River ValleysCradles of Civilization

Critical Intro

2

Write a paragraph describing a day

in your life as a Sumerian teenager.

Remember to incorporate the

aspects of life from your homework.

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Economic

PatternsPolitical

Patterns

Religious

PatternsSocial

Patterns

•Hereditary rulers

•Dynasty – line of

rulers from same

family

•Class systems +

slavery

•1st city-states,

kingdoms & empires

•City-state = city &

surrounding land

•Centralized gov’t

•Law codes

• metal tools +

weapons

• increasing

agricultural surplus

• increased river &

sea trade

•Polytheism =

belief in many

gods.

•Animism = spirits

residing in

ordinary objects

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Eastern Hemisphere Map - Label

Africa

Asia

Europe

Atlantic Ocean

Indian Ocean

Pacific Ocean

Mediterranean Sea

Make Key and Shade

4 River Civilizations

Mesopotamia

Egypt

Indus Valley

Shang China

Southwest Asia Map - Label

Anatolia

Zagros Mountains

Arabian Peninsula

Arabian Desert

Syrian Desert

Egypt

Mesopotamia

Mediterranean Sea

Red Sea

Persian Gulf

Tigris River (R.)

Euphrates R.

Nile R.

Cities - .

Ur

Lagash

Make Key and Shade

Sumer

Fertile Crescent

Eastern Hemisphere

Southwest Asia

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Egypt

Tigris R.Euphrates R.

Anatolia

Mediterranean Sea

Nile R.

Back

Sumer

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River Valley Civilizations

I. Mesopotamia - “Land between the rivers”

A. Fertile Crescent = arc of land from Persian Gulf to Med. Sea

1. Mesopotamia - area of land within Fertile Crescent, between the Tigris and

Euphrates Rivers.

2. Flooding rivers deposit silt (thick bed of river mud)= fertile soil

3. Irrigation systems carried river water to the fields.

4. Mesopotamia is located in modern-day Iraq.

B. Rise of Sumerian city-states

1. city-state pops. of 5,000– 25,000

2. Centered around ziggurats = religious temple

3. Walled for protection

C. Sumerian Government

1. city-states governed independently

2. Powerful military leaders became kings

3. Priests held high rank & gov’t power

4. city-states ruled by dynasties

D. Sumerian Writing = Cuneiform “wedge-shaped”

1. 1st writing

2. Press symbols into soft clay then dry or bake

3. Keep records + trade documents

4. Epic of Gilgamesh = world’s 1st literature

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E. Sumerian Religion

1. Polytheism = belief in many gods; explained natural events

2. Thousands of deities (gods and goddesses) controlled nature + life

3. People felt they had little control; bleak view of death

F. Sumerian Inventions

1. Wagon wheel

2. arch

3. sundial

4. potter’s wheel

5. number system

6. 12 month calendar

7. sail

8. plow

II. World’s 1st Empires

A. Akkadian Empire

1. Created when Sargon of Akkad conquered Sumerian city-states

B. Babylonian Empire

1. Created when Babylonians conquered Mesopotamia.

2. Hammurabi = Powerful Babylonian king

3. Hammurabi created first written law code – Hammurabi’s Code

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Sumerian wheel

Back

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Southwest Asia

Iraq Iran

Saudi Arabia

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Mesopotamian Deities

Polytheism = belief in many gods

Back

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Irrigation•Moving water from rivers

to fields

Back

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Cuneiform = Sumerian writing

Back

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Yearly floods deposit silt on the land.

River floods Plow and plantWater recedes,

leaves silt behind

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The Sumerian Ziggurat “Mountain of God”

religious temple

Back

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The Epic of GilgameshWorld’s Oldest work of literature

Gilgamesh – King of Uruk

Approx. 2700 B.C.

Gilgamesh, two-thirds god and one-

third human, is the greatest king on

earth and the strongest super-

human that ever existed; however,

he is young and oppresses his

people harshly.

Back

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Hammurabi – “The Law Giver”Babylonian king created law code of 282 laws and punishments

Back

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Sumerians develop the arch.

Back

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Sundialsail

plow

Other Sumerian Inventions

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Sargon of Akkad creates world’s first empire = Akkadian Empire

Back

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Hammurabi rules Babylonian Empire

Back

Economic

PatternsPolitical

Patterns

Religious

PatternsSocial

Patterns

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Back

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