Ancient Civilization of Mesopotamia

SumerThe First Civilization

4500-4000 B.C.E.

Essential Standard• 6.H.2- Understand the political, economic and/or social significance of

historical events, issues, individuals and cultural groups.

• 6.G.1- Understand geographic factors that influenced the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations, societies and regions (i.e. Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Americas) over time.

• 6.G.2- Apply the tools of a geographer to understand the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations, societies and regions.

• 6.C.1- Explain how the behaviors and practices of individuals and groups influenced societies, civilizations and regions.

Clarifying Objective• 6.H.2.3- Explain how innovation and/or technology transformed

civilizations, societies and regions over time (e.g., agricultural technology, weaponry, transportation and communication).

• 6.G.1.1- Explain how the physical features and human characteristics of a place influenced the development of civilizations, societies and regions (e.g., location near rivers and natural barriers, trading practices and spread of culture).

• 6.G.1.4- Explain how and why civilizations, societies and regions have used, modified and adapted to their environments (e.g., invention of tools, domestication of plants and animals, farming techniques and creation of dwellings).

Clarifying Objective

• 6.G.2.1- Use maps, charts, graphs, geographic data and available technology tools to draw conclusions about the emergence, expansion and decline of civilizations, societies and regions.

• 6.C.1.1- Analyze how cultural expressions reflected the values of civilizations, societies and regions (e.g., oral traditions, art, dance, music, literature, and architecture).

Essential Question

Fertile Crescent/Cradle of Civilization

• The first civilizations were founded in a region called the Fertile Crescent

• Civilizations had to select an area that had a water supply for people & crops

• The Fertile Crescent got its name because the region is shaped like a crescent moon

• The Fertile Crescent is located between the Red Sea, Mediterranean Sea & Persian Gulf

Fertile Crescent/Cradle of Civilization

• The Fertile Crescent provided a water supply & fertile land on which to grow wheat (remember people didn’t know about corn/maize yet)

• The Fertile Crescent was also called the Cradle of Civilization because when the idea of civilizations was just a “baby” all civilizations were cared for by the Fertile Crescent

Tigris & Euphrates Rivers• The key to the Fertile

Crescent were the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

• These were the two rivers around which the first civilizations were formed

• These two rivers created the fertile top silt that made the soil so fertile & able to grow crops

Sumer

• Along the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers in modern day Iraq the first Civilization of Sumer was born

• The people of Sumer were called Sumerians

People of the Arts• Although the Sumerians did

have an army Sumerians were know as people of the arts

• Their civilization was based on the arts & then trading what they had made

• But this great civilization could never have been built without two great Sumerian Inventions/innovations

People of the Arts• Sumerians were the first

to construct mosaics which are hundreds of small objects that an artist will combine to create a picture

• They were also the first to decorate the temples they built called Ziggurats

Wheel• The Sumerian people invented

the first wheel that’s right the first wheel was invented by the Sumerians

• They used this wheel for pottery. It was a pottery wheel

• It was later used to create other Sumerian inventions like the cart, wagon & chariot

The Wheel

• The wheel made pottery possible which was the Sumerians way of life

• The wheel also made it easier to haul things around and transport things & people from one place to another

Cuneiform • The other great invention of the

Sumerians was the Cuneiform language

• Sumerians used pictures & symbols to represent things

• Up until this point cavemen had painted pictures but they always described a story

• The Sumerians let each picture represent one universal thing (just like we do today)

Cuneiform• In the Cuneiform language

everyone’s picture of wheat looked the same

• Everyone’s picture of garden looked the same

• Cuneiform standardized the pictures so everyone could understand what they meant

• Cuneiform was first used to keep records of who had paid their taxes & who had not

Pottery & Art

• These two great inventions allowed the Sumerians to build the first civilization on the strength of pottery & art

• The Sumerians were artsy people and the region they lived in produced a lot of clay

Trading Pots & Art• They turned that clay into

pots & other art which they used and traded with other settlements

• (Scarcity of Resources) The Sumerians created a scarce resource (pot) that other people wanted and were willing to give something of theirs up for

Trading Pots & Art

• The Sumerians used the pots & art they made to acquire many things from other settlements

• The gardens they created from the soils of the fertile Crescent helped make them a large society

The Sumerians get Large• People of other tribes had

heard about their pottery & great crops

• They would ask the Sumerians if they could join their civilization

• Sumerians rulers would let other settlements join as long as they followed certain customs & traditions of the Sumerians (culture)

The Sumerians get Large

• Pretty soon the Sumerian civilization numbered more than 50,000 people which was the first time a settlement had turned to a civilization

Sumerian Religion• Because the Sumerians

were from so many different areas in the Fertile Crescent many Sumerians kept their own religious traditions

• The Sumerians were polytheistic meaning they believed in more than one god

Sumerian gods• An was the fulltime god &

the equivalent to heaven

• Sin was the moon god

• Enki was the god of benevolence, good of fresh water, friend to humans

• Enlil was the ghost god

Sumerian gods

• Inanna was the god of the eastern & western sky

• Utu was the sun god and the god of the northern & southern sky

Ziggurats• The Sumerian temples were

called Ziggurats

• These Ziggurats had a forecourt with a pool for purification purposes

• The temple its self had a long nave with aisles on each side

• Beyond the aisles were rooms for the priests

Agriculture & Hunting

• Sumerians were an Agriculture society

• They used irrigation methods to for a high crop yield

• They relied heavily on the rich soil provided Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

Agriculture & Hunting• In March immediately after the

flood season farmers would dig irrigation canals & flood their fields

• They were looking for the fertile & nutrient rich silt from the Tigris & Euphrates to cover their fields

• Next farmers would drain their fields of the water & have oxen stomp the field to kill the weeds

Agriculture & Hunting

• They would then drag their fields with pickaxes in rows

• Then they would let their fields get really dry & hoe them with a mattock

• Then they would plant their seeds

The Sumerian Decline• The decline or die off of the

Sumerian Civilization was linked to Agriculture as well

• Overtime the salt levels began to rise and the Sumerians who had been growing wheat had to change to growing barley

• Barley grew much better than wheat when the water was salty

The Sumerian Decline• The Sumerians however

were not accustomed to growing barley & didn’t know how to do it

• They eventually were not able to grow enough barely to support the amount of people in their civilization & began to starve

The Sumerian Decline

• Sumerian enemies including the rising Babylonians saw this & attacked them

• The Babylonians defeated the Sumerians subsequently taking them over in 1700 B.C.E.

Important Points• 6.H.2.3- (Communication) Sumerians

developed the first language called Cuneiform. This helped them communicate with each other. Now the pictures were standardized & meant something. Everyone drew the pictures the exact same way & each picture meant something different

• 6.H.2.3- (Agricultural Technology) Sumerians invented the first wheel. This made it possible to haul various items behind oxen. For the first time people didn’t have to carry everything they could let animals pull it behind them

• 6.G.1.1- (Location near Water) The Sumerians Civilization developed between the Tigris & Euphrates Rivers. This led to them being an Agriculture Society

• 6.G.1.4- (Farming Techniques) Sumerians used Irrigation canals to ensure the water from the Tigris & Euphrates got to their crops

• 6.C.1.1- (Art) Sumerians were an Art Society as much as they were an agricultural society. They created pottery & mosaics to trade for scarce resources that they didn’t have