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Sumerians and Babylonians. WG1.3. The Sumerians. The first great Mesopotamian civilization was the Sumerian , which developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. (3000-1600 B.C). Political. Power of the Priests Sumer’s earliest governments were controlled by temple priests
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The Sumerians • The first great Mesopotamian civilization was the Sumerian, which developed between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. (3000-1600 B.C)
Political Power of the Priests • Sumer’s earliest governments were controlled by temple priests • Farmers believed they needed blessings for success of their crops • Priests were the middle man for the Gods and priests demanded portion of farmer crops as tax
Political • Later followed Hereditary rulers: when the power is passed down to familymembers Sargon
Political • The Sumerians developed city-state, which were independent cities that only united when there was a common threat.
Achievements: • Through these city-states the Sumerians were able to tackle the problem of the large scale flooding from the Euphrates and Tigris rivers. • They used math and science skills to build a system of dikes and reservoirs to control the floods. • Cities were built with clay bricks not wood (no forests) and high walls
Religion • Polytheistic: Belief in Many Gods (3,000!!!) • Gods could be angered at any moment and to keep them happy Sumerians: • Built impressive ziggurats or temples to sacrifice food, wine and animals • Souls of the dead wandered in the land of no return
Sumerian Society Kings and Priests Wealthy merchants Ordinary Sumerian people Slaves
Women • Could hold property • Join lower ranks of priesthood • There were few women scribes • Scholars think that girls were not allowed to attend schools
Intellectual Epic of Gilgamesh • Myths and legends recorded in this long poem • One of the earliest works of literature in the world
Gilgamesh was a real man, ruling in the city-state of Uruk. The Epic is a tale about his adventures with his half-brother Ekindu. He searches for answers from the gods about the meaning of life and death. Gilgamesh
Writing: • Sumerians developed the world’s first writing system using: • Pictograms were simple pictures that were limited in their uses. • Cuneiform used symbols to symbolize spoken sounds, which was developed to keep track of their complicated governments • They used a stylus (a writing tool) made from sharpened reed and clay tablets that were baked in a kiln or dried in the sun
The Fertile Crescent • Arc of land between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia
One land…Two Rivers • Mesopotamia means = “land between the rivers” • Tigris River and Euphrates River • Both rivers flooded once a year and left thick bed of silt. • Silt: rich, new soil farmers could plant and harvest enormous quantities of wheat and barley
The Babylonians • The Babylonians conquered the Sumerians around 1800 B. C. and adopted much of the Sumerian culture.
Political: • The Babylonians were ruled by hereditary rulers • The most famous is King Hammurabi, who developed one of the first code of laws called The Code of Hammurabi.
Law Codes • This was a collection of 283 laws. • The code established different legal classes and specified the rights of his subjects. • The code included legal ideas of the time, like: • Punishments based on social classes • Retribution- “an eye for an eye”
Law Codes • important rights extended to women • women were not equal to men in the eye of the law but they were granted fundamental rights • this was very unusual for the time • The most advanced feature was that the laws were clearly stated and also how the laws were to be applied
Social: • Babylonians were divided into classes by birth • Rulers, high priests, middle class, farmers and slaves • Hammurabi’s code strongly protected the nobles, even at the expense of all others
shared: Religion: • Both the Sumerians and the Babylonians religion was polytheistic, meaning having many gods • These gods: • kept the cycle of seasons going • maintained the world’s existence • Because of this priests were honored and religious leaders were very important political leaders.
III. Characteristics shared between the Sumerians and Babylonians: Ziggurats: • A stepped pyramid, with flat stacked terraces made with clay bricks • They had ramps leading to the top either straight up the side or by going around the entire structure • These structures were dedicated to the gods or goddesses to watch over the cities • There are two famous ruins: • Ur • Khorsabad
