city itself and land surrounding it

system began with pictograms ; consisted of hundreds of wedge-shaped markings made by pressing the end of a sharpened reed on wet clay tablets

• Tigris and Euphrates did not provide a regular supply of water
• Summer- no rain- drought for crops during fall planting season
• Spring- flooding from heavy rains and snow- villages and fields washed away
• Farmers had to adapt to challenges:
• Built dams and channels to control water flow
• Created canals and ditches for irrigation
• A surplus of food was produced eventually which showed the farmers success

• a ziggurat was a temple made of sun-dried brick; decorated with colored tile; built in each city-state; had terraces; staircase led to shrine at top; only priests and priestesses were allowed in shrine which was dedicated to city-states chief diety
• in FORM ziggurat was like pyramid (both were massive stepped/peaked structures)
• pyramid HID a tomb BELOW passageways
• ziggurat RAISED a shrine to sky reached by stairs

• Military rulers chosen when city-states faced threats of foreign invasion
• Kingships became hereditary; kings were military leaders and high priests
• Kings represented city-states diety; governements were monarchies and theocracies

• Men were seen as head of household and had authority over wife and children
• Men could sell wife and children into slavery if needed to pay off debt
• Men could divorce wives for slightest cause

• Cuneiform was system of writing
• Developed cuneiform so they could keep accounts and prepare documents

• Each Sumerian diety presided over a specific natural force(rain, moon, air, etc.) or human activity (plowing)
• each city-state claimed its own diety to whom its citizens prayed and offered sacrifices
• Sumerians thought dieties were unpredictable and selfish
• Thought they had no regard for humans because they controlled floods, famine, etc.
• In order to put the Gods in a good mood, Sumerians would perform religous ceremonies and rituals for them
• Sumerians felt they had little control over their lives; their lives were controlled by gods

• Many inventions and advancements were created by Sumerians
• wagon wheel, potter's wheel
• number system and 12 month calendar based on cycles of the moon
• first to make bronze and develop a plow

• Immediately launched military campaign of expansion
• United all Mesopotamian city-states in one Empire
• Began to use Akkadian language instead of Sumerian
• Adopted Sumerian religious and farming practices

• TRADE that passed between Egypt and Mesopotamia made Ebla wealthy and powerful
• Controlled neighboring towns and received tribute money from them

• Used his might to put down other Mesopotamian rulers
• Brought entire region under his control
• Rorganized tax system and built and repaired irrigation canals
• Organized strong government
• Worked to increase prosperity of people
• Babylone became a major trade center under his rule(China and India even traded gold and silver for their grain and cloth)

Hammurabi's greatest achievement=making JUSTICE in the land:

• made 282-section law code
• "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth"
• first time law had been written down; before this, people used violence
• Crime became concern of whole community, and government had to be responsible for its citizens

Society divided into 3 groups:

1) kings, priests, and nobles at the top

2) artisans, small merchants, scribes, farmers in middle

3) slaves at the bottom

***Laws varied due to class

• After Hammurabi's death, empire declined
• Mesopotamia divided into small states
• Hittites raided Babylon
• Babylon later became capital of new empire under the Chaldeans

1.Nobles, Kings, Priests 2.merchants, scribes, farmers 3.Slaves

1.Wagon Wheel 2.Potters Wheel 3.Calender 4.Number System

• the eastern part of the Fertile Crescent
• name means "land between the rivers"

• begin in modern-day Turkey and run parallel to each other through present day Iraq
• often flooded

• land that stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf
• includes countries of Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey, Syria, and Iraq