Chapter 1 Section 2 Mesopotamian Civilization Mesopotamians Civilization The cradle of civilization Began in the valleys of the Tigris and

Euphrates Rivers Had the following: Cities Government Art Religion Class divisions Writing systems Why were river valleys important Good farming conditions Provided fish Provided water Easy to travel Allowed trade Cities took shape and needed organization Formed government Took charge of food supplies Building project Made laws Assembled armies Developed religion Started art Invented writing Created a calendar Had a class structure The rise of Sumer Now southern Iraq Bounded by the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Later the Greeks called this area Mesopotamia The land between the rivers

In the fertile Crescent, a curving strip of land from the Mediterranean sea to the Persian Gulf Hot, dry climate Unpredictable flooding that left rich soil Learned to build dams and channels to control the floods Built walls, waterways, and ditches to bring water to the fields (irrigation) City-states Isolated from each other by geography (mudflats & Deserts) Had own government Went to war against each other Surrounded itself with a wall Used river mud with crushed reeds to form bricks that were dried in the sun Gods and rulers Believed in many gods Each god had power over natural force or human activity Built a temple, a ziggurat, to the chief god mountain of god hills of heaven Top was a shrine where only a priest or priestess could go Contained places, royal storehouses, and citys treasury Later kings ran the government Position became hereditary Life in Sumer Kings lived in large places Ordinary people lived in small mud-brick houses Most people farmed Some were artisans, merchants, or traders Social classes Upper class-kings, priests, and government officials Middle class-artisan, merchants, farmers, and fishers (the largest group) Lower class-enslaved people who worked on farms or in the temples

Men Headed the household Only men could go to school Edubba-tablet house Women Could buy and sell property Could run businesses Why was writing important Sumers greatest invention Kept records Passed ideas to others Cuneiform Wedge-shaped marks cut into clay tablets with a sharp reed Scribes were wealthy boys Sumerian literature Epic of Gilgamesh Worlds oldest story About a king who traveled the world looking for a way to live forever Advances in science & math Irrigation Wagon wheel Plow Sailboat Geometry Number system based on 60 12-month calendar