Sean+Mesopotamia

Sean home
 * //__Location:__//**
 * Between persian gulf and mediteranean Sea
 * Southwest Asia
 * Tigris River & Euphrates river
 * Modern day Iraq

//__**Geography:**__//
 * curved shape
 * flat swampy land
 * rich soil>silt
 * fertile cresent
 * desert climate
 * Mesopotamia means, "land between the rivers"


 * //__Time period:__//**
 * 4500-3300 B.C.
 * 4500- people began to farm
 * 3300-sumer


 * //__Economy/Agriculture:__//**
 * traded grain and cloth
 * recieved stone, wood, and metal
 * grew wheat barley and sorghom
 * through trade exchanged ideas


 * //__Challenges:__//**
 * unpredictable flooding
 * no natural resources
 * no natural barriers
 * not a lot of building materials
 * need waterfor crops
 * built irragation ditches
 * little rain=desert


 * //__War/Military/defense:__//**
 * built city walls
 * constant war between city-states
 * hard to defend= no natural barriers
 * spread culture
 * men pick a leader during times of war


 * //__Religion:__//**
 * Polytheism=belief in many gods
 * gods controlled nature
 * what happens to you after death?-go to "land of no return"=gross yucky place
 * gave offerings and sacrafices to the gods

__//**Institions:**//__
 * city-states = governing city including its surrounding farm land.
 * Empires = independent city's city-states brought under **//__1__//** ruler.
 * Sargon created the first
 * Babylonian = invaded mesopotia
 * Dynasty = series of rulers from one family


 * //__Architecure:__//**
 * arches ---ramps--- ---pyramids--- --- ziggarat---
 * Bazaar = market place exchanging ideas
 * religious, political, economis, social


 * //__Literature:__//**
 * Epic of Gilgamesh
 * gives us information on how ther might have lived
 * story is similar to Noah's ark legend


 * //__Social Classes:__//**
 * TOP LAYER: kings, landholders and priests
 * UPPER MIDDLE: wealthy merchants
 * LOWER MIDDLE: most ordinary people who worked in the fields or in workshops
 * LOWEST: slave because of Dept or War


 * //__Technology:__//**