TOPIC #16 FERTILE CRESCENT GEO.DATE – 10/1/13

WAR: Skim ch. 3 and then draw a preview page for the chapter. You should draw one picture for each section, so you should have four pictures altogether). Please divide the page and label your pictures.

MESOPOTAMIA AND THE FERTILE CRESCENT

Chapter 3

SECTION 1: GEOGRAPHY OF THE FERTILE CRESCENT

People settled near water so crops could grow

One region that was ideal for settlement sat between 2 major rivers, the Tigris and Euphrates

This area of rich soil was called…. The Fertile Crescent!

WHAT IS THE LAND BETWEEN THE RIVERS?

Mesopotamia is Greek for “between 2 rivers” Mesopotamia lies between the Tigris and

Euphrates Rivers It has 2 parts:

-the North is a plateau bordered by mountains- the South is a flat plain

Mesopotamia is part of a larger area called the Fertile Crescent, which has VERY rich soil

HOW DID THE FIRST CIVILIZATION RISE? H-G groups first settled in Mesopotamia

12,000 years ago The floods of the Tigris and Euphrates

brought silt, a mixture of rich soil and tiny rocks which made the land great for farming

1st farming settlements formed in 7000 BCPlentiful

Food

Population

Growth

Village Formatio

n

Rise of Civilizati

on

WHAT MAKES A CIVILIZATION?

To be a civilization, a society must have the following: Central government Cities Division of labor Social levels (hierarchy) Trade Advanced farms Use of metal tools Writing system Religious system Calendar

WHAT WAS MESOPOTAMIAN FARMING LIKE?

Received very little rain and flooding of the rivers could be dangerous

Farmers needed to control the rivers’ flow

Used irrigation, a way of supplying water to an area of land

Dug basins and canals that brought water to the fields and built up river banks to hold back floods

HOW DID IRRIGATION AFFECT THE CIVILIZATION?

Irrigation increased the amount of food farmers grew and provided water for domesticated animals

Produced a food surplus, or more than they needed

Fewer people needed to farm because there was so much food

HOW DID IRRIGATION AFFECT THE CIVILIZATION?

People were more free to do other jobs Division of labor formed

(arrangement in which each worker specializes in a particular task or job)

Society could accomplish more tasks such as building and construction

Needed government to organize rules and have structure for jobs.

HOW DID CITIES FORM?

Settlements grew in size and complexity

Cities began to appear between 4000 and 3000 BC

Society in Mesopotamia is still mostly based on farming, but cities became the political, religious, cultural, and economic centers of civilization

WIO/HOMEWORK

Review your notes about why H-G settled in Mesopotamia. Draw a diagram with pictures that demonstrates the causes of settlement in the Fertile Crescent.

SECTION 2: THE RISE OF SUMER

Sumer was the world’s first official civilization

Settled in Mesopotamia and created an advanced society

WHAT WERE THE CITY-STATES OF SUMER LIKE?

Most people were farmers who lived in rural, or countryside areas

Sumer had urban, or city areas as well that were the centers of their civilizations and had over 100,000 people living there by 2000 BC

Rural Urban

WHAT WERE THE CITY-STATES OF SUMER LIKE (CONT)

Sumerian cities soon became city-states, which consisted of the city and the countryside around it

City-states fought each other to get more farmland

They had strong armies and walls to protect their land

Kish, Uruk, Ur were examples of very strong city-states

HOW DID THE AKKADIAN EMPIRE RISE? Lived north of the Sumerian city-states

and were peaceful in the beginning 2300 BC- Sargon built a new capital

called Akkad and had a permanent army He defeated all the city-states of Sumer

and conquered northern Mesopotamia He established the world’s 1st empire,

land with different territories and people under single rule

HOW DID THE AKKADIAN EMPIRE FALL? Sargon ruled for 50 more years After his death, the empire only lasted a

century more because it was invaded by outsiders

Chaos followed for 100 more years The Sumerian city-state of Ur eventually

became the more powerful and rebuilt stability in the region

Sumer’s #1 again!

HOW DID RELIGION SHAPE SUMERIAN SOCIETY?

Religion played a role almost all aspects of life The Sumerians practiced polytheism, the worship

of MANY gods-Examples of gods: Enlil, Enki, Inanna, Utu,

Nanna, Shamash (sun god shown below!) Each city-state had a special god as their protector Believed their gods controlled natural events like

weather and illness Success in life depended on how you worshipped

the gods

HOW DID RELIGION SHAPE SUMERIAN SOCIETY?

Priests, people who performed religious ceremonies, had great power

People relied on them to interpret the gods’ wishes

Priests made offerings to gods in temples and performed religious ceremonies

WHAT WAS THE SUMERIAN SOCIAL ORDER?

Kings

Priests

Craftspeople, merchants, traders

Farmers and laborers

Slaves

Social Hierarchy: the division of society by rank or class

WHAT WERE MEN AND WOMEN LIKE IN SUMER?

Men held political power and made laws Women took care of the home and children

(ladies, get used to hearing this!) Education was usually only for men, but some

upper-class women received it as well Women could be priestesses if they were

educated-example: the priestess Enheduanna wrote

hymns. She is the first known female writer in history!

SECTION 3: SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS The Sumerians developed many

different inventions and ideas that have influenced us today.

When we discuss achievements, we usually divide it by subjects very similar to what you have in school (literature, science, math, art, etc.)

WHAT WERE THE SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS IN WRITING?

They invented the FIRST writing system called cuneiform

Used styluses to make wedge-like shapes on clay tablets

Earlier written communication used pictographs, or picture symbols

Cuneiform used symbols to represent syllables of words, and would combine the symbols to form words

SUMERIAN WRITING (CONT)

Cuneiform was first used to keep business records Scribes, or writers, would keep track of business

and had a high place in society because they were the only ones who knew cuneiform

Later used cuneiform to write history, law, grammar, and math

Also wrote stories, proverbs, songs, and epics, which are long poems that tell heroic stories

example: The Epic of Gilgamesh

WHAT WERE SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS IN TECHNOLOGY?

The wheel The potter’s wheel for sculpting The plow The “falling water” clock Sails on boats Underground sewers Learned to use bronze for stronger tools

and weapons Makeup and glass jewelry

WHAT WERE SUMERIAN ADVANCES IN MATH?

Number system based on 60 360 degree circle 12 month calendar Areas of rectangles and triangles

WHAT WERE SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS IN SCIENCE?

Observing the natural world using lists and recordings

Medicine advancements such as healing drugs and cataloging treatments for specific problems

WHAT WERE SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS IN ARCHITECTURE?

Architecture is the science of building Large palaces for Sumerian rulers Large and small houses for others Used mud bricks Made ziggurats, pyramid-shaped Sumerian

temples, were in each city Used outdoor staircases and columns

WHAT WERE SUMERIAN ACHIEVEMENTS IN ART?

Statues of gods Used ivory and rare woods Sumerian pottery is not known for its beauty! Jewelry made of gold, silver, and gems Cylinder seals to imprint designs into clay Musical instruments include reed pipes,

drums, tambourines, and lyres Song and dance were popular forms of

entertainment

SECTION 4: LATER PEOPLES OF THE FERTILE CRESCENT

FYI: “Peoples” is not a typo! It is an actual word!

The city-state of Ur began to lose power by 2000 BC because of invasion.

Other invaders began to move into Mesopotamia

HOW DID BABYLON RISE TO POWER?

Babylon is located on the Euphrates River near present-day Baghdad, Iraq

1800 BC- had a very powerful government

1792 BC- Hammurabi becomes king of Babylon

He is Babylon’s greatest monarch, ruler of a kingdom or empire

WHO IS HAMMURABI?

Brilliant war leader Brought all of Mesopotamia under his rule through

the use of his powerful army His empire became known as the Babylonian

Empire He was a good ruler because he oversaw building

and irrigation projects, improved the tax system, and increased wealth and trade

Ruled for 42 years and made Babylon the most important city in Mesopotamia

He is best known for his law code!

WHAT IS HAMMURABI’S CODE?

It is a set of 282 laws that dealt with daily life

Contained laws on trade, loans, theft, marriage, injury, and murder

Specific crimes had specific penalties Social class did matter

example: injuring a rich man had a bigger penalty than injuring a poor man (not fair!) Was written down for all to see

HAMMURABI’S LAW CODE EXAMPLES

“If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.”

“If he break another man’s bone, his bone shall be broken.”

“If a builder builds a house for someone, and does not construct it properly, and the house which he built fall in and kill its owner, then that builder shall be put to death.”

WHAT WERE OTHER INVASIONS OF MESOPOTAMIA?

After Hammurabi’s death, the Babylonian Empire lost power and fell.

Other civilizations began to move into the Fertile Crescent and fight over land

examples: The Hittites, Kassites, Assyrians, and Chaldeans

WHO WERE THE HITTITES AND KASSITES? The Hittites built their kingdom in Asia

Minor (present-day Turkey) The first to use iron, which made stronger

weapons, and they used the chariot, a wheeled horse-drawn cart used in battle.

Captured Babylon in 1595 BC Kingdom fell when king was assassinated The Kassites overtook Babylon and ruled

it for almost 400 years

WHO WERE THE ASSYRIANS?

1200s BC- the Assyrians from northern Meso. take Babylon, but were soon invaded by others

300 years later, the Assyrians recover strength and begin to conquer all of the Fertile Crescent, parts of Asia Minor, and Egypt.

Capital city was called Nineveh

WHY WERE THE ASSYRIANS SO STRONG? Used iron weapons and chariots Army was well-organized Were fierce in battle Harsh punishments for law-breakers Ruled their large empire by having local

leaders who collected taxes, enforced laws, and raised troops for the army

Built roads to connect the empire

WHO WERE THE CHALDEANS?

652 BC- Assyrian Empire became weak because of civil wars within the empire

The Chaldeans attacked the empire and in 612 BC destroyed Nineveh and the Assyrian Empire

The Chaldeans set up own empire with a rebuilt Babylon as their capital

WHO WAS NEBUCHADNEZZAR? (WHO?!) Most famous Chaldean king Rebuilt Babylon as the richest city in the

world Built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

(One of the 7 Ancient Wonders of the World) as a gift to his depressed wife

http://joseph_berrigan.tripod.com/ancientbabylon/id14.html

http://www.unmuseum.org/hangg.htm

WHAT WAS BABYLON LIKE UNDER THE CHALDEANS?

Babylon was a major stop on a trade route b/w the Persian Gulf and Mediterranean Sea

Babylon was a center of trade, Sumerian culture, and science (astronomy)

They tracked stars and weather events, created a calendar, and solved complex geometry problems

Trade helped the spread of ideas…how?! Chaldean Empire fell to the Persians in 539

BC

WHAT WAS PHOENICIA LIKE?

Located at the western end of the Fertile Crescent near present-day Lebanon

Was a wealthy trading society Sits on the Mediterranean Sea Had few resources, but had cedar, a type

of timber and valuable in trade Overland trade routes were blocked by

mountains, so they used the sea for trade transport

HOW DID THE PHOENICIANS EXPAND THEIR TRADE?

Became expert sailors Built harbors (ex: Tyre) Built fast ships that traveled to Egypt,

Greece, Sicily, and Spain Created colonies along trade routes (ex:

Carthage in N. Africa) Traded cedar, silverwork, ivory carvings,

slaves, glass-blown objects, purple dye Grew VERY wealthy

WHAT WAS THE PHOENICIANS’ MOST IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENT?

The alphabet!!! An alphabet is a set of letters than can

be combined to form words Made writing much easier Our English alphabet is based on the

Phoenician one Other civilizations such as Greece and

Rome also used it and changed it