Chapter 1: The First River Valley Civilizations

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Chapter 1 The First River Valley
Civilizations
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Two Early City-States
Catal Huyuk
Jericho
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Catal Huyuk is the oldest and the largest
Neolithic city found, so far. It dates to 8,000
years BCE and was occupied continuously for 376
generations. No specific reasons for its
abandonment have been found.
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A section of an earlier dig
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An artists reconstruction of Catal Huruk
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Archaeologists at work
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A skeleton found in a house.
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A mural of two animals
A fertility goddess
A pottery bowl with tripod stand
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Jericho
8000 BCE
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Mesopotamia - The Land Between Two Rivers
Mesopotamia was a place where many cities began
to grow. As its name suggests, Mesopotamia was
located between two rivers. The two rivers were
the Tigris River and the Euphrates River.
When a newborn baby begins life, he or she is
placed in a cradle. Mesopotamia is called the
cradle of civilization because the first
civilizations began there, about 5,500 years ago
in 3500 B.C.
Mesopotamia was located in the Middle East, and
surrounded by desert. People came to Mesopotamia
because the soil between the two rivers was very
fertile.
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USA
Mesopotamia was located in the Middle East.
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Mesopotamia was located in what is now the
country of Iraq.
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City-States Formed Along the Rivers
Many city-states formed along the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers in Mesopotamia. They each had
their own form of government, and the people
worshipped different gods and goddesses.
Eventually, they each had their own kings. The
region where the two rivers meet was called
Sumer. The people who lived in the Sumer region
were called Sumerians.
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Why Did These Cities Develop?
Due to the fertile soil in Mesopotamia, farming
was very successful. In fact, people were able to
create surpluses of food. This meant that some
people could stop farming and begin doing other
things, like building a city.
As cities began to develop, people began to worry
about others who might come and invade their
city. They wanted to protect themselves from
enemies, so people in Mesopotamia built walls
around their cities.
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Sumerians
Writing first began in Sumerian cities. The
first schools were set up in Sumer over 4,000
years ago. Sumerian schools taught boys the new
invention of writing. Those who graduated became
professional writers called scribes. Scribes
were the only people who could keep records for
the kings and priests. Boys that wanted to be
scribes had to attend school from the age of 8 to
the age of 20.
Remember, Sumer is the region where the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers meet.
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Sumerian Society

• Sumer was different from all other earlier
  civilizations
• Advanced cities
• Specialized workers
• Complex institutions
• Record keeping
• Advanced technology
• Developed city-states
• Food surplus increased population expanded
  trade expansion of Sumerian society

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Sumerian Society (cont.)

• Polytheistic
• Wrote myths (Epic of Gilgamesh)
• Had social classes
• Priests and kings were at the top
• Slaves were at the bottom
• Women probably couldnt attend school but had
  many other rights
• Advances in mathematics
• Number system based on 60 (60 seconds 1 minute)

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Sumerian Inventions

• Wagon wheel
• Potters wheel
• Number system using base 60 time and circles
• 12 month calendar
• Metal plow
• Sail
• Some of the 1st known maps
• New architecture Bricks
• Arch and ramp

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Sumerian Writing
Scribes used a sharp point called a stylus to
etch words into clay tablets. These tablets have
been discovered by archaeologists and looked at
by historians.
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A Sumerian City
Sumerian city streets were so narrow that you
could hardly get a cart through them.
Narrow Streets
Sumerian houses faced away from crowded streets.
Instead, they faced onto courtyards where
families ate and children played.
Courtyard Area
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Sumerian Cities
On hot nights, people slept outdoors on the top
of their houses flat roof.
Sumerians had a form of light at night. They
burned oil lamps.
Sumerians even had plumbing! Clay pipes that
were buried underground carried their waste away.
Inventions like plumbing wouldnt come around
for another thousand years in other parts of the
world!
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Sumerian Religion
Sumerians worshipped many gods, not just one.
This belief in many gods is called polytheism.
Poly means many and Theism means gods.
The picture above shows a ziggurat. Ziggurats
were the main temples used to worship the gods of
a city. Ziggurats were built in the center of
the city. They had steps and ramps, and it was
believed that the gods descended to the Earth
using the ziggurat as a ladder.
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Sumerian Mythology
Sumerian myths, or stories, explained peoples
beliefs. Sumerians believed that a person must
keep the gods happy by going to the ziggurat and
praying to them. They believed that the gods
would reward them for good service. They also
believed that the gods would punish the people
who made them angry.
ziggurat
Gods
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The Epic of Gilgamesh
Search for immortality by semi-historical King
Gilgamesh of Uruk (2700 BCE) after death of his
friend Enkidu. Realizes that only gods enjoy
immortality humans must content themselves with
fame derived from performing mighty deeds Story
of a devastating flood in later version
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The Epic of Gilgamesh PowerPoint
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The Downfall of the Sumerians
Each of the Sumerian city-states had a ruler, and
these city-states began fighting each other.
They fought over land and the use of river water.
Since the Sumerians were constantly at war with
each other, they became weak. By 2000 BC, Sumer
was a weakened area, and by 1759 BC, Sumer was
conquered by another group of people - the
Babylonians, who were from the north.
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Who Controls Mesopotamia?
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From Sumerians to Babylonians

• The Sumerian city-states eventually fell to
  foreign invaders (2000s BC)
• The Akkadians
• Semites- nomadic people from the Arabian
  Peninsula that migrated to Mesopotamia
• Sargon I (2300-2200 BC) unites all Mesopotamian
  cities (creates first empire)

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The Ancient Babylonians

• Amorites (2000-1600 BC)
• Conquered many parts of old Sumeria (including
  Babylon)
• Hammurabi - created a law code with harsh
  punishments
• Borrowed heavily from Sumerian culture
• After Hammurabis death Babylon declined

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Hammurabis Code (1700 BCE)
Hammurabi was the king who united most of
Mesopotamia and conquered the Sumerians. He
developed a code of laws. The laws were
numbered from 1 to 282. Law number 196 states If
a man put out the eye of another man, his eye
shall be put out. Some people summarize
Hammurabis code by saying an eye for an eye.
Law number 195 states If a son strike his
father, his hands shall be hewn off. There are
many, many more laws like this in Hammurabis
Code.
A statue of Hammurabi
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On the left is a stela, which has all 282 of
Hammurabis laws engraved on it. This stela is
located in the Louvre Museum in Paris, France.
Stelas containing Hammurabis Law Code were
erected throughout the Mesopotamia River Valley.
The Hammurabi stela was discovered in 1909, in
Susa, Elam, which is now Khuzestan. Khuzestan is
a province of southern Iran.
Susa
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The Law Code of Hammurabi PowerPoint
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Hittites

• Began to conquer Asia Minor (2000 BCE)
• A strong army with chariots
• Conquered Babylon in 1595 BCE)
• Borrowed from Mesopotamian and Egyptian culture
• Had a law code less harsh than Hammurabis
• Lasted until about 1200 BCE

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Assyrians

• Started to gain strength about 900 BCE
• Powerful army
• Treated conquered people cruelly
• Large empire with good roads
• Collapsed about 612 BCE

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Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians)

• Defeated the Assyrians in about 612 BCE
• Descended from Hammarabis Babylonians
• At its height during the rule of Nebuchadnezzar
  (605-562 BCE)
• Spent a lot of money on Babylon
• Built Hanging Gardens
• Empire collapsed in 539 BCE after being defeated
  by the Persians

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Persians

• Were Indo-Europeans
• Cyrus (conquered from the Nile to the Indus)
• Darius I
• Administered the empire using satraps (governors)
• Tolerant to those who were conquered
• Increased trade and built roads
• Lost to the Greeks in 480 BCE