mesopotamia & fertile crescent

Mesopotamia & the Fertile Crescent

Geography of Mesopotamia• “land between two

rivers”• Tigris & Euphrates

Rivers• Flat with small plants• Rivers flooded,

creating floodplains

• Dry, with little rainfall

Floods & Droughts• Flooding of the

rivers unpredictable

• Too much snow or rain in mountains would cause devastating floods

• Lack of rainfall would cause droughts

Irrigation• Irrigation:

• Built earthen walls and ditches to irrigate farms

The Not-So Fertile Crescent• Little water; few resources• Mud and reed homes• No natural barriers – Effects?

• Walls & moats built as protection

Trading for Resources- Needed: stone, wood, copper, ivory, gold, ebony- Offered: grain, dates, other crops

First Civilizations• Advanced form of culture• First civilization in Sumer 3500 BC• Early civilizations had five traits

Advanced Cities-- rise when farmers need places to store grain-- large temples for prayer

Specialized Workers-- food surplus means not everyone needs to farm-- jobs that require special skills (weaver, weapon-maker etc.)-- some become kings or priests

Complex Institutions-- cities need rules, laws, schools & armies

Record Keeping-- food supplies and workers need to be kept track of -- writing was invented for this reason

Improved Technology-- new problems require new solutions-- new technologies are created

Sumerian City-StatesCity-State:

What did these cities look like?

Religion in Sumer-- polytheistic:

-- gods of sky, wind, hills, and fresh water-- priests tried to please the gods

The Ziggurat-- worship center & city hall-- priests lived here & managed irrigation systems-- people came to pay priests for their service

Priests Become LeadersWhy did priests emerge as leaders in Sumer?

New Leaders Emerge-- as wealth grew, city-states were attacked-- powerful men were asked to protect the city-- took over the jobs of the priests-- became kings-- by 2375 BC Sumer ruled by one king

What was life like in Sumer?

Kings & Pries

tsLandowners,

Government Officials, Rich Merchants

Farmers &

ArtisansSlaves

Scientific Discoveries How did Sumerians use the plow and wheel?

Scientific DiscoveriesWhat was Math used for?

-- System based on 60

Scientific DiscoveriesPictographs:

Cuneiform:

-- complex; 600 different symbols-- those who could read were called scribes

Empires of the Fertile Crescent

• Akkadian Empire Assyrian Empire

• Babylonian Empire Persian Empire

Akkadian Empire-- 2371 BC: Sargon of Akkad builds first empireWhat is an empire?

What land did Sargon rule?

Babylonian Empire-- By 2000 BC Babylon became the center of power-- 1792-1750 BC: Hammurabi rules-- known for his code of law

Assyrian EmpireHow were the Assyrians able to build an empire?

What caused the Assyrian Empire to crumble?

ChaldeansWhy are the Chaldeans known as the “New Babylonians?”

Nebuchadnezzar II

Persians in Southwest Asia• Nomads from Central Asia• Settle in Media (modern-day Iran) by 1000 BC

Cyrus the Great• Persian king• Overthrew the Medians• Sought a regional empire• Conquered Anatolia

(modern-day Turkey)• Immense empire by 539

BC

What kind of leader was Cyrus?

Darius• Expanded empire to from Greece to India• Divided empire into 20 provinces with local

governmentsHow does Darius unite the empire?• Built a Royal Road to unite the empire• Code of law• Minted coins