th Grade

Social StudiesMr. Spooner

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- DEFINITIONS

• CITY STATES- self-governing unit made up of a city and its surrounding villages and farmland.

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA-GEOGRAPHY

• LOCATED BETWEEN THE TIGRIS-EUPHRATES RIVERS

• BOTH RIVERS FLOW INTO THE PERSIAN GULF• LOCATED IN PRESENT DAY IRAQ

Fertile Crescent

Mesopotamia

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- GEOGRAPHY

• POSITIVE • abundant amount of

clay• easy till-able soil• water supply from

Tigris-Euphrates Rivers

• NEGATIVE• few natural resources• minimal protection

from deserts and mountains

City-States

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION

• BELIEVED TO BE SETTLED CA. 3000 B.C.• DIVIDED INTO CITY-STATES• HELPED TO DEVELOP THE FIRST FORM OF

ORGANIZED RELIGION• CREATED ONE OF THE EARLIEST FORM OF

WRITING

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- SUMERIAN CITY-STATES

• ALWAYS IN CONSTANT CONFLICT OVER WATER RIGHTS AND LAND

• CREATED WALLS FOR PROTECTION, WITH MOATS ALONG THE OUTSIDE

• FARMS WERE LOCATED ALONG THE OUTSIDE OF THE CITY

Sumerians invented:

• Wheel• Time – 60 minutes in an hour, 60 seconds in

a minute• 12 month lunar calendar• arch• ramp

Religion

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- SUMERIAN RELIGION

• Ziggurats: pyramid site of the temple of the main gods.– Each city-state had their own

gods and goddesses– Sun god – most important.

• Life after death was an extension of life.

Ziggurat – Holy Mountain

Ziggurat

• Large pyramid shaped structures• Connected to heaven and earth• Ziggurat: “center for learning and religion”

How to Build a Ziggurat

How to Build a Ziggurat

Sumerian Religion

• Monotheism: worshiping one god.– “Mono” – means one

• Polytheism: worshiping many gods.– “Poly” – means many

Writing:Cuneiform

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- SUMERIAN WRITING

• CALLED CUNEIFORM (LATIN FOR WEDGE)

• WRITTEN ON CLAY TABLETS• NEEDED FOR RELIGION,

GOVERNMENT, AND TRADE• LEARNED IN SCHOOL, BY

MALES THAT LASTED FROM SUNRISE TO SUNSET

Sumerian Writing: cuneiform

Cuneiform is created by pressing a pointed stylus into a clay tablet.

Cuneiform

Economy

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- SUMERIAN ECONOMY

• Make, sell or barter goods.• Trade helped expansion.• Development of money

– Will evolve over time.

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- SUMERIAN ECONOMY

• RICH• government officials• religious leaders• traders

• POOR• Farmers• craftsman

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- SUMERIAN PASTIMES

• Entertainment– No longer had to hunt and gather.– More time for fun times.

• Rich had more time than poor.

• Activities:– BOARD GAMES – INSTRUMENTS– BARE FISTED BOXING

• Activities geared toward young and used for socializing.

The invention of Agriculture changed the way people lived.

• Agriculture (Farming)

• Growth of Cities

• Division of Labor (Specialization)

• Trade

• Writing and Mathematics

•

Mesopotamian Civilization

Sumeria

Akkadians Babylonians

Lydians

Hittites

Chaldeans

Assyrians

Persians

Phoenicians

Hittites• Iron Weapons• Add to your map the

location:– Hittites– Assyrians– Akkadians

Assyrians• Chief god Assur• Chariots used• First Cavalry

Akkadians• Spoke a Semitic Language related to modern Hebrew

and Arabic

When heaven above was not yet named, nor earth below pronounced by name, Apsu, the first one, their begetter and maker Tiamat, who bore them all, had mixed their waters together, but had not formed pastures, nor discovered reed-beds. When yet no gods were manifest, nor names pronounced, nor destinies decreed, then gods were born within them.

Babylonians

• Chief god: Marduk– Prayed for good harvest

and success in business.

• King Hammurabi• Hammurabi’s Code

– Earliest code of law– Based on equal

retaliation.

Hammurabi’s Code• 282 laws.• Harsh punishment for crimes.• Based on equal retaliation.

– “ If a man bring an accusation against a man and charge him with a capital crime, but cannot prove it, the accuser, shall be put to death”

– “If the slave of a freed man strike the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off”

• Laws were varied for the wealthy and powerful.

What do you think?

– “ If a man bring an accusation against a man and charge him with a capital crime, but cannot prove it, the accuser, shall be put to death”

– “If the slave of a freed man strike the body of a freed man, his ear shall be cut off”

– If a man strike a free-born woman so that she lose her unborn child, he shall pay ten shekels for her loss.

• “If the woman die, his daughter shall be put to death.

Chaldeans

• Skilled astronomers• Hanging Gardens of

Babylon• King

Nebuchadnezzar built them for his wife– One of the Ancient

Wonders of the World

http://www.crystalinks.com/seven.html

Persians

• Present day Iran• Spoke an Indo-European Language• Zoroastrianism

– Belief in final judgment and training for it

Phoenicians• Major natural

resource: lumber from cedar forests.

• Invented the art of glassblowing.

• Alphabet– Then adopted by

Greeks.– Then adopted by

Romans• Please label

Phoenicia on your map.

Lydians

• First to use a money economy.– An economic system based in the use of money as

a measure of value and a unit of account.