Ancient Mesopotamia
AncientMesopotamiaSSWH1a - Compare and contrastMesopotamian and Egyptian societies,include: religion, culture, economics,politics, and technology.
Vocabulary 1. Fertile Crescent – the boomerang-shaped region of the Middle East that was home to some of theearliest human civilizations. Also known as the “Cradle of Civilization,” 2. Mesopotamia – Greek word meaning, “land between two rivers.” The world’s first civilization. 3. Cuneiform – The first form of writing invented by the Sumerians around 2500B.C.E. that was written onclay tablets 4. Scribes – People trained to write cuneiform and record many of the languages spoken in Mesopotamia. 5. Polytheism – the belief and/or worship of more than one god 6. Hammurabi’s Code – the most famous written law codes, founded by Hammurabi in Babylon. Writtenon Clay Tablets or Stone Pillars so that everyone in public could see. 7. Sumer - The first major civilization in Mesopotamia 8. Ziggurats – a religious temple built to house the gods. Were the religious and economic centers of earlySumerian city-states 9. Civilization - are complex societies. They have cities, organized governments, art, religion, class divisions,and a writing system.
Geography ofMesopotamia
Timeline of Ancient Mesopotamia 5000-3500 BCE: The first city-states gradually develop in southern Mesopotamia.This is the achievement of the Sumerian people. BCE. 3500: Writing begins to be developed. At first this is based on pictograms,and takes about a thousand years to evolve into a full cuneiform script. BCE. 2300: King Sargon of Akkad starts conquering the first empire in worldhistory. The empire reaches its height in c. 2220. BCE 1792-49: King Hammurabi of Babylon conquers a large empire. Hammurabiis famous for the law code which he issues. His empire begins to decline immediatelyafter his death.
Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic; more than 2,000gods and goddesses have been identified. The chief of the gods varied from period to period. For theSumerians, it was Enlin, the Sky God. The Babylonians worshipped Marduk above all others,Religionand Ashur was the supreme god of the Assyrians. Other notable gods and goddesses were Ishtar, goddess oflove and fertility, Tiamat, god of the sea and chaos, andSin, the moon god. Everything that happened on Earth had a divine dimensionto it – was at least as much the result of the wishes of godsas of men and women. The overriding purpose of man was to serve the gods.
The ZigguratTemple The overriding purpose of man was toserve the gods. This meant not justtending the gods’ sanctuaries and burningincense at their altars, it meant feedingthem and providing them with all theirmaterial needs. In early Mesopotamian times this meantthat the entire economic life of a city-statewas geared to the service of the temple. Ziggurats were built to house the gods.
Sumerian Government: Politically, the each Sumerian city formed its own city-state, composed ofthe city itself and the farmland for several miles around. These city-states were fiercely independent from one another, and warfarebetween them was frequent.Government Kings: By the mid-third millennium, the political dominance of the temple wasseriously modified by the rise of kingship in all the Mesopotamian citystates. In many cases, these kings sought and succeeded in unifying allof Mesopotamia. Two Famous Kings who succeeded in unifying Mesopotamia were:2300 B.C. –Sargon, the ruler of Akkad, conquered Sumer and built thefirst known empire.1790 B.C.–Hammurabi, King of Babylon, united the Babylonian empire.
A large amount of ancientMesopotamian libraries has come downto us, much of it found in royal librariesdating from Assyria and late Babyloniantimes. The literature is written in cuneiform script,and contains prayers, hymns, myths, epicpoetry, collections of proverbs, works ontheology, philosophy, politics and astrology,books of spells, historical records and manyother kinds of texts. The best-known piece of Mesopotamianliterature is the Gilgamesh Epic, which, inthe form it has come down to us, dates toaround 2000 BCE; this long poem is famousfor pre-dating the Biblical story of Noah’sArk by telling of a world-wide flood. Most of the writings from this time periodwere kept in the royal libraries within thetemples of major cities.Art and Culture
Epic of Gilgamesh
Language & Writing Cuneiform was at first written in theSumerian language around 2500 BCE. For more than a millennium Sumerianretained importance as the language ofadministration, religion and highculture. Learning to write in cuneiform was along and rigorous process, and literacywas confined to a small elite of priestsand officials. The Writings were primarily used tokeep track of legal and economicdocuments on clay tablets which
Agriculture – The Beginning of the Agricultural Revolution The Mesopotamian economy, like all pre-modern economies, was basedprimarily on agriculture. The Mesopotamians grew a variety of crops, including barley, wheat,onions, turnips, grapes, apples and dates. They kept cattle, sheep andgoats; they made beer and wine. Fish were also plentiful in the rivers andcanals.Economics The rivers Tigris and Euphrates, and their numerous branches, madefarming possible in Mesopotamia. However, they could be wild rivers, andfloods were frequent. At the same time, the hot, dry climate meant that yearround irrigation was needed to grow crops. The Mesopotamians were the first people to attempt to control water ona large scale by the use of an integrated system of dykes, reservoirs,canals, drainage channels and aqueducts. The water control system was built up generation by generation, covering anever wider area and involving an ever denser network of waterways.
Irrigation &FarmingIrrigation allowed thefarmers to grow plenty offood and support a largepopulation People living inone place Cities Beginning of Civilization
The plain of Mesopotamia was created incomparatively recent times (from an geological pointof view) by the mud brought down by the rivers. This means that the region is very short of usefulminerals such as stone for building, precious metalsand timber. This had the effect of stimulating trade withneighbouring regions, and beyond. Early in Mesopotamia’s history food surpluses andcraft goods were exchanged for mineral resources. Later, Mesopotamian merchants ventured furtherTradeafield, with trading contacts being developed withpeoples in Syria and Asia Minor in the west, and inIran and the Indus civilization, in the east. Trade was based on a regulated system of exchange –a given amount of seed would be worth so manyounces of silver, for example. These relative valueswere enshrined in the law codes.
Hammurabi’s Code Hammurabi’s code was the first attempt bya ruler to codify, or arrange and set downin writing, all of the laws that wouldgovern a state. One section codified criminal law,the branch of law that deals withoffenses against others, such asrobbery and murder. Another section codified civil law, thebranch that deals with private rightsand matters, such as businesscontracts, taxes, and propertyinheritance. Law 5: If a judge makes an errorthrough his own fault when trying acase, he must pay a fine, beremoved from the judge’s bench,and never judge another case. Law 195: If a son strikes his father,the son’s hands shall be cut off.
Social Classes The elite was greatly restricted in size by the Social Classes were a major sign or factorthat a civilization has been established.Upper class - kings, scribes, priests,warriors, and government officials.Middle class - artisans, merchants,farmers, and fishers. These peoplemade up the largest group.Lower class - enslaved people whoworked on farms or in the temples.difficulty, length of time and expense it tookto acquire literacy and numeracy. The cuneiform script had hundreds ofsymbols to master, which took long years ofhard schooling – and one can be sure thataccess to such schooling was available only tothe children of elite families.
Inventions and Innovationswagon wheelplowsailboatnumber system based on 60geometry12 month calendar
1. SumerA. First civilization of MesopotamiaB. Separated into individual city statesC. First to develop cuneiformD. Capital Ur2. AssyriaA.The kingdom of Assyria emerged as a major regional power in the secondmillennium BCE; however, it was in the early first millenium BCE that it expandedinto a huge empire, covering much of the Middle East.B.Group of fierce warriorsC.The original capital, Ashur, was also the centre of the worship of the chief godof the same name3. Babylon4 Empires ofMesopotamiaA. 1792-49: King Hammurabi of Babylon conquers a large empire. Hammurabi isfamous for the law code which he issues. His empire begins to decline immediatelyafter his death.B. Famous for literary piece, Epic of GilgameshC. Capital Babylon
Empires Cont'd 4. Phoenicia A. Occupied string of cities along theeastern Mediterranean coast. B. Made glass from sand and purple dyefrom a tiny sea snail. C. Called “carriers of civilization” becausethey spread Middle Easterncivilization around the Mediterranean. D. Sea Faring Civilization E. Invented the alphabet. An alphabetcontains letters that represent spoken sounds.
Ancient Egypt SSWH1a - Compare andcontrast Mesopotamian andEgyptian societies, include:religion, culture, economics,politics, and technology.
Vocabulary 1. hieroglyphics – the Ancient Egyptian system of writing that used pictures and symbols to representwords. Often Written on papyrus 2. pharoahs -a ruler in ancient Egypt often referred to as Egyptian god-kings 3. pyramids - a large structure built especially in ancient Egypt that usually has a square base and fourtriangular sides meeting at a point and that contains tombs of the pharoahs. 4. mummification - The methods of embalming, or treating the dead body, that the ancient Egyptians usedto preserve the body for the afterlife. 5. Nile River – The longest river in the world that flows south to north in Africa. 6. papyrus - a reed that grows in marshy areas around the Nile river. In ancient Egypt, the wild plant wasused for a variety of uses, and specially cultivated papyrus, grown on plantations, was used to make paper.
Geography ofAncient Egypt Egypt is located on theNile River The Nile begins in theHighlands of Ethiopiawith two branches: The White Nile and theBlue Nile These rivers unite andflow north where theyempty into theMediterranean Sea. Where the river emptiesinto the Nile it forms theNile Delta, a rich area ofalluvial soil.
Economics
Trade Routes1400 BCE
Timeline ofAncient Egypt
Religion For the Egyptians, religion was closely tied to daily life. The Egyptians were polytheistic, worshipping many different gods. The most important god was the god of the sun, Re, also sometimesreferred to as Ra or Amon-Re. It was believed that the Pharaoh was connected to this god.
Egyptian Deities Re (Ra) The Chief Egyptian god. Was seen as the god of the sun. Anubis was the patron of embalming. He was also the keeper ofpoisons and medicines. Anubis performed the Opening of theMouth ceremony which was performed at the funeral to restorethe senses of the deceased. The ceremony was done by touchingthe mouth of a mummy or statue of the deceased, it was believedto restore the senses in preparation for the afterlife.
Egyptian Deities Osiris Supreme god and judge of the dead. The symbol ofresurrection and eternal life. Provider of fertility andprosperity to the living. When you die, your soul or KA, goes to the underworld to bejudged by Osiris. Your heart is weighed against a feather, soif it is light or guilt free, you move to the afterlife. Isis As a winged goddess she may represent the wind. In theOsiris legend there are references to Isis wailing and moaninglike the wind. She restores life to Osiris by flapping her wingsand filling his mouth and nose with air. Isis was a great enchantress, the goddess of magic. She wasthe embalmer and guardian of Osiris. She is often renderedon the foot of coffins with long wings spread to protect thedeceased.
EgyptianHistory Egyptian History isdivided into three mainperiods The Old Kingdom The Middle Kingdom The New Kingdom
The History ofEgypt begins withMenes Menes Unites upper Egypt andLower Egypt, joining the two into aunited kingdom In doing this, Menes establishes thefirst Egyptian Dynasty
The Old Kingdom 2700-2200 B.C. The Old Kingdom was a period of great prosperity. This time is also called the pyramid age, because the great pyramids were built during this time.Egyptian kings came to be known as Pharaohs.The Pharaoh was seen as divine, or godlike. The peoplebelieved that the Pharaoh controlled many things includingthe flooding of the Nile itself.The Pharaoh wielded absolute power, but used advisors tohelp them.The Chief advisor to the Pharaoh was the Vizier.
The Pyramids andSphinx Pyramids were built during the OldKingdom They were designed to be tombs forthe Pharaoh Originally there were step pyramids,then the pyramids evolved into theones we see at Giza The Pyramids were designed toprotect the mummies of the Pharaohs,but they ultimately failed. They wererobbed and pillaged.
Mummification To preserve the body so that the soul could stay in the afterlife, the Egyptiansperfected the process of mummification. Mummification was expensive, however,and during the Old Kingdom was a luxury of the rich. First the body was washed and the internal organs including the lungs, stomach,liver and intestines were removed. The heart was left in the body because theEgyptians viewed it as the center of emotion. The Brain was removed through the nose and thrown away. The Egyptians didn’tthink it served any purpose The Body was packed in Natron (a drying agent) and left for 70 days. After thatthe body was wrapped in linen with tree resin for glue. Magical amulets and othertreasures were buried with the body.
MummiesWhat are your thoughts on mummification?
The Middle Kingdom2050-1652 B.C After the fall of the Old Kingdom there was a period of chaos forabout 150 years A new dynasty took over in Egypt, bringing a period of stability. Egypt expanded into Nubia to its south. The government also sent troops into Palestine and Syria and senttraders to Kush, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Crete In the new kingdom the Pharaoh took new interest in the commonpeople. The Pharaoh also implemented many public works projects.
The New Kingdom1567-1085 B.C. The Middle Kingdom ended with the invasion of a peoplecalled the Hyksos The Hyksos had Chariots and superior weapons to theEgyptians. The Egyptians were easily defeated. Eventually the Egyptians overthrew the Hyksos andestablished the New Kingdom The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom took a more aggressiveruling style Egypt became the most powerful state in Southwest Asia This is the period in history in which the Egyptians enslavedthe Jews according to the Old Testament
Hatshepsut Hatshepsut was the first woman to bePharaoh She was the daughter of a Pharaoh and themother and regent of a Pharaoh. She took power for herself She had to pose as a man to cement herauthority. She built many monuments and temples.
Akhenaton Akhenaton wanted Egypt toworship the god of the sun, Aton,as the only god. He closed all of the temples to theother gods and caused major socialand political problems. He and hiswife, Nefertiti, become unpopularrulers. After his death Tutankhamen (KingTut) restored the old ways ofworship.
King Tut: Tutankhamen Became pharoah at the age of 9-10 yearsold Became Pharaoh after the death ofAkhenaton. Restored the old religious practices Has the only tomb to be found intact
Ramses II(The Great) Ramses II, reigned from 1279 until1213 B.C. One of the longestreigns in Egyptian History He sought to increase the size ofthe empire and went on manymilitary conquests, but he wasunsuccessful. He was only able togain the area of Palestine. He fathered over 100 children Some think that he is the Pharaohof the Hebrew Exodus
Abu Simbel: Temple ofRamses the Great
Decline Egypt fell into a period of declineand foreign invasion. Egypt was ruled by many differentpeople and eventually defeated by theRomans. The last Pharaoh of Egypt wasCleopatra VII, who committed suiciderather than surrender to the Romans.
EgyptianSociety Daily Life --- Egypt had a hierarchical social structure. The people had a positive attitude towardlife. Monogamy was the rule, and women hadmore rights in Ancient Egypt than the restof the Ancient world. Women could own property, business, andrequest a divorce.
Hieroglyphics Writing began in Egypt around 3000 B.C.There were different types of writing for different occasions.Hieroglyphics were ideograms used for formal writingHieratic Script (Demotic) was a simplified version of Egyptianwriting. The Egyptians carved their writing on stone, or wrote on papyrus, aform of paper made from a reed that grew along the Nile River.What are threeletters you can'tlive without?
The Rosetta Stone For a long time archaeologists were unable totranslate hieroglyphics The discovery of the Rosetta stone allowed for thetranslation of Hieroglyphics It contained the same passage in three languagesHieroglyphicsGreekDemotic
Egyptian Art In Egyptian art the human bodyis usually shown in profile orpartial profile
Egyptian Advancements inMath and Science The Egyptians used math to calculate area and volume in building the pyramids and insurveying flooded land for farming The Egyptians developed an accurate solar (365 day) calendar. The practice of mummification and embalming led to advances in medical knowledgeincluding how to set broken bones, wounds, and disease. Clocks - In order to tell the time Egyptians invented two types of clock.Obelisks were used as sun clocks by noting how its shadow moved around its surfacethroughout the day. From the use of obelisks they identified the longest and shortest daysof the year. Wigs/Makeup
EgyptianMonumentsTop and Bottom of right Pyramids at GizaBottom Left - Step Pyramid of ZoserTop Left - Obelisk of Hatshepsut
Timeline of Ancient Mesopotamia 5000-3500 BCE: The first city-states gradually develop in southern Mesopotamia. This is the achievement of the Sumerian people. BCE. 3500: Writing begins to be developed.
The name Mesopotamia means “between the rivers.” The land of Mesopotamia lay between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Because there was water nearby, the land was good for farming. Farmers grew the food that fed the people of Mesopotamia, including those who lived in the cities. The Land Between Two Rivers. The kings of Mesopotamia
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA- AKKADIAN EMPIRE The Akkadian Empire was the first Empire to rule all of Mesopotamia. It lasted about 200 years from 2300 BC to 2100 BC. Originally the Sumerians lived in the southern part of Mesopotamia and the Akkadians lived in the northern part. They had similar governments and cultures, but spoke different languages.
Considered a River Valley Civilization. Mesopotamia Geography The rivers would overflow, leaving . development of to politics and civilizations. Mesopotamia marked by frequent change. Mesopotamia Geography and Development The first phase of Mesopotamia’s political history . Early
the map on pages 78–79.) Mesopotamia The region where these two rivers flow is called Mesopotamia (MEHS uh puh TAY mee uh). The name means “land between the rivers.” This land was mostly flat with small, scrubby plants. The rivers provided water and means of travel. In ancient times, it was easier to travel by boat than over .
and Euphrates that was named Mesopotamia by the ancient Greeks. The boundaries of Mesopotamia are roughly those of modern Iraq and part of eastern Syria. The ancient Assyrians started exerting their authority over northern Mesopotamia with their first great king Shamshi-Adad I (1813-1781 B
The world’s first civilizations all began in river valleys The first civilization began in an area known as Mesopotamia . Mesopotamia means “land between the rivers” & is often called the “Fertile Crescent”
institutions, as materialized in highly visible public buildings. Mesopotamia, South and North Ancient Mesopotamia is r
Take-off Tests Answer key 2 Answer key 1 Fill in the gaps 1 open 6 switch 2 turn 7 clean 3 pull 8 remove 4 start 9 rotate 5 press 10 hold 2 Complete the sentences 1 must 2 must not 3 must 4 cannot/must 5 must not 6 must not 7 must not 8 can 9 must 3 Make full sentences 1 Electric tools are heavier than air tools. 2 Air tools are easier to handle than electric tools. 3 Air tools are cheaper .
