Section 1: Mesopotamia and Sumer

The Great Ziggurat of UrBuilt during the Early Bronze Age, 21st century BC

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

Section 1: Mesopotamia and Sumer

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?

I. Geography Promotes Civilization

Fertile Crescent: stretches from Med. Sea to Persian Gulf

I. Geography Promotes Civilization

Mesopotamia: area between Tigris and Euphrates rivers; site of first civilizations

I. Geography Promotes Civilization

Land well suited for farming but region posed challenges

Droughts and floods ruin crops

I. Geography Promotes CivilizationMethods developed to control water:

Basins, canals, and dikes

Organization: assigning jobs, allocating

resources

II. Sumer

Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar, native ki-en-gir) formed the southern part of

Mesopotamia from the time of settlement by the Sumerians until the time of

Babylonia. The Sumerians called their country ken.gir (civilized land), their

language eme.gir and themselves 'the black-headed ones'

Large cities developed by 4000 BCCity and its land formed independent city-state

II. Sumer

Structures made of mud bricks

Ziggurat: pyramid-shaped temple

Massive walls encircled each city

Ziggurat at Urc. 2100 B.C.

Walls of Babylon

II. Sumer

Sumerians practiced polytheism; priests held high status, were the first rulers

1. Himurta--Thunder Showers 2. Innanna--Morning Star 3. Thunderbird 4. Ntu--Sun God. 5. Enki--God of Sweet Waters. 6. Isimud--Enki's Vizier

II. Sumer

War chiefs began to rule as kings; many formed dynasties

II. Sumer

III. Sumerian Culture

Sumerian writing called cuneiform; wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets with a stylus

Herders and cows in the goddess Inana’s fields, 21st–20th century B.C.

III. Sumerian Culture

Cuneiform first used for record keepingScribes recorded information

Used later for law, literature, etc.

III. Sumerian Culture

Arithmetic based on units of 60

Invented the plow and the wheel

III. Sumerian Culture

Advanced medical knowledge, performed basic surgery

III. Sumerian Culture

Lacked many raw materials; traded for wood, metals across SW Asia

III. Sumerian Culture

Distinct social hierarchy; well-defined male and female roles The Standard of Ur:

The Peace Side represents the Sumerian Society and its three divisions of social classes (Upper, Middle, Lower)

The War Side represents the different classes of the Sumerian Army

III. Sumerian Culture

IV. Empires in Mesopotamia

Invaders adapted aspects of Sumerian culture as their own

c. 2330 BC – Akkadian ruler Sargon I conquered Sumer and northern Mesopotamia

IV. Empires in Mesopotamia

A. Sargon’s EmpireWorld’s first empire; spread Sumerian culture outside Mesopotamia

B. The Babylonian Empire1792 BC - Hammurabi became king of Babylon, united all of Mesopotamia

Shamash, the supreme sun god and judge, offers to Hammurabi the rod and

ring that symbolize authority

B. The Babylonian EmpireCode of Hammurabi - 282 written laws, covered everything from trade to murder

In 1750 BC, at the height of his power, Hammurabi codified 282 laws, written down for all to see, on an eight-foot-high stele made

of black basalt. Although the Code of Hammurabi is not the first legal code, it is the best preserved ancient law the world has today.

Summary