BellringerKEEP YOUR HOMEWORK FOR NOW

1. In your Glossary, define river valley2. On your Bellringer sheet: Does

Sumer have all of STAIR? Give examples for each letter.

STAIRSpecialized workersTechnology Advanced citiesInstitutionsRecord keeping

Agenda1. Problems in Sumer2. Sumer Review3. Fall of the Sumerians4. Mesopotamian Empires

ObjectivesStudents will be able to…12.Summarize key aspects Sumerian

civilization.13.Describe the fall of Sumerian

civilization.14.Define empire.

Problems in Sumer• In groups, discuss the three problems

Sumerians faced and try to identify the solution that will keep your society alive!

(We will fill in the chart at the end together)

Objective #12

Problems in SumerPROBLEM SOLUTION

1. Unpredictable flooding

IrrigationCooperation (institutions)

2. No natural resources

Trade

3. No natural barriers

Defensive walls (of mud)Organize armies

Sumer GRAPES

Sumer: Geography• Southern Mesopotamia• Part of the Fertile Crescent

Jericho

Aleppo

Physical Geography• Two rivers, lots of fertile land• Flat • Mountains and deserts beyond the

flat land• Neighbors were nomads in the desert

and northern Mesopotamia…we’ll meet them soon

Sumer: Religion• Polytheism – many gods–What were their gods?

• Ziggurat – temple and city-center–Animal sacrifices and offerings

• Why are priests so important in Sumer?

Temple to Nanna, Ur

This large temple, dedicated to the god Nanna, was built around 2100 B.C. by King Ur-Nammu, in the ancient Mesopotamian city of Ur. (Michael S. Yamashita/Corbis; ABC-CLIO)

Offerings to the Gods

King Ur-Nammu makes an offering to the moon god Nanna. Ur-Nammu reigned over the Sumerian city of Ur from about 2112 to 2095 B.C. The stela dates to around 2060 B.C. (Bettmann/Corbis; ABC-CLIO)

Sumer: Achievements

• Inventions–Wheel–Sail–Plow–Base-60

math

Achievements• Architecture (ziggurat)• Writing – cuneiform –Earliest writing used pictograms,

pictures that stand for words–Later evolved into a set of symbols

representing about 300 sounds

Early Cuneiform

Clay tablet with pictograms from Mesopotamia. (Multimedia Library; ABC-CLIO)

Sumerian inscription, detail of a diorite statue of Gudea of Lagash, 22nd century BC (Brittannica)

Ancient Sumerian tablet with cuneiform, one of the earliest forms of writing. This tablet, from 2039 BC, tracks disbursements of wages to supervisors of day laborers. (Library of Congress; ABC-CLIO)

Detail from an Assyrian tablet with cuneiform writing. The Assyrian alphabet contained 19 simple letters and approximately 300 cuneiform symbols. (Shutterstock; ABC-CLIO)

Arts

Sumerian figurine of a woman sitting and holding a small vase. (Erich Lessing/Art Resource; ABC-CLIO)

Standard of Ur – War

Standard of Ur – Peace

Sumer: Political• Priests ruled in peace, military

leaders during wars• Eventually, a military leader made

himself king and created a dynasty

Sumer: Political• Each city-state had its own king–Ur, Uruk, Umma, Lagash, Kish

• Leaders collected taxes and organized labor (for, say, irrigation)

Sumer: Economic• Agriculture-based• Trade very important–Traded food for stone, wood, and

metal–Then made tools and traded them

for more stuff

Sumer: Social• Social classes (from top to bottom)–Priests and kings–Wealthy merchants–Workers and farmers–Slaves

• Why were merchants so respected?

Women’s Rights• Women could–Own property–Be educated–Have important jobs

• Women could not–Rule the city or be the head priest

Fall of SumerObjective #13

NOT a Country• Sumer is not a country!–Individual city-states with their own

leaders and laws–Not united…fought each other often–Linked by similar cultures•Cultural diffusion

Sumer’s Neighbors• Northern Mesopotamia was not as

fertile, many nomads lived there• Why might they cause problems for

the Sumerians?• Why were the Sumerians unable to

defend themselves from invasion?

Mr. Poth’s Rules of World HistoryRule #1: Divided, you fall

Sargon of Akkad

[Time Life Pictures/Getty Images]; ABC-CLIO

Sargon of Akkad

Political Units• City• City-state• Kingdom• Empire

Nomads Invade• Akkad declines–Famine–Internal fighting–Invasions

• Nomads from the west invade–Found new empire in the city of

Babylon

Mr. Poth’s Rules of World History

Rule #2: Beware the nomads

Babylon• Babylon, on the Euphrates and near

the Tigris, controls all trade on both rivers• Dominates Mesopotamia for 300

years• Why did Babylon last, while Akkad

did not?

Mr. Poth’s Rules of World HistoryRule #3: He who controls trade, controls the world

Sumer’s Legacy• Cuneiform and ziggurats used

throughout Mesopotamian history for thousands of years after the fall of the Sumerian city-states

CULTURAL DIFFUSION!

Post-Sumerian Ziggurat

View of the Mesopotamian ziggurat at Choga Zanbil in present-day western Iran, 13th century BC. (Diego Lezama Orezzoli/Corbis; ABC-CLIO)

Babylon

[Ridpath, John Clark, Ridpath's History of the World, 1901]; ABC-CLIO

Hammurabi’s Code• One ruler of the Babylonian empire,

Hammurabi, became famous–Made a strong empire–Created a code of laws

Objective #15

Hammurabi

[Library of Congress]; ABC-CLIO

Hammurabi’s Code

Louvre museum

Homework• Define the words you wrote down.• Do the “summarize key aspects of

Sumerian Civ” worksheets• Study for Skills quiz on Wednesday!!!