SCmesopotamia

**Mesopotamia** .** Between persian gulf and mediterranean sea. .** Epic of gilgemesh .** Top layer: Kings, land holders & priests .** Inventions: Wheel, plow, bronze, sail.
 * Location
 * .** Tigris river and Euphrates river, located in modern day Iraq.
 * .** Southwest Asia
 * Geography**
 * .** Curved shaped fertile cresent.
 * .** Flat swampy land
 * .** Rich soil= silt
 * .** Desert climate
 * .** Mesopotamia means "land between the rivers."
 * Economy/Agriculture**
 * .**Traded grain, cloth, tools.
 * .** Recieved stone, wood and metal.
 * .** Grew wheat, barley and sorghom.
 * .** Through trade exchanged ideas (cultural diffusions)
 * Time** **Period**
 * .** 4500bc people began to farm.
 * .** 3300bc sumer (city-state) sumerians (people)
 * Eviromental Challenges**
 * .** Unpredictable flooding good-soil. Bad- ruins crops and life.
 * .** Natural resources were limited.
 * .** Little rain= desert.
 * .** No natural barriers= defensless, easy to see enemy coming.
 * .** Not a lot of building material.
 * .** need water fer crops--> built irrigation ditches.
 * War/Military/Defense**
 * .** Built city walls.
 * .** Constant was between city-states
 * .** Hard to defend= no natural barriers
 * .** Spread culture
 * .** Men pick a leader during times of war.
 * Institution**
 * .** City-state is an independent self governing city including its surrounding farm land.
 * Religion**
 * .** Polytheism= belief in many gods
 * .** Gods controlled nature
 * .** What happens to you after death? Go to the "land of no return."
 * .** Gave offerings and sacrifices to the gods
 * Architecture**
 * .** Ziggurat, a place where everything happens and has many uses.
 * .** Exchange ideas- religious, political, economic & social.
 * Literature
 * .** Gives us information on how they __might__ have lived
 * .** Story is similar to the noah's ark legend (flood)
 * Social class
 * .** Next: Wealthy merchants
 * .**Ordinary people: People who worked in the fields or in workshops
 * .** Lowest level= Slaves (debt-war)
 * Equality** (womans rights)
 * .** Women could be merchants, farmers or artisans
 * .** Women could own property
 * .** Some upper class learned to read, write & become scribes.
 * More rights than women in many ancient societies
 * Technology
 * .** Needed math to plan & build things.
 * .** Arithmetic & geometric
 * .** Base 60 (60 sec=1 min) (60m= 1hr) 360 degree circle
 * .** Architecture: Arches, ramps,pyramids,zig
 * .** Writing cuneiform, (on clay tablets)
 * Important people**
 * .** Sargon-conquered
 * .** Sumer-(adopted sumer & spread culture)
 * .** Hammurabi leader of babyloniah empire(known for code of law)
 * Gonvernment**
 * .** Comtrolled by priests at first
 * .** During war men chose a tough fighter to lead- at first control ended after war was over
 * .** With more frequent wars tough fighters= commanders got permanent control
 * .** Hammurabi's code of law