Mesopotamia and Ancient Eygpt

Chapter 3 section 1

Mesopotamia One of the first civilizations grew in the fertile

crescent of land between Tigris and Euphrates river.

Mesopotamia means “between the rivers”

This area is rich soil for farming. Why they use the term fertile crescent to describe the land.

Mesopotamia era was in the Bronze age.

Bronze age was the age when cultures discovered and used bronze for making weapons, tools, and sculptures.

Mesopotamia GovernmentThere were towns and cities with the population of 40,000Each city was considered a small state, or nation also known as city-state.The city state where a theocracy, meaning the ruler of the land was also the religious leader.

Mesopotamia Farming

Around 4500 b.c. hunter and g athers discovered that the land had rich soil because of the yearly floods.

Over the next 500 years these people dug ditches an irrigation system.

Irrigation systems are design to control the flooding.

The 12 month calendar was developed based off the moon, it was developed to better predict the flood.

Mesopotamia: Sumer

The earliest of these city-states rose in a area called Sumer, near the Persian gulf.

Sumerian created a form of writing known as cuneiform.

It was written with wooden triangular shaped sticks. On moist clay tablets.

Mesopotamian

Akkad

Around 2300 b.c. Akkad conquered Sumer and several other city-states to create the first empire.

Babylon Around 1800 b.c. the

Babylon conquered Akkad.

Hammurabi the great leader of Babylon pushed the empire to the Mediterranean Sea.

Hammurabi created the Hammurabi codes.

Ancient Egypt

• Egypt also grew out of a river valley.

• They settled near the Nile river.

• The river flowed into the Mediterranean Sea.

• The hunter and gathers began to settle in 5000 b.c.

Ancient Egypt

Pharaohs and Gods Pharaohs means “great house”

It refers to his lavish palace.

Pharaohs were both kings and gods in the Egyptians polytheistic religion.

Polytheistic means many gods.

They created tombs for the dead. They created big tombs called pyramids for the pharaohs.

Famous Egyptians gods

Horus- the god of light, Hapi- the river god, Re- the sun god, Osiris- the god of the harvest and eternal life.

The Egyptians believed in a form of life after death.

They would embalmed the body to preserve the body for the next life.

Ancient EgyptEgyptian Writing

Hieroglyphics was the way of writing for the ancient Egyptians.

They would write into stone, or paint on walls and papyrus.

Pharaohs kept hundreds of royal officers known as scribes to record the government business

French found a tablet called Rosetta Stone.

Rosetta Stone had three translation: hieroglyphics, modern Egyptians and Greek.

Scientist translated the greek language to understand hieroglyphics.