Mesopotamia and Ancient EgyptChapter 10.1

Mesopotamia Mesopotamia = “between the rivers” Located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers Est. roughly around 4500 B.C.

City States Each city was considered to be an

independent country or nation Earliest city-states arose in an area

called Sumer (est. 4000 B.C.)

Trivia question: What person from the Bible was from the city of UR?

Religion and Government At the center of each city was a ziggurat

Their religion was based on Polytheism Religious leaders were in charge of the

government (Theocracy)

Sumerians Invented the wheel and sailboat First people to keep records and write down laws Writing system was called Cuneiform

(3500B.C) Believed to have written the first story, Epic of

Gilgamesh (2000 B.C.)

Akkad and Babylon Sumer was taken over around 2300 by

the Akkad kingdom led by King Sargon Sargon was the first to create an

empire

Akkadian empire was then taken over by Babylon around 1800BC

Akkad and Babylon One of Babylon’s greatest kings was

Hammurabi Hammurabi put together one set of laws

for the entire empire called Hammurabi’s Code

Phoenicians

Lived in current day Lebanon (1200B.C.) Most important traders of their day

Helped to spread ideas and cultures around the known world

They are known for their alphabet which led to the Greek, Hebrew, and Latin alphabet

Ancient EgyptChapter 10.1

Egypt Egyptian Civilization developed along

the Nile River

Originally was split up into 2 kingdoms (Upper Egypt and Lower Egypt)

Narmer, King of Upper Egypt, Conquered Lower Egypt and united the 2 Kingdoms

Government

Egypt’s government was a theocracy, with the Pharaoh being the leader Pharaoh was considered a god and was the center of Egyptian Life

Religion Egyptians believed in many gods

Re= god of the sun Hapi= god of the Nile Osiris= god of the harvest

Religion Egyptians believed in the afterlife, and

that the soul could not live without the body

Egyptians embalmed and mummified those who could afford it

Religion The poor were buried in caves or in the

sand

The largest tombs belonged to Pharaoh

Great Pyramid of Khufu

Egyptians Form of writing = hieroglyphics

Developed math based system on the #10

Developed geometry

First to use splints and bandages for wounds

Created clocks