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