The Emergence of a Civilization

1. The Emergence of a Civilization

2. The image above is the code of Hammurabi. • The code of Hammurabi is an ancient set of laws. • Historians believe that the Code was created roughly 2000 BC. • The code was created in Babylon by the sixth Babylonian king Hammurabi. • The stone was discovered in 1901. • The Code contains civil laws, economic laws, and consequences for broken laws.

3. How was Writing Invented? • After the emergence of sedentarization writing began to develop. • People needed to keep track of their possessions as well as their surplus. • Furthermore, people needed to have evidence of trade, first “bills” • People also began to document events, first written history began during this time.

4. Irrigation • The Fertile Crescent had an abundance of fertile land due to the flooding of several rivers. • However, these rivers did not overflow at the same time every year. • People had to take precautions to protect their fields. • Furthermore, precipitation was irregular and very light.

5. People began to create irrigation canals. • These canals allowed farmers to water theirfields event during times of drought. • This ensured a constant abundance of food. • People also began building dikes. • These dikes protected fields from overflowing rivers. • Reservoirs were created to store water encase of severe drought.

6. First Civilizations • Agriculture allowed for more people in a society to be fed. • This allowed for more people to develop trades. • Over time these villages grow and become cities. • Chiefs turn into Kings or Emperors, which pass laws that their people must follow. • Writing allowed these laws to be documented

7. Civilizations are very much like humans. • They are born, they develop and decline and eventually die. • The death of a civilization usually occurs when their way of life is significantly disrupted. • This could be due to wars, death of a king, famines, disease, or natural phenomena. • Ex: Ancient Rome

8. Labour and Trade • Writing was a new way of communicating. • It was also a perfect way to keep track of surplus and trading. • It was the surpluses produced by farmers that led to the development of craftsmen and trade. • In Mesopotamia the population split in to more diverse groups .

9. Each of these new groups had a specific role and provided a specific service. • Peasants: farmed the land, raised livestock, provided manual labour. This group made up most of the population. • Craftspeople: made tools, bricks, weapons, pots, etc. They also provided labour to upkeep public buildings. • Merchants: were responsible for trading. They imported products different areas. • Soldiers: protected the territory and routes used by merchants.

10. Merchants would travel very long distances to trade their goods. • Trading journeys could last months or even years. • These trade routes were often very dangerous. Soldiers were needed to protect the caravans. • Merchants used the wheel to help carry products over long distances. • It was this invention that started the first shipping businesses.

11. For a long time historians believed that the wheel was invented in Mesopotamia around 3000 BC. • New evidence suggests that the first wheel was used in Caucasus (modern Russia) around 3650 BC.

12. Cuneiform and it’s evolution • Cuneiform took almost 1000 years to develop into the written language known to the Mesopotamians. • 3500 BC people began drawing objects and pictograms on clay tablets. • Once the clay had dried the drawings remained, which created the first written documents.

13. Pictograms were to represent animals, crops, or religious figures. • It was harder to represent complex situations. For example: conversations. • As the need to record more complex situations pictograms became simpler. • These symbols eventually began representing sounds. • Eventually symbols did not look like the original drawing. They were a system of lines and wedges.

14. Cuneiform comes from the Latin word, which mean s nails or corner. • This written language had over 700 different symbols. • It is read from left to right and in rows. • It was used account for surplus, trade, laws and religious traditions. • Not everyone in ancient Mesopotamia could read or write this was seen as an honour and reserved for scribes. • Scribes had to study from when they were very young.

15. Very wealthy farmers and merchants employed their own scribes. • Scribes used a sharpened reed or piece of bamboo called a “calamus” • This allowed scribes to make the lines and wedges.

16. Mesopotamian Society • Mesopotamian society was very hierarchical. • Hierarchical: social organization each group in society must submit and obey to a more powerful group. • There were many social groups. • At the head of society was the king. • Every city in Mesopotamia had its own organization, its own king and its own laws.

17. Politics in Mesopotamia • There were roughly ten major cities in Mesopotamia. • Each of these cities were independent from one another, but all shared the same religion. • All cities were built near farms and were protected by a large stone wall. • There were two parts to every city the higher part and the lower part.

18. The part were broken up into the higher city and the lower city. • The lower city contained houses, shops, and markets. • The higher city included the royal palace, royal warehouses, and the Ziggurat. • The Ziggurat was a temple and considered very sacred land . Very few people were allowed to set foot within its walls. • The higher city was also protected by another wall. • See page 40 in your workbooks.

19. In Mesopotamia the closer you lived to the higher city the higher your social position. • Therefore if you worked for the king you lived closer to the higher city. King Elite Free People Slaves

20. Mesopotamian: Law and Justice • Mesopotamian kings made laws. • Once the laws were made it was up to the king to enforce these laws. • The King enforced these laws through his military. • Whoever was caught breaking the kings laws were punished. • One example was the code of Hammurabi • Different cities had different laws.

21. Mesopotamian Religion • Mesopotamian religion is the oldest known religion. • The Mesopotamians worshiped many gods. • Different Gods had different powers and were worshiped for different reasons. • Religious leaders (high priests) maintained the temples. • Mesopotamian temples were called ziggurats • Priests organized feasts and other festivals.