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