Vocabulary
city-state
artisans
ziggurat
cuneiform
scribe
priest-kings
empire
culture
reign
Notes
The first civilizations developed around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
This area was called Mesopotamia.
People often refer to this area as the �cradle of civilization.�
It is located in present day Iraq.
Around 3500 BC, a group known as the Sumerians settled in this area.
The area they settled was called Sumer.
The Sumerians made many advances using materials from their environment.
They developed canals and used mud and reeds to make bricks.
The bricks were used to build homes and cities.
The greatest city they built was called Ur.
Each Sumerian city was a city-state.
It was made of the city and surrounding farmland.
The city-state was enclosed by a brick wall with bronze gates.
Streets were constructed from the gates and led to the center of the city.
The center of the city was home to merchants and priests.
These people were the upper class.
Behind these houses were those of the middle class.
Government officials, shopkeepers, and artisans made up the middle class.
The lower class� homes were farther out.
Farmers, unskilled workers, and fishermen made up the lower class.
A ziggurat was also at the center of each Sumerian city.
Courts surrounded the ziggurat.
People worked in the courts.
School was held in the courts.
Great celebrations were held in the courts.
All Sumerian life centered around the ziggurat and the courts.
Sumerians believed that the forces of nature were alive.
Each natural force was a god.
Sumerians believed that the gods made humans to be their servants.
If the gods were not happy, Sumerians believed that bad things would happen to them.
Priests were seen as the only communicator between the gods and the people.
Priests were very powerful in Sumerian life.
School was only for sons of the rich.
In school, boys were taught how to write cuneiform.
Cuneiform was used to keep track of business.
Upon graduation from school, boys were considered scribes.
Scribes worked for the government, palace, merchants, army or set up their own businesses.
In the beginning of the Sumerian civilization, priests were also given the job of king.
One of the most famous priest-kings was Gilgamesh.
Priest-kings were advised by a group of men known as the assembly.
During war time a member of the assembly was chosen as the military leader.
Eventually, these people became the permanent kings with the job being hereditary (passed down from father to son).
New civilizations began to develop in Mesopotamia around 2400 BC.
Akkad was a new civilization under the rule of Sargon I.
Sargon I conquered the Sumerian city-states and created the world�s first empire.
Akkad had the language Akkadian but worshipped Sumerian gods and used cuneiform to write.
Once Sargon died, the empire no longer existed.
Around 1800 BC, another group called the Amorites settled in the Tigris and Euphrates valley.
One city they settled was called Babylon which was ruled by Hammurabi.
Hammurabi conquered Sumer and Akkad.
He created a large empire that took the language Akkadian and worshipped Sumerian gods but gave them new names.
Hammurabi made many improvements in Babylon.
Babylon was a world famous trading center during Hammurabi�s reign.
Hammurabi enhanced irrigation systems, raised the Babylonian god above all others, and created a uniform code of laws for the empire.
People were considered innocent until proven guilty.
If people were found guilty of breaking the code of laws they were punished.
Royal judges made sure that the code of law was carried out fairly.
Hammurabi�s reign is known as the Golden Age of Babylon.
The early civilizations of Sumer, Akkad, and Babylon made many contributions to later civilizations.
The Sumerians created the oldest written records.
They wrote their laws using cuneiform from which later civilizations developed their written language.
The Sumerian invented the wheel and a plow which are still helpful today.
People of Mesopotamia developed a 12-month calendar based on moon cycles.
Their number system was based on 60 which later lead to the 60 second minute and 60 minute hour.
Mesopotamians also used a clock that ran off of droplets of water.