Sumerians and Babylonians

SUMERIANS AND BABYLONIANSWG1.3

THE SUMERIANS 

The first great Mesopotamian civilization was the Sumerian, which developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. (3000-1600 B.C)

POLITICALPower of the Priests Sumer’s earliest

governments were controlled by temple priestsFarmers believed they

needed blessings for success of their crops

Priests were the middle man for the Gods and priests demanded portion of farmer crops as tax

POLITICALLater followed

Hereditary rulers: when the power is passed down to family members

Sargon

POLITICALThe Sumerians developed city-state,

which were independent cities that only united when there was a common threat.

ACHIEVEMENTS:Through these city-states the Sumerians

were able to tackle the problem of the large scale flooding from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. They used math and science skills to

build a system of dikes and reservoirs to control the floods.

Cities were built with clay bricks not wood (no forests) and high walls

RELIGIONPolytheistic: Belief in Many

Gods (3,000!!!)Gods could be angered at any

moment and to keep them happy Sumerians:Built impressive ziggurats or

temples to sacrifice food, wine and animals

Souls of the dead wandered in the land of no return

SUMERIAN SOCIETY

Kings and Priests

Wealthy merchants

Ordinary Sumerian people

Slaves

WOMENCould hold property

Join lower ranks of priesthood

There were few women scribesScholars think that girls

were not allowed to attend schools

INTELLECTUALEpic of Gilgamesh

Myths and legends recorded in this long poem

One of the earliest works of literature in the world

Gilgamesh was a real man, ruling in the city-state of

Uruk. The Epic is a tale about his adventures with his half-brother Ekindu. He searches for answers from the gods

about the meaning of life and death.

Gilgamesh

WRITING: Sumerians developed the world’s first

writing system using:Pictograms were simple pictures that

were limited in their uses.Cuneiform used symbols to symbolize

spoken sounds, which was developed to keep track of their complicated governments

They used a stylus (a writing tool) made from sharpened reed and clay tablets that were baked in a kiln or dried in the sun

THE FERTILE CRESCENTArc of land between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia

ONE LAND…TWO RIVERS

Mesopotamia means = “land between the rivers”Tigris River and

Euphrates RiverBoth rivers flooded

once a year and left thick bed of silt.Silt: rich, new soil

farmers could plant and harvest enormous quantities of wheat and barley

THE BABYLONIANSThe Babylonians conquered the

Sumerians around 1800 B. C. and adopted much of the Sumerian culture.

POLITICAL: The Babylonians were ruled by

hereditary rulersThe most famous is King

Hammurabi, who developed one of the first code of laws called The Code of Hammurabi.

LAW CODES This was a collection of 283 laws. The code established different legal classes

and specified the rights of his subjects. The code included legal ideas of the time,

like:Punishments based on social classesRetribution- “an eye for an eye”

LAW CODESimportant rights extended to women

women were not equal to men in the eye of the law but they were granted fundamental rights

this was very unusual for the time The most advanced feature was that the

laws were clearly stated and also how the laws were to be applied

SOCIAL:Babylonians were divided into

classes by birthRulers, high priests, middle

class, farmers and slaves Hammurabi’s code strongly

protected the nobles, even at the expense of all others

SHARED:Religion: Both the Sumerians and the

Babylonians religion was polytheistic, meaning having many gods

These gods: kept the cycle of seasons goingmaintained the world’s existence

Because of this priests were honored and religious leaders were very important political leaders.

III. CHARACTERISTICS SHARED BETWEEN THE SUMERIANS AND BABYLONIANS:

Ziggurats: A stepped pyramid, with flat stacked terraces

made with clay bricksThey had ramps leading to the top either

straight up the side or by going around the entire structure

These structures were dedicated to the gods or goddesses to watch over the cities

There are two famous ruins:UrKhorsabad