Chapter 3 Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Chapter
- Slides: 40
Chapter 3 : Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent
Chapter 3 Section 1 • Early people settled where crops would grow. • Crops usually grew well near rivers, where water was available and regular floods made the soil rich.
Chapter 3 Section 1 • The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are the most important physical features of the region sometimes known as Mesopotamia. • Mesopotamia means “between the rivers” • Mesopotamia is apart of the Fertile Crescent. • The Fertile Crescent extends from the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea.
Chapter 3 Section 1 • Hunters-gatherer groups first settled in Mesopotamia more than 12, 000 years ago. • Floods brought silt to the land. • Silt is a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks. • The fertile silt made the land ideal for farming. • The first farming settlement formed in Mesopotamia about 7000 BC.
Chapter 3 Section 1 • Farming depended on the amount of rain that was received in Eastern Asia Minor. • This meant that the water levels in the rivers could be to low. • If they received a lot of rain it could flood their crops.
Chapter 3 Section 1 • To solve their problems the Mesopotamians used irrigation to control the water. • They dugout large storage basins to hold water supplies. • Canals where dug to connect all the basins and ditches were dug to send the water to the fields.
Chapter 3 Section 1 • Irrigation increased the amount of food that farmer could produce • Farmers started producing a surplus of food, which was more food than they needed. • This also would lead to less farmers needed. • As a result, new occupations developed. • People became crafters, religious leaders, and government workers.
Chapter 3 Section 1 • The type of arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular task or job is called a division of labor. • Having people available to work on different jobs meant that society could accomplish more. • Mesopotamia needed structure and rules, this could be provided by laws and government.
Chapter 3 Section 1 • Mesopotamian settlements grew in size and complexity. • They gradually developed into cities between 4000 and 3000 BC.
Chapter 3 Section 2 • In the southern part of Mesopotamia, a group of people known as Sumerians developed the world’s first civilization. • They settled in a land they called Sumer. • Most of the people in Sumer where farmers. • Most lived in the rural areas. • Some lived in the cities. The first cities had about 10, 000 residents.
Chapter 3 Section 2 • Sumer would combine the rural and urban areas to create city-states. • The amount of countryside controlled by each city-state depended on its military strength. • City-states would fight each other to gain more farmland. • As a result the city-states built up strong armies.
Chapter 3 Section 2 • Sumerians also built strong, thick walls around their cities for protection. • By 3500 BC, Kish had became the most powerful. • Over the next 1000 years, the city-states of Uruk and Ur fought for dominance. • Uruk king Gilgamesh, became a legendary figure in Sumerian literature.
Chapter 3 Section 2 • The Akkadians would develop a society just north of Sumer. • The Akkadians and the Sumerians lived in peace for many year. • That peace was broken when Sargon the emperor of the Akkadians sought to extend their territory.
Chapter 3 Section 2 • Sargon built a new capital, Akkad, on the Euphrates River. ( Near the city of Baghdad today) • Sargon was the first ruler to have a permanent army. • Sargon’s army defeated all of the city-states of Sumer. He also conquered northern Mesopotamia, bringing the entire region under his rule.
Chapter 3 Section 2 • Sargon established the world’s first empire. • The Akkadian Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. • Sargon ruled the empire for nearly 50 years until he died. • The empire would continue for only 10 more years. • The Sumerians would become the most powerful civilization once again.
Chapter 3 Section 2 • Religion was very important in the Sumerian society. • The Sumerians practiced polytheism. • Polytheism is the worship of many gods. • Enlil – lord of the air • Enki – god of wisdom • Inanna – goddess of love and war • Utu and Nanna – gods of the sun and moon
Chapter 3 Section 2 • Priest would perform religious ceremonies. • Priest had great status in Sumer. • People relied on the priest to help them gain the gods’ favor.
Chapter 3 Section 2 • Social hierarchy Kings – chosen by the gods Priest Skilled craftspeople, merchants, and traders Farmers and Laborers Slaves
Chapter 3 Section 2 • Men held political power and made laws. • Women took care of the homes and children. • Education was reserved for the men, but some upper class women were educated.
Chapter 3 Section 3 • Cuneiform – the world’s first system of writing • They used sharp tools called styluses to make wedge-shaped symbols on clay tablets. • Symbols sometimes represented syllables, or basic parts of words. • Earlier written communication used pictographs, each picture represented something.
Chapter 3 Section 3 • Sumerians first used cuneiform to keep business records. • A scribe, or writer, would be hired to keep track of the items people traded. They were also used to keep government records.
Chapter 3 Section 3 • Sumerian students went to school to learn to read and write. • In time, Sumerians began to write works on history, law, grammar, and math. • They also began to write literature.
Chapter 3 Section 3 • Some of these literature works were epics, which were long poems that tell the stories of heroes. • The Epic of Gilgamesh was one of the most famous. It was a story of a Sumerian king.
Chapter 3 Section 3 • One of Sumerians’ most important developments was the wheel. • They were the first people to build wheeled vehicles, including carts and wagons. • The wheel also allowed them to start spinning clay and making pottery.
Chapter 3 Section 3 • The plow was another important invention. • It made farming quicker and easier, and it also increased farming production. • The Sumerians also invented a clock that used running water to measure time.
Chapter 3 Section 3 • Sumerian advances improved daily life in many ways. They built sewers in the cities, and they learned to use bronze to make stronger tools and weapons. • The Sumerians developed a math system based on the number 60. -circle is 360 degrees -12 months in a year
Chapter 3 Section 3 • The Sumerians’ also made advances in medicine. They catalogued their medical knowledge, listing treatments according to symptoms and body parts. • Sumerians were the first people in Mesopotamia to build large temples called ziggurats.
Chapter 3 Section 3 • Sumerian sculptors created temples and statues of gods. • They also sculpted things out of ivory and rare woods. • Jewelry was also a popular item in Sumer. • Cylinder seals are perhaps Sumer’s most famous art work. They were used to mark property.
Chapter 3 Section 4 • The Babylonians would rise to power shortly after the death of Sargon. • Babylon is present day Baghdad, Iraq. • Babylon was once a Sumerian town. • 1792 BC, Hammurabi became the king of Babylon.
Chapter 3 Section 4 • Hammurabi was a brilliant war leader. • His armies fought and won many battles, increasing his empire. • All of Mesopotamia would end up apart of the Babylonian Empire. • Hammurabi also governed over the empire very well. • He also created a set of 282 laws called Hammurabi’s Code.
Chapter 3 Section 4 • Hammurabi’s Code dealt with almost every part of daily life. • It contained some ideas that are still found in laws today. • Specific crimes brought specific penalties. • Social classes did matter when it came to being punished. • Hammurabi ruled for nearly 42 years.
Chapter 3 Section 4 Hittites - civilization in Asia Minor, which is current day Turkey. - This was the first group to rule after Hammurabi. - The Hittites were skilled in ironworking. This meant that they could make stronger weapons.
Chapter 3 Section 4 • The Hittites used chariots in battle. • The Hittite rule did not last long because the king was assassinated.
Chapter 3 Section 4 Assyrians - 1200 BC the Assyrians gain control of Babylon - The Assyrians had a strong army. - They used iron weapons and chariots like the Hittites. - Anyone who resisted them was killed. - The Assyrian Empire was by a king and local leaders.
Chapter 3 Section 4 • The Assyrians ruled from Nineveh. • The king placed heavy taxes all across the empire.
Chapter 3 Section 4 Chaldeans - A series of wars broke out in the Assyrian Empire, which weaken it. - The Chaldeans took advantage and attacked Nineveh destroyed the Assyrian Empire. - The Chaldeans were from the Syrian Desert. - Nebuchadnezzar was the most famous Chaldean king.
Chapter 3 Section 4 • Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the city of Babylon into a beautiful city. • His palace featured the famous Hanging Gardens.
Chapter 3 Section 4 Phoenicians - Were located on the western end of the Fertile Crescent near the Mediterranean Sea. - They were known as a trading society. - Today Lebanon occupies most of what was once Phoenicia. - They had a lot of cedar trees, it was a valuable trade item.
Chapter 3 Section 4 • Land trade was blocked by the mountains, so they used the sea for trade routes. • They became expert sailors. • The Phoenicians found several new colonies. • Carthage which was located in N. Africa along the Mediterranean Sea was the most famous of the colonies. • It later became one of the most powerful cities on the Mediterranean Sea.
Chapter 3 Section 4 • The Phoenicians’ most important achievement was the development of the first alphabet. • This made writing much easier. • The alphabet that we use for the english language is based on the Phoenician alphabet.
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