city-states in mesopotamia members- sophia midence claudia baquedano felipe lin
TRANSCRIPT
CITY-STATES IN MESOPOTAMIA
Members- Sophia MidenceClaudia BaquedanoFelipe Lin
ENVIROMENT A desert climate dominate the landscape between the persian Gulf and the mediterranean sea in southwest Asia. Yet with in this dry region lies an arc of land that provided some of the best farming in southwest Asia. The regions curved shape and the richness of its land led scholars to call it the fertile crescent.
The rivers framing mesopotamia are the tigris and euphrates. They flow southeast ward to the persian Gulf. The tigris and Euphrates rivers flooded Mesopotamia at least once a year.
MESOPOTAMIA´S MAP
LANGUAGE
The ancient languages of Mesopotamia have come down to us in the cuneiform script. Assyrian and Babylonian are sister dialects of a single language known as Akkadian, which is related to other Semitic languages such as Arabic and Hebrew.
The script was invented before 3000 BC and was first used for the Sumerian language, which has no known relatives. Sumerian was spoken in South Iraq until it died out around 2000 BC, giving way to Akkadian
CULTURE
The belief system, social structure, technology, and arts of the sumerians reflected their civilization´s triumph over its dry and harsh environment.
RELIGION
Worshiped many gods. Believed gods controlled every aspect of life.
Saw afterlife as a grim place. Everybody would go into darkness and eat dust.
To keep the gods happy, each city built a ziggurat, or pyramid temple.
They were polytheism, a religion of many gods.
GODS
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Historians believe that sumerians invented the wheel, the sail, and the plow and that they were among the first to use bronze.
• Arithmetic and geometry: in order to erect city walls and buildings, plan irrigation systems, and survey flooded fields, sumerians needed arithmeteic and geometry.
•Architectural innovations: arches, columns,ramps, nad the pyramid shaped the design of the ziggurat and permanently influences mesopotamia civilization.
•Cuneiform: sumerians created a system of writing. one of the first known maps was made on a clay tablet in about 2300 B.C. other tablets contain some of the oldest written records of scientific investigations in the areas of astronomy, chesmistry, and medicine.
CUENIFORM
POWER AND AUDITORY
Civilazations came the begining of what we call social classes. Kings, land holders, and some priest made up the highest level in sumerian society wealthy merchants rankd next. the vast majority of ordinary sumerian people worked with their hands in fields and workshops. At the lowest level level of sumerian society were the slaves. some slaves were foreigners who had been sold into slavery as children to pay the debts of their poor parents,. Debt slaves could hope to eventually buy their freedom.
SUMERIANS
Irrigated fields and produced 3 main crops
barley, dates and sesame seeds
built canals, dikes, dams and drainage systems
developed cuneiform writing
invented the wheel
Abundance of food = increase of population
First city of the world
Developed a trade system with bartering
mainly barley but also wool and cloth for stone, metals, timber, copper, pearls and ivory
Individuals could only rent land from priests
controlled land on behalf of gods
most of profits of trade went to
The Sumerians were not successful in uniting lower Mesopotamia
Southern Mesopotamia 3500-2000 BCE
AKKADIANS
Leader Sargon the Great
unified lower Mesopotamia after conquering Sumerians in 2331 BCE
Established capital at Akkad
Spread Mesopotamian culture
Akkadians conquered by invading barbarians by 2200 BCE
Akkad- northern Mesopotamia 2340 – 2180 BCE
BABYLONIANS THE HAMMURABI KING
Conquered Akkad and Assyria
Built
walls to protect the city
canals and dikes to improve crops
Economy based on agriculture and wool
Individuals could own land
Artisans and merchants could keep most profits and even formed guilds
1830-1500 BCE
Grain used as the medium of exchange
emergence of currency :
shekel = 180 grains of barley;
mina = 60 shekels l
Mina was eventually represented by metals - one of first uses of money
still based on grain
Hammurabi’s Legacy
law code
Babylonians reunited Mesopotamia in 1830
central location dominated trade and secured control
YET AGAIN, Mesopotamia was not unified for long…
CODE OF HAMMURABI
•To enforce his rule, Hammurabi collected all the laws of Babylon in a code that would apply everywhere in the land
• Most extensive law code from the ancient world (c. 1800 BCE)
• Code of 282 laws inscribed on a stone pillar placed in the public hall for all to see
•Hammurabi Stone depicts Hammurabi as receiving his authority from god Shamash
•Set of divinely inspired laws; as well as societal laws
• Punishments were designed to fit the crimes as people must be responsible for own actions
• Hammurabi Code was an origin to the concept of “eye for an eye…” ie. If a son struck his father, the son’s hand would be cut off
• Consequences for crimes depended on rank in society (ie. only fines for nobility)
HAMMURABI
VOCABULARY Fertile Cresent- An Arc of rich farmland in the southwest asia bewteen the persian gulf and the mediterranean sea.
Mesopotamia-An ancient region of southwest Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern-day Iraq.
City-state- A city and a sourrounding lands fuctioning as an independent unit.
Dynasty- A series from a ruler from a single family .
Cultural diffusion- The spreading of ideas or products from one culture to another.
Polytheisim- A beleif in many gods.
Empire - Political unit in which a # of peoples or countries are controlled by a sibgle ruler.
Hammurabi- Babylonian king who made Babylon the chief Mesopotamian kingdom and codified the laws of Mesopotamia and Sumeria.
MESOPOTAMIACULTURAL DIFFUSION
ASSESMENT What were the three enviromental challenges to sumerians?
A/ Unpredictable flooding combined with a period of Little or no rain,With no natural barriers for protection,and the natural resources of sumerians were limited
How did the sumerians view the gods?
A/ they pay them respect and they think that the gods were bringing misfortune,luck, and natural disasters
What areas of life did Hammurabi´s code cover?
A/it covered what affected the family including family relationships business conduct and crime
How was sumerian culture spread through Mesopotamia?
A/ by trading with neighboring countries and groups.
Why is the development of a written code of laws important to a society?
A/ so it can bring order and protect the people in a society
How did the need of interact with the environment lead to advances in civilization?
A/ because they needed resources so the more interaction to the enviroment they got to learn and discover different things of the world
Thank you for your attention…