1. GEOGRAPHY OF MESOPOTAMIA
Social Studies for 8th E.G.B.
Teacher: Mauricio Torres

2. WATER IS LIFE
• With bands of hunter-gatherers settling down all
around the world, into farming settlements, they began
to domesticate animals and plants.
• Civilizations needed water to support their growing
numbers.
• They learned how to control floods.
• These were the River Valley Civilizations.

3. THE LAND BETWEEN RIVERS
• The Tigris and Euphrates rivers are the most important physical features of the region
known as Mesopotamia.
• Its Greek for: “in between rivers”

4. THE LAND BETWEEN RIVERS

5. GEOGRAPHY
• It lies between Asia Minor and the Persian Gulf.
• The region is part of an area known as the
Fertile Crescent (a large arc of rich, fertile
farmland).
• Mesopotamia is made of two parts:
• A plateau in the North.
• A flat plain in the South.
Vocabulary
Plateau: An area of flat, high land.
Plain: is a land with with relatively low relief.

6. RISE OF CIVILIZATION
• 12,000 years ago, hunter-gatherers first settled in the
area.
• Every year, the flood of the rivers made the land ideal
for farming, because the soil was rich in nutrients.
• By 7,000 BC they began producing:
• Farming: Wheat, barley and other types of grain.
• Growing: Livestock, fish and birds.

7. FARMING & CITIES
• The first thing farmers needed, was to control
water.
• If it rained too much were the rivers
began, floods would destroy crops, kill
livestock and wash away everything.
• It it didn’t, then crops dried up.
• Controlling Water
• They developed irrigation.
• They dug canals. Vocabulary
Irrigation: a way of supplying water to an
area of land.
Plain: human-made waterways.

8. FOOD SURPLUSES
• With these new developments, along with
the use of Iron Tools, farmers now
produced more than what they actually
needed, and this is called surplus.
• Along with surplus, trade was the next
step. This allowed for people in the area to
feed on a wide variety of foods.
• People now had more time for themselves,
so new jobs were created and also
something called division of labor.

9. BIGGER GOALS
• When people where available to
work on different jobs, this meant
that society could accomplish
more.
• This was done because:
• Large projects needed more
specialized workers.
• They needed to be organized
(structure and rules).
• To complete those goals,
government and laws were needed.

10. CITIES ON THE HORIZON
• Settlements in Mesopotamia grew in size
and complexity.
• Between 4000 and 3000 BC they developed
into cities.
• Even though cities emerged, their main
activity was still agricultural based.
• But in cities everything was done in a much
larger scale:
• Trading
• Building
• Culture

11. ASK YOURSELF
(FOR FURTHER READING USE YOUR BOOKS, CHAPTER 3, SECTION 1)
• Identify:
• What does Mesopotamia mean?
• What were the two rivers where it developed?
• Explain:
• What is the Fertile Crescent?
• How did irrigation help farmers?
• Summarize:
• When, how and why were settlements established in Mesopotamia?
• Analyze:
• What effects did irrigation have on farming?

12. ASSIGNMENT!
• Type a paragraph describing your life in Mesopotamia as a
farmer, and bring it for next class.
• It hasn’t rained in a very long time, but you know the rainy
season is coming.
• What will you have to do in order to use the floods to your
advantage?
• Draw an image, beneath the paragraph, showing your home.

13. BIBLIOGRAPHY
• Burstein, S. M., & Shek, R. (2012). World History (Teacher´s Edition) (1st Edition ed.). (H.
McDougal, Ed.) Orlando, Florida, US.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
• Images taken from Google.com