mesopotamia. people begin to settle along rivers because of the need for fresh water. the first...
Post on 31-Dec-2015
212 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
RIVER VALLEYS AND SUMER
Mesopotamia
ALL RIVER VALLEYS SHARED THESE People begin to settle along rivers
because of the need for fresh water. The first four civilizations to show up are
located in Mesopotamia, Egypt, China, and India
POSITIVES AND NEGATIVES OF RIVER LIFE
Positives Negatives
Constant supply of fresh water
Used for cooking, cleaning, bathing, drinking, laundry, restroom
Watering crops Water for animals Transportation Flooding
Flooding Unsanitary from
people and animals
MESOPOTAMIA: THE LAND BETWEEN 2 RIVERS Civilizations are complex societies Rivers were very important
They could water enough crops to feed large groups of people
Without having to worry about basic needs, people had time to think of other things and do other jobs; Specialization
The 2 rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates Irrigation: the building of walls, canals, and
ditches to water crops and control flooding Flooding is both good and bad
Good: brings fresh soil Bad: washes crops away if not harvested in time
MESOPOTAMIA Mesopotamia is not a civilization. It is a
region where a bunch of different peoples lived.
Many different groups came to power over time.
SUMER The first group to come to power Organized into city-states
City-state had its own government (was its own country) Sumerian cities were not united.
The city-states were often at war with one another
Divided because of geography Polytheistic-believe in many gods and
goddesses Ziggurat-religious temple Kings and leaders were probably war
heroes
SUMER 3 main classes of people
Upper: kings, priests, gov. officialsMiddle: artisans (skilled workers)
merchants, farmers (majority of people were farmers), and fishermen
Lower: enslaved people Slavery was not based off of skin color
They were prisoners of war or simply owed money
SUMER Invented many things
Cuneiform- the first system of writing using wedge shaped marks
Scribes- people that were taught to write, only boys, held honored positions in society
Oldest known story Epic of Gilgamesh Some of them we still use today
Wagon wheel, plow, number system (based off of 60), 60 minute hour, 12 month calendar
They built the first carts pulled by animals and sailboats
top related