FIRST HISTORICAL CIVILIZATIONS: MESOPOTAMIA

Elena García Marín

Four early River Valley Civilizations Mesopotamian Civilization - Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

Egyptian Civilization - Nile River Indian Civilization - Indus River

Ancient China - Huang He (Yellow) River

Sumerian Civilization:Tigris & Euphrates Rivers

City-States in Mesopotamia

Geography of Mesopotamia Mostly dry desert climate in SW Asia (Middle East) Except in region between Tigris and Euphrates rivers A flat plain known as Mesopotamia lies between the two rivers It is called the Fertile Crescent because have a rich soil

SW Asia

(the Middle East)

Fertile

Crescent

City-States in Mesopotamia

Although all the cities shared the same culture

Each city had its own government, rulers, warriors, it’s own patron god, and functioned like an independent country

Mesopotamian cities were Ur, Uruk, Kish, Lagesh

At center of each city was the temple: a ziggurat (a massive, tiered, pyramid-shaped structure).

The Ziggurat at Ur was first excavated by British archaeologist

Woolley in 1923.

Mesopotamian religion

Mesopotamian warrior-god, gold figurine. (2.400-2.500 B.C.)

They believed in many gods - polytheism

Marduk, the Dragon god

Craftsmen and Peasants

Slaves

Scribes

Priests

King and nobility Mesopotamian Society

First Empire in Mesopotamia

3000 – 2000 B.C. the City-States began to war with each other.

Sargon of Akkad (2350 B.C.) He took control of the region, creating world’s first empire -

when several peoples, nations, or previously independent states are placed under the control of one ruler.

The Akkadian Empire lasted about 200 years, 2350–2150 B.C.

Babylonian Empire

They overtook Sumerians around 2000 B.C.

And they built capital, Babylon, on Euphrates river

The most famous king of Babylonian Empire was Hammurabi [1792-1750 B.C.]

Famous Code of Law “the punishment

fits the crime” and “eye for an eye”

He took all the laws of the region’s city-states and unified them into one code. This helped unify the region.

One of the first writing systems - Cuneiform

Mesopotamian culture

The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest written story on Earth. It is about the adventures of the cruel King Gilgamesh of Uruk.

It contains a “flood story” that predates the Hebrew Old Testament story of Noah by at least 2000 years. It was written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform script.

Mesopotamian culture