The Ancient Near East Section 1

The Ancient Near East Section 1

Preview• Starting Points Map: Fertile Crescent• Main Idea / Reading Focus• Geography Promotes Civilization• Sumer• Map: Ancient Mesopotamia• Sumerian Culture• Empires in Mesopotamia• Quick Facts: Mesopotamian Achievements

Mesopotamia and Sumer

The Ancient Near East Section 1

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Reading Focus• How did geography promote civilization in Mesopotamia?

• What features defined the civilization of Sumer?

• What were Sumer’s main cultural achievements?

• What events led to later empires in Mesopotamia?

Main IdeaThe first known civilization arose in Mesopotamia, and its culture and innovations influenced later civilizations in the region for thousands of years.

Mesopotamia and Sumer

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Geography Promotes Civilization• Fertile area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers became site of

world’s first civilization

• Fertile Crescent well suited for agriculture

• Farming in Mesopotamia posed challenges:

– If water levels too high, crops washed away

– If water levels too low, crops died

• People developed methods to control water:

– Basins, canals, and dikes

– Organization: assigning jobs, allocating resources

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Summarize

What factors influenced the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia?

Answer(s): fertile land; plentiful food; need to organize people for jobs

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• Shaped life in city-states

• Polytheism: worship of many gods

• Priests had high status and were the first rulers

• War chiefs began to rule as kings

• Dynasty: series of rulers from one family

Religion and Government• Large cities developed by 4000

BC

• Structures made of mud bricks

• Ziggurat: pyramid-shaped temple

• Massive wall encircled each city

• Each city and its land formed a city-state, with its own government

The Cities of SumerSumer

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The Ancient Near East Section 1

Writing • Cuneiform: Sumerian writing

• Business accounts and records

• Law, grammar, literature

• Scribes

The Arts

• Arches, ramps, columns

• Sculpture

• Cylinder seals

Math and Sciences

• System based on number 60 • Geometry• May have been the first to use the

wheel• Invented the plow• Basic surgery

Trade and Society

• Traded for wood and metals

• Social hierarchy

• Distinct male/female roles

Sumerian Culture

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Draw Conclusions

Why was the Sumerians’ development of cuneiform a major turning point in history?

Answer(s): After the development of cuneiform, humankind moved from prehistory into the historical age.

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• Each conquering invader adapted aspects of Sumerian culture. • Thus Sumerian civilization continued to influence life in Mesopotamia.

• Sargon I:– Around 2330 BC, created first

permanent army– Conquered Sumer and

northern Mesopotamia– Established world’s first

empire, which lasted about 100 years

• Sumerian culture spread far beyond Tigris and Euphrates valleys

Sargon’s Empire• Hammurabi became king in 1792

BC• United all of Mesopotamia • Able ruler and administrator• Hammurabi’s Code:

– 282 laws covering everything from trade to murder

– Written for all to see– Babylon became

Mesopotamia’s greatest city

The Babylonian Empire

Empires in Mesopotamia

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Sequence

Who ruled Mesopotamia after Sumer, and in what order?

Answer(s): Akkadians, Amorites, Babylonians

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