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Copyright © Clara Kim 2007. All rights reserved.
Why River Valleys?•1. Offered rich soils for agriculture
•2. Tended to be located in places that could offer protection from nomadic invaders
The Fertile Crescent
• Arc of land between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia
One land…Two Rivers• Mesopotamia means =
“land between the rivers”–Tigris River and
Euphrates River• Both rivers flooded once
a year and left thick bed of silt.–Silt: rich, new soil
farmers could plant and harvest enormous quantities of wheat and barley
PoliticalPower of the Priests• Sumer’s earliest
governments were controlled by temple priests–Farmers believed they
needed blessings for success of their crops
–Priests were the middle man for the Gods
–Priests demanded portion of farmer crops as tax
Political
• Later followed
Hereditary rulers:
when the power is
passed down to
family members
Sargon
Economy• Metal tools and weapons (bronze, iron)
• Increasing agricultural surplus (better tools, plows, irrigation)
• Increasing trade along rivers – traded with Egypt
• Development of the world’s first cities
• Specialization of labor
Religion• Polytheistic: Belief in
Many Gods (3,000!!!)• Gods could be angered at
any moment and to keep them happy Sumerians:–Built impressive
ziggurats or temples to sacrifice food, wine and animals
–Souls of the dead wandered in the land of no return
MORE ZIGGURATS!!!
Sumerian Society
Kings and Priests
Wealthy merchants
Ordinary Sumerian people
Slaves
Women• Could hold property• Join lower ranks of
priesthood• There were few women
scribes–Scholars think that girls
were not allowed to attend schools
IntellectualEpic of Gilgamesh• Myths and
legends recorded in this long poem
• One of the earliest works of literature in the world
“Gilgamesh, whither are you wandering?
Life, which you look for, you will never find.
For when the gods created man, they let
Death be his share, and withheld life
In their own hands”
AchievementsScience and
Technology• Invented the wheel,
the sail, the plow• First to use bronze.• Developed system of
writing• Built irrigation
systems, buildings, surveyed flooded fields.
Pictures Cited• Slide 1 - http://www.mayfairgames.com/mfg-shop/phalanx/pics/pha6016-cl.jpg• Slide 3 - http://www.hawaii.edu/ahead/Iraq%20General/mesopotamia.jpg• Slide 4 – http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~patters/culinary/media/fertilec.jpg• Slide 5 – http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/a/a5/288px-Tigr-euph.png• Slide 6 – http://individual.utoronto.ca/CLA160Y/Images/TellAsmarFig.jpg• Slide 7 – http://www.mysteriousworld.com/Content/Images/Journal/2003/Autumn/Osiria/Sargon180.gif• Slide 8 – http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/accessibility/meetings/2006/sig14/sig14images/ah5jpg• Slide 9 – http://questgarden.com/52/41/5/070613164641/images/ziggurat1.gif• Slide 10 – http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ideas/images/ur3.jpg,
http://todoweb2002.iespana.es/ceramica/mesopotamia/ziggurat.jpg• Slide 11 – Made by Clara Kim• Slide 12 – http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/m/images/mesopot_sumer_asmarfigs_lg.jpg• Slide 13 – http://www.allaboutarchaeology.org/images/epic-of-gilgamesh.jpg• Slide 14 – www.archaeology.org• Slide 15 –http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Images/071506-Mtwango-Irrigation.JPG