Directions: Go through this Directions: Go through this slide show and use the slide show and use the information to fill in the information to fill in the

boxes on your Chart.boxes on your Chart.

Use each link. Some will be helpful to your chart and some will supplement

that information.

Middle Middle Eastern-Eastern-

Southwest Southwest AsiaAsia

CivilizationCivilizationss

Ancient Civilizations of Ancient Civilizations of Mesopotamia and the Mesopotamia and the

Fertile CrescentFertile Crescent

The Fertile

The Fertile

CrescentCrescent

GeographyGeography• Fertile Crescent – Is an area in the Middle East

that is shaped like a crescent moon and contains fertile soil that includes Mesopotamia to the Nile River Valley.

Geography:Geography:• Mesopotamia: The “Land Between Two Rivers”

Lies in the Middle East between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

MesopotamiaMesopotamia

Current Area of Mesopotamia

BabylonBabylon

SUMERSUMER

AssyriaAssyria

Ancient Civilizations that Occupied Ancient Civilizations that Occupied

the Mesopotamia in the Middle East:the Mesopotamia in the Middle East:

• Sumerians• Babylonians• Phoenicians• Hebrews

Ancient SumerAncient Sumer• Sumer is considered the “Cradle of Civilization”• Hunter-Gatherers settled into the First civilizations• First settled in the Fertile land in Lower Mesopotamia,

between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. oSevere Flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates

• floods bring in silt - makes for Fertile farmland

• irrigation systems with Canals and Dams• Geography allows for a food Surplus

Economic PatternEconomic Pattern• Traded with people of Nile river valley and

Indus river valley

SumerSumerGeographyGeography

• Location:Location:o Around the southern

portions of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

o Small, about the size of the state of Massachusetts.

o Located on a flat open plain with little to no natural barriers

• Dates:o 3500 to 2000 BCE3500 to 2000 BCE

Ancient SumerAncient Sumer• Sumerians formed their civilization around 3500

B.C. and fell to foreign invaders 1500 years later (around 2000 BC)

• The Sumerian Civilization was a collection of city-states that shared a common culture, language and religion

• What is a city-state?

City-StateCity-State – consists of the city itself and – consists of the city itself and

the land surrounding itthe land surrounding it• Many city-states in ancient Sumer:• City-states were originally run by a council but most

would later be run by a king or monarch.• A monarchy is when one person has total control of the

government and passes the rule down to their heir.o AKA. Hereditary Rule (Father to son or Mother to child)

• Monarchies are sometimes more efficient ways to govern (means to rule).

• The Role of the Kingo Military Rulero Religious Leader

• godo Political and Government Leader

Religion The Ancient Sumerians built huge temples called The Ancient Sumerians built huge temples called ZigguratsZiggurats to honor their gods and goddess. to honor their gods and goddess.

The Sumerians practiced a polytheistic religion, meaning that they worshipped many gods. Their gods were often related to forces in nature or human activities. Each city-state was typically dedicated to one particular god or deity. The Sumerians payed tribute to all Sumerian gods but focused primarily on the one from their city-state.

GendersGendersMen enjoyed much more legal rights than Women did. Men could sell their wives or children into slavery to overcome a debt

Click Here http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/ziggurats/explore/exp_set.html

to explore the Great Ziggurat at Ur.

Social Pattern

Ancient SumerAncient SumerSocial ClassSocial Class

Slaves – built the great Ziggurats and irrigation projects

• Try to build your own Zuggurat by managing your slaveso Click Here to build a

Ziggurat at Ur (a great city)

Scribes – the people of ancient Sumer that could write. They trained in schools and wrote in Cuneiform, which uses pictures to represent words.

Farmers- Grow the food

• ““Important” peopleImportant” people:

1.Kings2.Nobles/Priests3.Merchants4.Artisans5.Scribes6.Farmers

7.Slaves

SumerSumer• Cuneiform

owrote by pressing a tool into a clay tablet.

oMost symbols were some type of wedge.

o developed from Sumerian PictogramsPictograms:

o image meant words• which are some of

the earliest known forms of writing

TechnologyTechnologySumerSumer

• Other Contributionso Irrigation systems

• Ditches and canals that are built to traffic water to crops.

o may have been the first to invent and use the wheelwheel.

o Potters wheelo invented the arch. It is one of

the strongest forms in building.o developed an early form a clock

(we use the same time system)o Built ZigguratsBuilt Ziggurats

• Large temples dedicated to a god• A form of step pyramid: the sides

are not straight they are tiered.

• At this point you should have everything filled in in your chart for the Sumerian Civilization.

• If you do not, go back over the slide show to find what you missed. (use your right-click to move back)

Location of Babylon Location of Babylon • Began in Lower Mesopotamia:

BabyloniaBabylonia• Location:

o Starting in the middle of Mesopotamia, eventually spreading north and south to control the majority of the region.

• Dates: o 1792 to

approximately 1600 BCE

Expanded to include most of the Middle Expanded to include most of the Middle

East in a great East in a great empireempire::

controlled a large territory of many city-controlled a large territory of many city-

states.states.

Ancient BabyloniansAncient Babylonians• Empire at its height from 1800-1600 BC• Located in the middle region of Mesopotamia• Led by its most famous ruler

• HammurabiHammurabi:

Ancient BabyloniansAncient Babylonians• Large Empire that needed to be

governed fairly and consistently• Existed from 1800-1600 B.C.

• Created the very specific, very strict written code of laws.oHammurabi’s Code

BabylonBabylon• Hammurabi

o Became a powerful ruler in the city of Babylon around 1792 B.C.E..

o Conquered most of the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley, and built on the Sumerian civilization that had begun there.

o Great military and political leader.• He created the Code

of Hammurabi,• The 1st written set of

LAWS

BabylonBabylon• Code of Hammurabi

o Collection of laws that dealt with all aspects of life.

o Punishment was harsh, as the code was based on the idea of “an eye “an eye for and eye”for and eye”

o Punishment was also given according to social class.

• Ex: If a rich man destroyed the eye of a poor man, he would have to pay a fine… and get to keep his eye

Ancient BabyloniansAncient Babylonians• Hammurabi’s Code survives to this day:

At this point, you should have At this point, you should have

everything you need to know everything you need to know

about the Babylonians. If not, about the Babylonians. If not,

go back through and find the go back through and find the

correct answers. correct answers.

LYDIALYDIA

LydiaLydia

LydiaLydia• first civilization to establish a system of first civilization to establish a system of

coined moneycoined money.o Began to use c. 600 BCEo Before coined money merchants had to barter

• Barter: the exchange of one good or Barter: the exchange of one good or service for another.service for another.

LydiaLydia• Through trade the concept of a money Through trade the concept of a money

economy was spread to other civilizationseconomy was spread to other civilizationso Eventually adopted by the Greeks and Persian, and then

slowly continued to be picked up by civilizations across the world

At this point, you should have At this point, you should have

everything you need to know everything you need to know

about the Lydian. If not, go about the Lydian. If not, go

back through and find the back through and find the

correct answers. correct answers.

The PhoeniciansThe Phoenicians

Phoenicians: LocationPhoenicians: Location• The Phoenicians lived on a piece of land along the

Western bank of the Mediterranean Sea.

• They did not have good farmland, but they did have access to the sea. They became great traders, sailing around the Mediterranean to trade for food and goods.

Phoenicia Phoenicia • Location:

o Long the eastern coast of the Mediterranean sea

o present day Israel, Lebanon (mainly), and Syria

• smaller than other Fertile Crescent civilizations, but still managed to become an economic force in the region

• Dates:o Approximately 1500 to 300BCE

PhoeniciaPhoenicia

• bordered by the Lebanon Mountains to the easto made traveling eastward difficulto This forced the focus of movement to the west,

The Mediterranean Seao became the greatest traders in the ancient world.

• traded all over the Mediterranean Sea and Basin (notice the sailed close to the coast line)

PhoeniciaPhoenicia

• Known for producing:o blown glass o purple dye (made from a shellfish.)o Lumber (their most important natural resource)

• Many ancient peoples used this lumber for building houses and boats (ships)

Phoenicians: Phoenicians: AccomplishmentsAccomplishments

• The Phoenicians did not govern a large territory like the Babylonians, instead they set up small city-states around the Mediterranean as bases for their trade routes.

• What is a city-state?• The Phoenicians became great explorers,

spreading Babylonian and Sumerian culture all around Europe and North Africa.

Phoenicians: Phoenicians: Important PeopleImportant People

• Each Phoenician city-state was its own country and had its own king. As a result, history does not focus on any one king or leader from this loose union of cities.

• We do not need to know any important people from the Phoenicians, but we do need to know what they created.

Phoenician Trade Phoenician Trade Routes Routes

Phoenicia

PhoeniciaPhoeniciaProducts used for trade:

- metal work- purple textiles- glass- carved ivory (imported from Africa)- cedar logs (lumber)

Phoenicians: Contributions to Phoenicians: Contributions to

the worldthe world• In order to keep records on all that they

traded around the Mediterranean Sea, the Phoenicians developed the world’s first alphabet.

• In the Phoenician writing system, unlike the Cuneiform of Sumer, symbols, or letters, represented sounds instead of words.

• The alphabet we use is based on the Phoenician alphabet!

LanguageLanguage• Pictograms

o Are the first written symbols

• In the ancient civilization of Sumer Cuneiform developed

• PhoeniciansPhoenicians developed the Alphabet.

Got everything about the Got everything about the

Phoenicians?Phoenicians?

The HebrewsThe Hebrews

A group of people founded by Abraham

Location:Location:In the southern part of the Fertile

Crescent lies a land called Canaan, where many groups

lived. One group was the Hebrews

LocationLocation• Geographic problems (famine and drought) forced the Hebrews to Egypt.

• They were enslaved by the Egyptians and then led out from slavery by Moses in what was called the Exodus.

Accomplishments:Accomplishments:• Religion: The Hebrews developed the first religion

that worshipped one god, or was Monotheistic. It was called “Judaism”

• Law Code: The Ten Commandmentso According to the Bible, Moses received this list of ten rules from their

one God.

• King David eventually established a kingdom in Canaan called Israel.

STOPSTOP• Did you get all three important people from the

Hebrews?• Did you click on all of the links and answer the

extra credit assignments?

• The last slide has a link that will help you with the last question on your chart.

Mesopotamia Basic Mesopotamia Basic Review!Review!

• Is the land between 2 riverso The TIGRIS and the EUPHRATES

• Achievements of Civilizations:o The Lydians developed money (silver coins)o Phoenicians Developed the Alphabeto Jews developed Monotheistic religiono Babylonians developed Law codeso Sumerians invented the wheel