Ancient Mesopotamia c 3500 1700 BCE 6 09

Ancient Mesopotamia: c. 3500 -1700 BCE

6. 09 Explain the basic concepts of monarchy and empire and identify Mesopotamia as the regional location of the world’s first empire. (G, H, P) 6. 10 Explain the concept of polytheism and its presence in Mesopotamia, with respect to beliefs about the relationship of deities to the natural world and their importance in everyday life. (C, H)

Religion Believed Known Believed in many gods and goddesses as polytheism in four main gods created the world and ruled over it Gods of sky, wind, foothills(hills that are near mountains), and fresh water. Each city-state worshipped its own god Sumerians had thousands of lesser gods. Sumerians believed their gods looked and acted like people

Priests Life in Sumer had many dangers (such as floods, droughts, and invasions) Sumerians To believed the gods could prevent these troubles. protect cities, people tried to please the gods. Each god had many priests. Priests worked to satisfy the gods and claimed to have influence with them This caused people to accept the priests as leaders.

Gods Though of gods as rich landowners who created humans to work for them. People said prayers and made offerings to the gods Everyone to part in rituals and followed religious rules. These took place a the ziggurat

Ziggurats Largest and most important structure in a Sumerian city Was a temple First built about 2200 B. C center of city life The ziggurat functioned as a sort of city hall. priests ran the irrigation systems. People came to the ziggurat to pay the priests for their services with grain and other items. As a result, the priests controlled the storage of surplus grain. The priests ended up controlling much of the wealth of the city-state

New Leaders Around 3000 B. C. , as city-states became richer, other groups of people began to attack them to take their wealth Some attackers came from other regions, some came from rival city-states. This caused the people to ask a powerful man to rule them and protect the city. Af first, such leaders led the city-state during war Eventually, These these leaders took control full time new leaders maintained the canals, managed the surplus grain, and acted as judges.

King These new leaders became kings who are the highest-rank leader of a group of people. Kings ruled a kingdom. Sumer became a kingdom under one king by 2375 B. C. Priest still remained important because their job was to keep the gods happy and keep evil away. People believed the gods let the kings rule.

World's first empire Civilizations came and went amid much warfare. The first to create a Sumerian empire was Sargon I from northern Sumer. Sargon of Akkad, also known as “Sargon the Great”, known for his conquest of the Sumerian city-states in the 24 th and 23 rd centuries B. C

Social Classes in Sumer King and priests were at the top Upper class included landowners, government officials, and rich merchants In-between classes included all free people like farmers and artisans Lowest class included slaves.