Mesopotamia

By: Maximilian Ackermann H.

Location Mesopotamia was

located in the Fertile Crescent, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Rivers of Life and Death

Even though the rivers brought fish, water, and fertile soil…

The floodwaters sometimes swept away people, animals, crops, and houses.

The First Cities As farming succeeded,

communities began to build food surpluses.

In time, food surpluses encouraged the growth of cities.

Sumer was Mesopotamia’s first city.

Religion The main religion

was polytheism.

The temples were called Ziggurats.

The Fall of Sumer The wealth of Sumer

was its downfall.

Sumerian city-states fought each other for the land and the use of the river.

Sumer was conquered by the neighboring Akkad.

It’s ruler King Sargon, united the Sumerian kingdom and improved its government and military

But it fell to Babylonia, in the 1700 B.C.

Meopotamia’s Legacy Hammurabi’s code (

written set of laws)

Sumerian were the first to develop the art of writing. (Cuneiform)

Sumerian wrote in clay tablets because of the lack of paper.

The Babylonian Empire

Hammurabi created this empire in 1787 B.C. by conquering cities in Sumer.

Babylon was the capital city.

The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

Babylonia was the home of one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world.

Babylonian Fall

Trade made Babylon rich.

But there wealth could not save them from invaders in 1500s B.C.

The Assyrian Empire Thanks to there

skilled warriors, Assyria had conquered a large empire.

It stretched from the Nile River to the Persian Gulf.

Assyria’s Contributions War: Battering ram,

slings, helmets and armor.

The capital city Nineveh, had a huge library that held thousand of clay tablets with writings from Sumer and Babylon

Assyria’s Fall The Assyrians didn’t

have much friends in their territory.

2 groups: the Medes and the Chaldeans joined together to defeat the Assyrian Empire in 612 B.C.

Babylonia Rises Again King

Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt the city of Babylon.

Under the rule of the Chaldeans, there were advances in Math, Astronomy and raised bees.

The Babylonian Empire fell to the Persian in 539 B.C.

The Persian Empire The Persian built the

largest Empire that the Fertile Crescent have ever known.

Persian culture included Zoroastrianism( they only believed in 1 God).

They tolerated peoples with different religions.