Do Now

• QUESTION: Why do people form governments?

• Homework: Read and complete Thorklid Jabobson reading and the associated questions.

DO NOW!Why do people

form governments?

Early Sumer: City-States & Government

Governments meet needs:• Organize irrigation & maximize

production • Conduct & organize trade within and

between cities • Create laws that provide social

stability• Oversee the conduct of religious rituals• Provide for defense and expansion

Irrigation: the key to it all!

Get water to the crops the make life possible

Early Sumerian Government• The 1st Cities were led by

“big men” or LU-GALS.

• They typically met with a council of elders to make important decisions.

• Their status increased over time until they became Kings and passed power to their sons. [see Dynasties]Gudea of Lagash

(an early royal)

Priests came “before” kings & temples came before palaces.

But…

Kings gained power and status as time passed.

Urban Social Classes• Kings and nobles*• Priests / Scribes / Education• Merchants and artisans / craftspeople• Commoners/landowners• Sharecroppers/laborers -- peasants• Slaves -- from warfare or debt

*DISCUSS! HOW DID KINGS SURPASS PRIESTS IN

STATUS & IMPORTANCE?

Kings took advantage of religion• Kings gave themselves

priestly functions.

• Kings sometimes embodied gods in religious rituals: – Kings--posing as a fertility

god--would have sex with a priestess to ensure good harvests.

• Over time, some kings were deified: they became gods themselves.Gudea with offering

Another path to greatness: Conquest

• Sargon the Great of Akkad (2,334-2,279 BCE)

• Ruler of the city of Akkad, Sargon used soldiers and chariots (an early Cavalry) to bring the cities of Sumer under his control.

• His empire lasted for generations.

Akkadian Chariots

The Shock Troops of Invasion

What pulled the Chariots?

Onagers: a.k.a. The Asiatic Wild Ass

Sargon’s Akkadian Empire

From the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean

The Fruits of Empire• Glory for the Victors

• Slavery & Death for the Losers

• More Trade

• More access to raw materials

• Higher taxes (to pay for wars and a military)

• Cultural Diffusion--the spread of ideas and practices between groups of people– Chariots became widely used across

Mesopotamia and into the Near East and Egypt

From Sargon to Naram-Sin• Naram-Sin (2,254-2,218

BCE) was Sargon’s grandson.

• He expanded Sargon’s empire to its greatest size.

• Naram-Sin declared himself “King of the 4 Quarters”--effectively King of the World.

Naram-Sin’s Legacy: The Victory Stele

6 feet, 7 inches

tall

Sandstonemarker

Interpret the Stele!

Explain all of its parts(see handout)

Naram-Sin himself

The Horned helmet

Marks him as a

living god

The Enemies of Naram-Sin

Impaled on Swords

Fallingfrom a

Mountain

The Presence of the Gods

A Last Status Elevator: Royal Tombs

• To showcase their elevated status, kings had their burial chambers filled with riches.

• Some had their servants buried with them so that they would enter the afterlife with wealth and status.

Excavated Tomb at the city of Ur

Golden Bowl Golden Bull

Golden Lyre Golden Crown

Summary Question

How did Mesopotamian Kings rise to the top of

the Social Ladder?