Early Civilizations of Mesopotamia

By Jose RosarioPage 8

Mesopotamia

Agriculture Revolution

A. The City of Samaria

1. Sumerians built the Mesopotamia’s cities in the southern part of the valley.

2. We called the people who moved in the valley Sumerians.

3. The cities of Akkad & Babylon were founded later by people who moved to the valley they later were know by the Akkadians & the Babylonians.

4. On the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea Jericho & Ebla were founded by the same time.

Samaria

B. Technology

1. Their houses consisted of mud & clay, while the buildings consisted of bricks of dry mud.

2. They irrigate their land so farming was easy.

3. The temples were boxlike houses made of mud bricks.

4. It was the center of the city life.

C. Their religion ruled the life of the citizen of Samaria.

1. They believed that if the gods were pleased, the people & the city will enjoy good times.

2. The temple was also a work place for craft’s persons, storehouses for grain, & a place for where the written records were kept.

D. The Sumerians had schools, but very few children go to them.

1. They were mostly for children of priest & government officials.

2. The students spent their time in learning how to write, read, mathematics, astronomy, agriculture & religion.

3. They allowed the teachers to use corporal punishment.

4. A king ruled the Sumerians City & in times by priests, & by the military.

•

Babylon

D. Akkad & Babylon

1. As the Samaria Cities began to decline, Akkad, a city to the north rose to power.

2. These people came to the valley from the surrounding deserts.

3. They copied the writing system from the Sumerians, and their religion and law.

E. A king named Sargon the Great (2334 BC - 2279 BC) ruled this city.

1. He was a war leader and was not content to rule only his city.

2. He made war against other cities and brought all the cities of the valley under his rule.

3. Sargon developed the world’s first empire and it lasted for about two hundred years.

F. An Empire is many different lands brought together under one government.

1. The Amorites invaded Mesopotamia around 2,000 BC and built the city of Babylon on the Euphrates River.

2. Their greatest leader was Hammurabi (1792 BC - 1750 BC).

3. He was a warrior that supported the arts in his kingdom.

G. He is remembered for his code of law, which Sargon wrote in 3,500 lines of cuneiform on a black stone.

1. We know this law as the Eye for an Eye Law.

2. The code divided the people in three classes:

a. The nobles, the free commoners, and the slaves.

b. People under this law were not equal.

J. The nobles had more rights and privileges.

• The punishments were cruel,

• They cut off people’s body parts or killed the wrongdoers according to the crime.

• This law was based on the principle that people should be responsible their actions.