The First Civilizations

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The First Civilizations

• The Mesopotamians, 3000-1000 B.C.
• The Sumerian and Akkadian Period, 2800-2150 B.C.

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Mesopotamians, 3000-1000 B.C.

• Mesopotamia originally not suited for human
  settlement
• Humans must modifications to the region
• Mesopotamia means between the two rivers
• Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
• 120 summers and only 10 inches of rainfall a year

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Mesopotamians, 3000-1000 B.C.

• The region that was located along the waterways
  in Mesopotamia was called the Fertile Crescent
• Fertile Crescent had yearly deposit of fertile
  silt that provided rich topsoil
• Rivers provided abundance of fish and attracted
  animals

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Mesopotamians, 3000-1000 B.C.

• Bronze Age born with smelting of copper and tin
• Swamp marshes around rivers produced reeds for
  fuel and swamp mud made bricks
• Abundance of plants provide food for domestic
  animals

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Mesopotamians, 3000-1000 B.C.

• Mesopotamia lacked resources like stone, lumber
  and minerals
• Humans adapted to region by using river ways to
  move natural resources
• The development of sailed boats and the wheel
  helped in movement of resources across water and
  land
• Villages settled along river ways and lead to
  the development of urban areas around 3,000 B.C.
• Region in constant struggle because of water ways
  and location

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Mesopotamians, 3000-1000 B.C.

• Religion
• Polytheistic any religion that recognizes more
  than one god
• Ziggurat an ancient Mesopotamian temple which
  served as a temple, government offices, and a
  storehouse for grain
• Worshipped gods for protection, help and no hope
  for an afterlife

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Mesopotamians, 3000-1000 B.C.

• Social structure developed in city states
• Military and religious leaders became social and
  political elites
• Skilled workers
• Slaves and peasants worked for elites
• Male dominance in family

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Mesopotamians, 3000-1000 B.C.

• Economy
• Trade routes developed along the water ways
• Both the Tigris and the Euphrates reached
  different markets because of their locations
• Cities along river ways became heavily involved
  in commerce

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The Sumerians

• Modified environment by draining swamps,
  irrigation and building drainage canals
• Floods and droughts still devastated region
• Introduce cuneiform, a system of writing using
  reeds to make impressions
• Cuneiform introduced management of government,
  communication and record keeping

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The Sumerians

• Sumerian Religion
• Worshipped at a ziggurat, a large temple complex
  where daily government business was addressed
• Government and religious beliefs replace loyalty
  to ones tribe or clan
• Ziggurat size was attempt to reach gods
• Statue of god was worshipped there and it served
  a symbolic purpose

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The Sumerians

• City Life in Sumeria
• Mud brick houses
• 40 of grain used to make ale
• Vegetables, fish, figs, dates and cheese part of
  diet
• Parents arranged marriages
• Adultery a punishable crime

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The Sumerians

• Womens Roles
• Women worked as tavern owners, merchants and wine
  sellers
• Laws distinguished between respectable women and
  prostitutes
• Slave women clothes distinguished them as slaves

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The Sumerians

• Large city states develop like Ur, Uruk and Kish
• They were constantly at war for water, trade
  routes and influence
• Developed a large trade in textiles, animals,
  stone and bronze
• Sumerians considered the earliest civilization

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The Sumerians

• Sumerian Religion
• Polytheistic any religion that recognizes more
  than one god
• Natural disasters act of gods
• Devotion to gods would spare them disasters not
  an afterlife

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Akkadian Period, 2800-2150 B.C.

• Sargon I (2300 B.C.) conquered Sumerians and saw
  an empire that stretched from Persian Gulf to
  Mediterranean
• Used religion to unify Sumerians and Akkadians
• Sargon places daughter, Enheduanna as high
  priestess of Sumerian and Akkadian gods

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Akkadian Period, 2800-2150 B.C.

• Enheduanna successfully linked the two religions
  and set a tradition of daughters serving as high
  priestess
• Gods are ranked by importance (powerful to weak)
• People believe that their world reflects the
  ranking of peoples (king, nobles and peasants)

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Akkadian Period, 2800-2150 B.C.

• Cuneiform, earliest written language, developed
  by accountants which was created by using a reed
  on a clay tablet
• Scribes were the only people that knew how to
  read and write cuneiform
• Used for inventory, payroll of soldiers, property
  ownership and correspondence between monarchs