The Fertile Crescent

Mesopotamia

: Canaan

. Sumer

DO NOW-List several reasons as to why people would decide to settle along a river?

Mesopotamia’s Legacy -what was left

to us by this civilization?

The Legacy of MesopotamiaThe earliest existing set of written laws, known as Hammurabi’s Code, established rules and punishments for Babylonians.

A one-God religion known as Judaism

Government- formal

SUMER: To measure the passage of time Calendar- Based on the phases of the

moon

Crescent moon meant the begin of the month

Sumerians year was short 11 days which meant they couldn’t accurately predict the flooding of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers or when the crops should be harvested. They eventually learned to add an extra month.

Watches

The changing positions of the stars, planets and moon

Astronomy- study of the stars• Learned to

recognize planets and constellations

• Learn to foresee ECLIPSES

Thought to be a bad omen

Astrology – belief that the movement of the stars and planets affect/influence the lives of men and women

and Astrology

Medicine

Physicians and veterinarians

Potion and ointments from natural ingredients - Flowers Roots Leaves Nuts Snake skins’ Turtle shells

Recorded temperature, pulse, skin color

Promote proper hygiene

3000 BC = invention of soap

Cosmetics *real cure of

illness was to please the angry gods which sent the demons to invade the body

More LegaciesMATH

Base ten and decimals

- Place value - Right angle - Square - Hypotenuse

The wheel-wagon was believed to have been made by the Sumerians. It was made of planks of wood joined together. The picture below briefly describes the stages of development of the wagon.

VocabularyDroughtFamineSurplusBarterFertile CrescentMesopotamia

Vocabularycity-stateZigguratCuneiformCode of HammurabiHammurabiSumerBabylonEmpire

DO NOW:On the last page of packet:On the chart, fill in 8 of Mesopotamia’s legacies

What does Mesopotamia mean?

It means: Land between

two rivers.The Euphrates and the Tigris

Rivers.

A Challenging Environmentthe overflow of the

Euphrates and the Tigris rivers were “UNPREDICTABLE!”

These overflows caused floods and destroyed many villages.

DroughtsQuite the opposite of an overflow. This is when there is a long period of dry weather.

What can a drought do to a civilization?

1. Turn fertile soil to dust2. Shrivel crops3. Cause a widespread lack of

food or FAMINE!

Taming Rivers

They built CANALS and DIKES [DAMS].

The flooding of the rivers left deposits of silt which was excellent for crops.

Silt – rocks, pebbles, minerals, from the bottom- created fertile land –

This is where historians believe farming began

Climate DRY……little rain

Irrigation (trap water)….HOW?

leads to a SURPLUS: extra supply of food

Mesopotamia’s Lively TradeBARTER- to exchange goods or services without using money.

..There was a NEED!!

caravans – groups of travelers

bazaars – markets selling different kinds of goods

Sumer- [city-state]Who were the Sumerians? earliest group to inhabit the Middle East region known as

Mesopotamia

First to create technology associated with farming such as the wheel and irrigation

NOMADS that settled in lower Mesopotamia.

Many of the things we take for granted today can be traced back directly to the ingenuity and creativity of the Sumerian culture.

City-State- VERY IMPORTANT!!! A self-governing city [had

it’s own leader] and the land surrounding it.

Shared customs-ways of doing something

Shared religious beliefs

Worked together to meet their basic needs.

Army

Spoke the same language

BUT they don’t have…………….

City-State – cont’dNO CENTRAL GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Unlike the USA

Much conflict: Why? Because no unity, separate rulers

Wars over lands, river use

DO NOW: in your notebook

LIST 6 traits of a CITY-STATE

Temples for GodsPeople did not worship rulers

Built Ziggurats: temples for gods and goddessesMost important building in the city

HIGH so they would be closer to the gods

Stairs used for gods to DESCEND-come to the earth

Examples of ziggurats

Sumerian WritingThe first to

create a system of writing -

CUNEIFORM: Sumerian

system of writing – used symbols

Kept records

Pictographs

What does picture writing do well? Students may note that pictographs can represent nouns, small

numbers, and some prepositions—“Two men on horseback.”

What advantages does picture writing have? Students may note that even those without specialized

knowledge could potentially understand it.

What are its weaknesses? Students should note that pictographic images have a limited

ability to communicate such things as abstractions, sounds and certain parts of speech.

Can a pictograph convey what the word it is depicting sounds like?

Writing in ancient Mesopotamia arose from necessity—specifically, the need to keep records. Gradually, civilization in the Tigris-Euphrates River Valley became more urbanized. Eventually, a number of complex systems developed: political, military, religious, legal, and commercial. Writing developed as well, becoming essential to those systems.

The First Writing:Cuneiforms- on clay

Imagine that in an instant all knowledge of alphabetic writing disappeared. Only the drawing of simple pictures remained as the means of written communication.

Brainstorm: What would be some of the most essential things for which you would need signs? Which objects and ideas are the ones you would make sure were standardized and learned right away?

Babylon Upstream from Sumer Built an empire because they took from the Sumerians

Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Garden = palace roomsSeventh Wonder of the WorldHad many levelsBuilt by King Nebuchadnezzar as a birthday present for the queen.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GLlroENeNHk&feature=player_embedded

DO NOW-on this page

Written LAWS: Why do we need them? Give

good reasons.

LAWSFirst to write down the lawsFirst lawgiver – HAMMURABICode of Hammurabi –first law

recorded- 282 laws- 44 columnsHarsh punishments“Eye for an Eye” codes # 196-223Code written on stone in the

center of town.

Hammurabi’s Code The carving on the stone

on which the code is written depicts Hammurabi receiving the divine laws from the sun god, the god most often associated with justice.

code protecting all classes of Babylonian society, including women and slaves.

protection of the weak from the powerful the poor from the rich.

Code #8 “If any one steal cattle or sheep, or an ass,

or a pig or a goat, if it belonged to a god or to the court, the thief shall pay thirty fold; if they belonged to a freed man of the king he shall pay tenfold; if the thief has nothing with which to pay he shall be put to death.”

With an example such as this, students are able to see the ways that the Code worked to reinforce class distinctions as it also established specific punitive rules for social order.

If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built falls in and kills its owner, then the builder shall be put to death. (Another variant of this is, If the owner's son dies, then the builder's son shall be put to death.)

If a son strikes his father, his hands shall be hewn off.

If anyone steals the minor son of another, he shall be put to death.

If anyone brings an accusation against a man, and the accused goes to the river and leaps into the river, if he sinks in the river his accuser shall take possession of his house. But if the river proves that the accused is not guilty, and he escapes unhurt, then he who had brought the accusation shall be put to death, while he who leaped into the river shall take possession of the house that had belonged to his accuser. If anyone brings an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if a capital offense is charged, be put to death.

If a man puts out the eye of an equal, his eye shall be put out.

If a man knocks the teeth out of another man, his own teeth will be knocked out.

If anyone strikes the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.

If anyone opens his ditches to water his crop, but is careless, and the water floods his neighbor's field, he shall pay his neighbor corn for his loss.

If a judge tries a case, reaches a decision, and presents his judgment in writing; and later it is discovered that his decision was in error, and it was his own fault, he shall pay twelve times the fine set by him in the case and be removed from the judge's bench.

Do Now: on this page

Yesterday, we discussed several of Hammurabi’s codes. Would you have wanted to live under the Codes of Hammurabi? Why or why not?

DO NOW: on this page

What 3 facts about JUDAISM do you recall learning, when we did Religions of the World?

Birth of Judaism

Ancient HebrewsFrom the Bible, lived in Mesopotamia

Judaism: religion, today 17 million people

Origins of JudaismLeader: Abraham, led

across the Fertile Crescent

Canaan: area reached by Abraham between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea

Canaan

Captivity in Egypt

Famine strikes CanaanMove to Egypt…

enslavedMoses: raised by

PharaohLed Hebrew out of slavery- PASSOVER

Ten CommandmentsMount Sinai:

where the Hebrews lived, where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments: basis of laws for the Hebrews

* Answers may be used more than once

Writing Laws/Gov’t

Religion

Sumerians

Babylonians

Hebrews

Idea of one GodPolytheis

m:Worship many gods

Popular at this time

Monotheism:belief in one god

Hebrews were the first group-in their area- to worship one god

They saw God as just and all-important

JudaismThe religion practiced by the Israelites was very different from other religions practiced in the ancient world.

The Ten Commandments are the core beliefs of Judaism.

Judaism has influenced other major religions of the world.

Wisdom of SolomonSolomon: leader- name means “peace”

Organized the kingdom of Israel

He had lots of wisdomStory of the babyReview song: http

://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1g60SSGmeY&safe=active

Although Solomon was young, he soon became known for his ________. The first and most famous incident of his cleverness as a judge was when two women came to his court with a baby whom both women claimed as their own. Solomon threatened to ___________________.

One woman was prepared to accept the decision, but the other woman _______________________________________. Solomon then knew the _________ woman was the mother.