Copyright © Clara Kim 2007. All rights reserved.

Why River Valleys?•1. Offered rich soils for agriculture

•2. Tended to be located in places that could offer protection from nomadic invaders

The Fertile Crescent

• Arc of land between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia

One land…Two Rivers• Mesopotamia means =

“land between the rivers”–Tigris River and

Euphrates River• Both rivers flooded once

a year and left thick bed of silt.–Silt: rich, new soil

farmers could plant and harvest enormous quantities of wheat and barley

PoliticalPower of the Priests• Sumer’s earliest

governments were controlled by temple priests–Farmers believed they

needed blessings for success of their crops

–Priests were the middle man for the Gods

–Priests demanded portion of farmer crops as tax

Political

• Later followed

Hereditary rulers:

when the power is

passed down to

family members

Sargon

Economy• Metal tools and weapons (bronze, iron)

• Increasing agricultural surplus (better tools, plows, irrigation)

• Increasing trade along rivers – traded with Egypt

• Development of the world’s first cities

• Specialization of labor

Religion• Polytheistic: Belief in

Many Gods (3,000!!!)• Gods could be angered at

any moment and to keep them happy Sumerians:–Built impressive

ziggurats or temples to sacrifice food, wine and animals

–Souls of the dead wandered in the land of no return

MORE ZIGGURATS!!!

Sumerian Society

Kings and Priests

Wealthy merchants

Ordinary Sumerian people

Slaves

Women• Could hold property• Join lower ranks of

priesthood• There were few women

scribes–Scholars think that girls

were not allowed to attend schools

IntellectualEpic of Gilgamesh• Myths and

legends recorded in this long poem

• One of the earliest works of literature in the world

“Gilgamesh, whither are you wandering?

Life, which you look for, you will never find.

For when the gods created man, they let

Death be his share, and withheld life

In their own hands”

AchievementsScience and

Technology• Invented the wheel,

the sail, the plow• First to use bronze.• Developed system of

writing• Built irrigation

systems, buildings, surveyed flooded fields.

Pictures Cited• Slide 1 - http://www.mayfairgames.com/mfg-shop/phalanx/pics/pha6016-cl.jpg• Slide 3 - http://www.hawaii.edu/ahead/Iraq%20General/mesopotamia.jpg• Slide 4 – http://userwww.sfsu.edu/~patters/culinary/media/fertilec.jpg• Slide 5 – http://content.answers.com/main/content/wp/en-commons/thumb/a/a5/288px-Tigr-euph.png• Slide 6 – http://individual.utoronto.ca/CLA160Y/Images/TellAsmarFig.jpg• Slide 7 – http://www.mysteriousworld.com/Content/Images/Journal/2003/Autumn/Osiria/Sargon180.gif• Slide 8 – http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/accessibility/meetings/2006/sig14/sig14images/ah5jpg• Slide 9 – http://questgarden.com/52/41/5/070613164641/images/ziggurat1.gif• Slide 10 – http://www.meridianmagazine.com/ideas/images/ur3.jpg,

http://todoweb2002.iespana.es/ceramica/mesopotamia/ziggurat.jpg• Slide 11 – Made by Clara Kim• Slide 12 – http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/m/images/mesopot_sumer_asmarfigs_lg.jpg• Slide 13 – http://www.allaboutarchaeology.org/images/epic-of-gilgamesh.jpg• Slide 14 – www.archaeology.org• Slide 15 –http://siteresources.worldbank.org/NEWS/Images/071506-Mtwango-Irrigation.JPG