1. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent

2. The Geography of Ancient Mesopotamia

3. Mesopotamia
 Region where Tigris & Euphrates Rivers flow
 Name means: “land between two rivers”
 Rivers: provide water and means of travel

4. Fertile Soil
 Rain & melting snow caused river flooding
 Soil picked up from mts.
 Rivers overflowed their banks causing flooding and
spreading of silt onto land (good for growing crops)

5. An Arid Climate
 Less than 10” of rain w/ hot summers
 Arid Climate
 Ancient people could still grow crops due to rivers and
fertile soil
 3500 B.C.
 Widespread farming villages across Mesopotamia

6. Flood & Droughts
 Floods were unpredictable
 Extent of floods dependent on amount of rain & snow
melt
 Too little rain & snow melt meant no flood
 Would cause drought & people would starve

7. Irrigation
 6000 B.C.
 People took steps to control water supply
 Built earth walls to hold back water during floods
 Built canals to carry water to the fields
 Constant challenge to keep canals free from muddy silt

8. A Land of Few Resources
 No forests for wood in Mesopotamia
 Little stone and minerals
 Reed & Brick Houses
 Used to build homes
 Crumbled easily in bad weather & had to be repaired often
 Brick Walls
 Area was invaded easily because it was not surrounded by
mts. or other natural barriers
 Mesopotamia often conquered or stolen from
 Built brick walls around their towns & villages
 Sometimes 25 feet thick w/ guard towers and surrounded by open
ditches or moats

9. Trading for Resources
 Obtained stone, wood, copper, and tin through trade
 Traded for luxuries such as gold, ivory, ebony, and
precious stones
 Offered grain, dates, and other farm products
 Could do this due to a surplus of crops
 Jobs such as trading, digging canals, building
walls, and farming were done over and over
 Community leaders organized groups of people to do
the work at the right time

10. The First Civilizations

11. The Rise of Civilization
 Villages grew larger & larger
 Eventually became cities
 Workers Organized to solve problems
 Building & cleaning irrigation canals
 Society & culture grew more complex
 Changes led to civilization
 1st 3300 B.C. in Sumer

12. Sumerian City-States
 Cities were:
 Centers of trade, learning, & religion
 Most people lived in countryside
 Over time cities ruled surrounding lands & villages
 Called a city-state
 Sumer had 12 city-states
 Babylon, Kish, Nippur, and Ur
 Fertile land; farmers grew lots of food; supported larger
populations

13. A Sumerian City
 Narrow, winding streets; walls surrounded cities, w/
gates to let people in
 Homes built of reeds and mud or brick
 Series of rooms arranged around a courtyard

14. The Ziggurat: Center of the City
 Largest & most important structure in city
 Center of temple complex
 Like a city hall (priests ran irrigation system & other
important aspects of city life)
 People paid for services with grain and other items
 Priests controlled grain surplus & city-state’s wealth

15. Priests Become Leaders
 Priests
 Played political role & religious role
 People went to them to ask the gods for help
 Sumerians believed in polytheism
 Believed in many gods and goddesses
 4 main gods: gods of the sky, winds, hills, and fresh water
 Each city-state worshipped their own main god
 Believed gods could prevent bad things from happening
 Each god had many priests who worked to satisfy the gods & claimed
to have influence with them
 Because of this people accepted priests as leaders

16. New Leaders in Sumer
 3000 B.C.
 City-states were attacked because of their wealth
 Some from far off lands
 During these times a powerful man was asked to rule them and
protect the city
 At 1st just in time of war; eventually full time
 New leaders
 Took over some of priests jobs
 Maintained canals, managed grain surplus, & acted as judges
 Eventually became a king of people
 2375 B.C.
 Sumer became a kingdom under one king
 Priests were still important for pleasing the gods and keeping

17. Sumerian Society
 Social Classes created
 King & priests were part of upper class
 Believed to have links to gods
 Landowners, gov’t officials, & rich merchants were also part of
upper class
 Middle class
 All other free people (farmers, artisans, etc.)
 Lowest class
 Slaves: had some rights; could conduct business, borrow
money, & buy freedom

18. Role of Women
 Women were included in all social classes
 Some were priestesses, owned land, worked as
merchants and artisans, and raised children

19. Sumerian Scientific Developments
 Good at solving problems
 Invented and developed knowledge to better their lives
 Early Inventions:
 The plow: helped farmers
 The wheel: transport goods & used to make pottery
faster
 Mathematics:
 Developed arithmetic to keep records of crops and trade
goods
 Number system based on 60

20. Written language
 Invented writing to meet business needs
 Merchants needed records of exchange
 Also wanted to label goods
 Marked outside of containers with pictographs
 Pictographs:
 1st showed actual objects
 Later stood for ideas & sounds
 Eventually stopped using pictures & used wedge-shaped symbols
 Wedge-shaped writing called cuneiform
 Writing System was complex
 600 different symbols; took years to learn; few people were able to read
and write
 Scribes: people to specialized in writing
 Professional record keepers
 Writing later used to write about wars, floods, & reigns of kings

21. Empires of the Fertile Crescent

22. The First Empire Builders
 3000 to 2000 B.C.
 Kings fought over Sumer land
 More land = more wealth and power to king
 No single king was able to control all of Mesopotamia

23. The Akkadian Empire
 Sargon
 2371 B.C. took control of region
 1st creator of 1st empire (Akkadian Empire)
 Eventually ruled lands from Persian Gulf through
Mesopotamia to the Mediterranean Sea
 Area known as Fertile Crescent: rich soil and water made area
good for farming
 Empires
 Important because they change the way people live
 May bring peace, encourage trade, include people from several
cultures (ideas, technology, & customs)

24. The Babylonian Empire &
Hammurabi
 Akkadian Empire fell apart due to attacks from outside
people
 Amorites invaded Sumer & set capital in Babylon
 Hammurabi ruled Empire
 Created a code of law to control the lands & that people
had to follow
 He reviewed all existing laws and drew up a single law &
displayed it on a huge pillar in Babylon

25.  Hammurabi Code
 Goal: justice to everyone in empire
 Id wrongdoings & their punishment
 Society should be run by the rule of law & apply to everyone
 People have right to know laws and the punishment for not
following them

26. Assyrians & of F.C.
 Assyria took control
Chaldeans
 Built powerful army and set out to control neighboring
lands
 A Powerful Empire
 Used latest inventions for war
 Iron swords, iron-tipped spears, battering rams, ladders,&
dug tunnels
 Ashurbanipal
 Ruled during height of Assyrian Empire
 Assyrians governed land by appoint governor to rule
each land
 Sent tribute to Assyrian emperor
 Pay for protection give by Assyrian army
 Fail to pay & army destroyed cities in governors land &
people where exiled

27. Assyria Crumbles
 Medes & Chaldeans joined forces to defeat Assyrians
 Burned capital of Nineveh to the ground

28. A New Babylonian Empire
 Chaldeans ruled former Assyrian empire
 Capital was Babylon
 Nebuchadnezzar II was emperor
 Rebuilt city of Babylon
 Added artificial mts. covered with trees and plants; appeared
to be floating gardens
 Chaldeans were cruel rulers
 Destroyed Hebrews’ sacred temple in Jerusalem
 Held thousands of Hebrews captive

29. Persia Controls Southwest Asia
 Medes
 Controlled east of F.C.
 Area bounded by mts. ranges
 Perians
 Nomads from Central Asia
 Created tiny kingdoms & thrived through trade
 Grew in power and threatened for control

30. Cyrus Founds the Persian Empire
 Cyrus took control of Medes Empire
 Vision of conquering lands around Persia & uniting to form one
empire
 Conquered Anatolia, lands once controlled by Assyrians &
Chaldeans
 Needed way to control lands filled w/ different people
 Set up a policy of toleration
 Allowed people to keep their customs & beliefs
 Worship their own gods, speak their language, & practice their own way
of life
 Had to pay tribute though
 Fewer revolts & people lived in peace

31. Darius Expands the Empire
Cambyses
 Successor of Cyrus
 Ruled through hard means
 After his death rebellions broke out
 Darius
 Strong leader who came to power & dealt with rebellions
 Looked to expand boundaries
 Expanded as far east as India (2,800 miles)
 New policies for huge empire
 Empire divided into 20 provinces
 Each had local gov’t
 Satraps (governors) carried out orders in provinces and collected taxes
 Military commander for each satrap
 Had spies (king’s eyes and ears) to be sure satraps followed orders

32.  Darius also built a Royal Road to help unite the empire
 1,775 miles long
 Royal messages sent along the road
 Mail and military troops also used road
 Darius set up a code of law based on Hammurabi’s model &
minted coins (promoted business and made it easy to pay
taxes)
 Planned a march against Egyptian rebels
 But died before that happened
 Son Xerxes dealt with Egypt