Mesopotamian civilization

FIRST HISTORICAL CIVILIZATIONS: MESOPOTAMIA

Elena García Marín

Four early River Valley CivilizationsMesopotamian Civilization - Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

Egyptian Civilization - Nile River

Indian Civilization - Indus River

Ancient China - Huang He (Yellow) River

Sumerian Civilization:Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

City-States in Mesopotamia

Geography of MesopotamiaMostly dry desert climate in SW Asia (Middle East) Except in region between Tigris and Euphrates rivers

SW Asia

(the Middle East)

Fertile Crescent

A flat plain known as Mesopotamia lies between the two riversIt is called the Fertile Crescent

because have a rich soil

City-States in MesopotamiaAlthough all the cities shared the same cultureEach city had its own government, rulers,

warriors, it’s own patron god, and functioned like an independent countryMesopotamian cities were Ur, Uruk, Kish, Lagesh

At center of each city was the temple: a ziggurat (a massive, tiered, pyramid-shaped structure).

The Ziggurat at Ur was first excavated by British

archaeologist Woolley in 1923.

Mesopotamian religion

Mesopotamian warrior-god, gold figurine. (2.400-2.500 B.C.)

They believed in many gods - polytheism

Marduk, the Dragon god

Craftsmen and Peasants

Slaves

Scribes

Priests

King and nobility Mesopotamian Society

Three social classesa. Priests and nobility (kings)b. Craftmens and Merchantsc. Ordinary workers: Peasants

Slaves: were not free citizens

Women had more rights than in many later civilizations, but not allowed to attend schools (could not read or write)

Mesopotamian Society

Mesopotamian SocietyPowerful priests held much political power in the beginning.Military commanders eventually became monarch creating a new structure of government called a Dynasty.Dynasty is a series of rulers descending from a single family line

First Empire in Mesopotamia

3000 – 2000 B.C. the City-States began to war with each other.

Sargon of Akkad (2350 B.C.) He took control of the region, creating world’s first empire -

when several peoples, nations, or previously independent states are placed under the control of one ruler.

The Akkadian Empire lasted about 200 years, 2350–2150 B.C.

Babylonian Empire

They overtook Sumerians around 2000 B.C.And they built capital, Babylon, on Euphrates river

The most famous king of Babylonian Empire was Hammurabi [1792-1750 B.C.]

Famous Code of Law“the punishment

fits the crime” and “eye for an eye”

He took all the laws of the region’s city-states and unified them into one code. This helped unify the region.

One of the first writing systems - Cuneiform

Mesopotamian culture

The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on Earth. It is about the adventures of the cruel King Gilgamesh of Uruk.

It contains a “flood story” that predates the Hebrew Old Testament story of Noah by at least 2000 years. It was written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform script.

Mesopotamian culture