Mesopotamia

5000 BCE – 600 BCE

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia - The Land Between Two Rivers

Mesopotamia was a place where many cities began to grow. As its name suggests, Mesopotamia was located between two rivers. The two rivers were the Tigris River and the Euphrates River.

Mesopotamia was located in the Middle East, and surrounded by desert. People came to Mesopotamia because the soil between the two rivers was very fertile.

When a newborn baby begins life, he or she is placed in a cradle. Mesopotamia is called the cradle of civilization because the first civilizations began there, about 5,500 years ago in 3500 B.C.

Overview: Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is not a country. “Mesopotamia” means “the land between two rivers” in Greek. Mesopotamia is the region in the middle east between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. There were several civilizations that flourished in the area between 5000 BCE and 612 BCE, including the Assyrians, Babylonians, and Sumerians.

Who Controls Mesopotamia?

Mesopotamian Contributions

•1st written laws

Mesopotamian Contributions

•Wheel

Mesopotamian Contributions

•Plow

Mesopotamian Contributions

•Sailboat

Mesopotamian Contributions

•12-month calendar based on astronomy

Timeline: 4 major kingdoms of Mesopotamia

Between 3000 BC and 600 BC, four major kingdoms ruled Mesopotamia, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers: • Sumer• Bablyon• Assyria• Persia

Political Structures: Sumerians, 5000-1900s BCE

•Sumer was divided into city-states, meaning that each city had it’s own ruler, laws, and social customs.

•Each city-state was centered around a temple dedicated to a god or goddess.

•Each city-state was ruled by a priest-king or a king who was the head of the city government and the temple. •Kings had both civic and religious responsibilities.

Economics: Mesopotamia• Mesopotamia’s

economy was based on agriculture and trade.

• Mesopotamian’s traded natural resources, like jewels and precious stones.

•Mesopotamian’s traded their natural resources and excess crops for things that were scarce in Mesopotamia, like wood.•Mesopotamian’s also traded art, pottery, jewelry, and slaves.

Religion & PhilosophyMesopotamian civilizations were primarily polytheistic,

worshipping multiple gods and goddesses.

The gods were worshipped in temples called Ziggurats.

Inventions & Technology - Sumer

•Sumerians developed cuneiform, the oldest known written human language.

•Sumerians are responsible for the beginnings of mathematics – arithmetic, geometry, and algebra.

•Sumerians also invented or developed the wheel, irrigation systems, and many tools and weapons, such as hoes, axes, knives, arrowheads, swords, chariots, sandals, and more.

MesopotamianArt

First Empire in Mesopotamia

3000 – 2000 B.C. the City-States began to war with each other.

Sargon of Akkad (2350 B.C.) He took control of the region, creating world’s first empire -

when several peoples, nations, or previously independent states are placed under the control of one ruler.

The Akkadian Empire lasted about 200 years, 2350–2150 B.C.

Men and Women

¨ Women could buy and sell property and slaves

Men and Women

¨ Men were heads of the house. They could divorce for no reason or even sell their wives and children for up to 3 years. Men arranged marriages for children.

Children

¨ Their job was to OBEY both parents and older siblings, as well as the priest.

Priests/Kings

¨ Priests were usually kings of city-states

Priests/Kings

¨ About 3000 B.C. military leaders began being kings instead.