Ancient Mesopotamia

Main Idea: Cultures that developed in ancient Mesopotamia strongly influenced cultures of the present day.

Mesopotamian Culture Begins

Began in region called Sumer between 3000 and 2000 B.C.

Had self-governing city-states, independent political units that controlled areas of surrounding farmland Were the first known civilizations

Writing

Farmers produced surplus of food

Needed way to keep track of amount of surplus as well as goods and services traded for products Began keeping records by drawing pictures on clay tablets Signs made up of wedge-shaped marks eventually took place of pictures Signs stood for specific words and ideas as well as for letter sounds Cuneiform, or wedge-shaped writing, contained 800 signs Many uses for writing included prescriptions, songs, and stories Scribes writers of cuneiform established schools where others were taught to read and write

Cuneiform script developed over thousands of years. At first, word-pictures were used to represent ideas. Later signs changed to represent letters as well as objects and ideas.

Social Classes
Sumerian communities grew more complex Permanent leader was needed someone to organize workers in specialized tasks

Necessary jobs, such as building and maintaining irrigation systems, had to be carried out
Sumerian city-state leaders acted like kings Called lugals means big man The lugals governed a society that had distinct classes Class is a group of people who make about the same amount of money and hold the same social position in society

Sumerian Social Classes Upper class landowners, high government officials, wealthy merchants, military leaders, priests Middle class lawyers, healers, scribes, farmers, skilled workers, craftsmen, laborers Lower class enslaved people Human society has been divided into classes similar to this since this time period

Religion

Sumerian people were polytheistic, people who worship many gods

Stories and legends included gods of sun, moon, darkness, and air

Also less important gods of daily objects such as building tools

According to Sumerian religion, gods lived in social classes just as humans

More important gods belonged to highest class

Believed they should worship gods and brought them offerings Was leaders job to lead people in worshipping gods Paid skilled craftsmen to build statues and elaborate temples to house the statues

Ziggurats
Temples made for Sumerian gods were called ziggurats a pyramid shaped structure that rose in a series of stories towards the sky Sumerians believed the ziggurat was a staircase that connected earth to the heavens.

A more detailed pictures of a ziggurat is in your books on page 72.

Babylon: The Rule of Law Sumerian city-states eventually overrun by outside invaders Some invaders settled in Babylon Became next great civilization in Fertile Crescent

King Hammurabi came into power about 1792 b.c. & ruled for 42 years longer than most people lived
Built his kingdom by setting up strong and effective government in Babylon

Created a code of law made up of 282 laws that governed society (not first ever created but best preserved)
Codes were posted on stone stele or columns throughout the civilization Many of the laws from the code protected the rights of women and children as well as other laws and punishments for each social class

Assyrian Empire
Around 1350 B.C., the Assyrians who were north of Babylon broke free and conquered all lands around them including Babylon Built first empire a state in which a single ruler controls several kingdoms or territories Used powerful military force and new methods of waging war Soldiers traveled by horseback or by horse-drawn chariots and attacked enemies with iron weapons Also used arrows, battering rams and other iron weapons Assyrians showed little mercy to the people they conquered

Assyrian rulers did not always destroy societies conquered

Also created laws and improved cities Rulers kept in touch with large empires by system of message-relay stations Assyrian rule was harsh Some conquered cities rebelled and invaders rushed into empire

Babylonians recaptured power for short time

Around 539 B.C., Babylon was conquered by Persians who came from area that is now Iran Persians would control Fertile Crescent for more than a century

Gifts From Mesopotamia

The Mesopotamians made many discoveries and invented many things still in use today Sumerians invented the wheel for carts, chariots, etc.

The potters wheel, a flat, round stone used to make pottery was used in Mesopotamia as early as 3500 B.C.
Invented instruments to measure time by dividing an hour into 60 minutes and a minute into 60 seconds

Invented a way to melt bronze and pour it into large molds used these molds to make statues of their gods
Also made calendars based upon the movement of the sun and the moon

Curious Fact For 3,000 years, cuneiform was used by many different peoples. It was especially useful in political life. Assyrians and Babylonians both adopted the script from Sumerians. Cuneiform, which had hundreds of signs, was abandoned about 900 B.C. for another language, Aramaic, which had only 22 letters and was much easier to write.