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Mesopotamia: “The Cradle of Civilization”

Mesopotamia: “The Cradle of Civilization”. Earliest Civilization: the Fertile Crescent. earliest of all civilizations permanent settlements Mesopotamia Greek for “between the rivers” Tigris River and Euphrates River present day Iraq Lasted for approximately 3000 years

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Mesopotamia: “The Cradle of Civilization”

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  1. Mesopotamia: “The Cradle of Civilization”

  2. Earliest Civilization: the Fertile Crescent • earliest of all civilizations • permanent settlements • Mesopotamia Greek for “between the rivers” • Tigris River and Euphrates River • present day Iraq • Lasted for approximately 3000 years • Its peoples were the first to

  3. Geographic Conditions • Little rainfall • Hot and dry climate • Wind and rain storms • muddy river valleys in winter • catastrophic flooding in spring • Arid soil containing little minerals • No stone or timber resources

  4. Then why live in Mesopotamia? NATURAL LEVEES: embankments produced by build-up of sediment over thousands of years of flooding

  5. Natural Levee • create a high and safe flood plain • make irrigation and canal construction easy • provide protection • the surrounding swamps were full of fish & waterfowl • reeds provided food for sheep / goats • reeds also were used as building resources

  6. Political structure - early form of democracy Frequent wars led to the emergence of warriors as leaders Eventually rise of monarchy Followed leadership of god of the city interpreted by a council of leading citizens or priests or leader of the city - king Government

  7. Ruins of Babylon in present day Baghdad SumeriansSouthern Mesopotamia 3500-2000 BCE • Irrigated fields and produced 3 main crops • barley, dates and sesame seeds • built canals, dikes, dams and drainage systems • developed cuneiform writing • invented the wheel • Abundance of food = increase of population • First city of the world • Developed a trade system with bartering • mainly barley but also wool and cloth for stone, metals, timber, copper, pearls and ivory • Individuals could only rent land from priests • controlled land on behalf of gods • most of profits of trade went to temple • The Sumerians were not successful in uniting lower Mesopotamia Sumerian city of Lagash

  8. AkkadiansAkkad- northern Mesopotamia 2340 – 2180 BCE • Leader Sargon the Great • unified lower Mesopotamia after conquering Sumerians in 2331 BCE • Established capital at Akkad • Spread Mesopotamian culture • Akkadians conquered by invading barbarians by 2200 BCE Bronze head of Sargon

  9. Babylonians1830-1500 BCE KING HAMMURABI • Conquered Akkad and Assyria • Built • walls to protect the city • canals and dikes to improve crops • Economy based on agriculture and wool • Individuals could own land • Artisans and merchants could keep most profits and even formed guilds • Grain used as the medium of exchange • emergence of currency: • shekel = 180 grains of barley; • mina = 60 shekels • Mina was eventually represented by metals - one of first uses of money • still based on grain • Hammurabi’s Legacy • law code • Babylonians reunited Mesopotamia in 1830 BCE • central location dominated trade and secured control • YET AGAIN, Mesopotamia was not unified for long…

  10. Code of Hammurabi1800 BCE • To enforce his rule, Hammurabi collected all the laws of Babylon in a code that would apply everywhere • First and most extensive law code from the ancient world • Code of 282 laws inscribed on a stone pillar placed in the public hall for all to see • Set of divinely inspired laws; as well as societal laws • Punishments were designed to fit the crimes as people must be responsible for own actions • Origin of “eye for an eye…” • If a son struck his father, son’s hand would be cut off • Consequences for crimes depended on rank in society • Poor = hand off, nobles = pay a fine Hammurabi receiving law code from sun god Shamash

  11. Enlil – supreme god of air Religion • Polytheistic • over 3600 gods and demigods • Kingship created by gods • king’s power was divinely ordained • Gods lived on the distant mountaintops • Each city was ruled by a different god • Kings and priests acted as interpreters • they told the people what the god wanted them to do • by examining the liver or lungs of a slain sheep Enki, god of water, life, mediation Ishtar, goddess of fertility, war, sex Shamash sun god and giver of law

  12. Ziggurats • Temples dedicated to the god of the city • Made of layers of mud bricks in the shape of a pyramid • On platforms due to constant flooding • Temple on top god’s home • beautifully decorated • a room for offerings of food and goods • Temples evolved to ziggurats • a stack of 1-7 platforms decreasing in size from bottom to top • Famous ziggurat was Tower of Babel • over 100m above ground and 91m base Ziggurat of Ur -2000BCE

  13. Development Of WRITING

  14. Development of Writing • Click here to see the development of writingfrom pictograms to cuneiform • Pictograms: picture to show meaning • Ideograms: signs to represent words / ideas • Phonetics: signs to represent sounds *Phonetics are the basis of most writing systems

  15. Writing - 3500 BCE • Allowed • transmission of knowledge • the codification of laws • records to facilitate trade/farming • CUNEIFORM meaning “wedge shaped” • Wet clay tablets with the point of a reed • dried in the sun to make a tablet • Scribes only could read and write • served as priests • record keepers • accountants • Spread to Persia and Egypt • vehicle for the growth and spread and exchange of ideas among cultures

  16. How to do Cuniform

  17. Gilgamesh - The First Epic Poem • Over 4000 thousand years old, written on 12 clay tablets • Epic battle between Enkidu -wild man, good heart and Gilgamesh – controlling king • The two became friends and had adventures • Made the gods angry so they killed Enkidu – Gilgamesh wanders the underworld in grief • Why important? • Earliest known author – Sin-leqi-unninni • Mentions great flood similar to story of Noah’s Ark

  18. Royal Tombs of Ur • Excavated from 1922 to 1934 • Extravagant jewelry of gold, cups of gold and silver, bowls of alabaster, and extraordinary objects of art and culture Jewellery from Royal Tombs of Ur 3000 BC • Great Death Pit • mass grave containing the bodies of 6 guards and 68 servants • drank poison to accompany the kings and queens in the afterlife

  19. Mathematics and Science • Mesopotamia, specifically Babylon used a mathematical system based on sixty • Some parts of the ‘base-sixty’ system still remain today • 360 degrees in a circle • 60 seconds in a minute • 60 minutes in 1 hour • Calendar based on cycles of the moon • number of days between the appearance of two new moons was set as a month • 12 cycles made up a year

  20. Codified laws Ziggurats – places of worship Cuneiform writing Irrigation Metal working, tools Trade networks Transportation – the wheel Mathematics and calendar Prosperous living based on large scale agriculture Legacies of Mesopotamia

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