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    River Valley Civilizations - Mesopotamia

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    The document discusses the important characteristics of civilizations in Mesopotamia. The first civilization began in Mesopotamia along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Sumerians developed the first civilization in Mesopotamia and made lasting contributions including advanced cities, specialized workers, religion, government, writing, and technology.

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    River Valley Civilizations - Mesopotamia

    Uploaded by

    api-294843376
    12K views13 pages
    The document discusses the important characteristics of civilizations in Mesopotamia. The first civilization began in Mesopotamia along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Sumerians developed the first civilization in Mesopotamia and made lasting contributions including advanced cities, specialized workers, religion, government, writing, and technology.

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    river valley civilizations--mesopotamia

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    The document discusses the important characteristics of civilizations in Mesopotamia. The first civilization began in Mesopotamia along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Sumerians developed the first civilization in Mesopotamia and made lasting contributions including advanced cities, specialized workers, religion, government, writing, and technology.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    12K views13 pages

    River Valley Civilizations - Mesopotamia

    Uploaded by

    api-294843376
    The document discusses the important characteristics of civilizations in Mesopotamia. The first civilization began in Mesopotamia along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. The Sumerians developed the first civilization in Mesopotamia and made lasting contributions including advanced cities, specialized workers, religion, government, writing, and technology.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
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    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 13

    Essential Question:

    What were the important


    characteristics of the civilizations
    in Mesopotamia?

    Warm-Up Question:
    Why was the Neolithic Revolution
    such a big deal?
    Which of the 5 characteristics of
    civilizations do you think is most
    important?
    River Valley Civilizations
    The discovery of farming during the
    Neolithic Revolution allowed nomadic
    people to settle into civilizations
    The worlds first civilizations
    all began in river valleys
    The first civilization
    began in an area known
    as Mesopotamia
    Mesopotamia means
    The the
    land between Tigris and Euphrates
    rivers & is Rivers
    flooded
    often called the once
    Fertile per year, leaving
    Crescent
    behindof
    or as the Cradle fertile soil ideal for farming
    Civilization
    The first civilization developed
    in the Fertile Crescent: Sumer

    But, surrounding deserts & the lack of natural


    barriers attracted outsiders to Mesopotamia
    made the Sumerians vulnerable to attack
    Lasting Contributions
    Advanced cities:
    Sumerian city-states were
    protected by high walls
    At the city center was a
    temple called a ziggurat
    Lasting Contributions
    Specialized Workers:
    At the top of society were
    priests, and then kings

    In the middle were skilled


    workers, like merchants

    At the bottom, were


    common farmers & slaves
    Lasting Contributions
    Religion:
    Sumerians & Babylonians
    were polytheistic

    The Hebrews in Palestine


    were the 1st monotheistic
    faith in history (Judaism)
    The holy book of Judaism is
    the Torah; God gave Moses
    the Ten Commandments
    which serve as moral laws
    Lasting Contributions
    Government:
    Babylonian King Hammurabi
    created the first legal code
    Hammurabis Code had 282
    laws based on justice &
    retaliation (an eye for an eye)
    The code had different
    punishments for the various
    levels of society
    Lasting Contributions
    Lasting Contributions
    Writing:
    Sumerians made the worlds
    1st writing called cuneiform
    Phoenicians simplified
    cuneiform to a 22 letter
    alphabet
    Phoenician merchants spread
    the alphabet throughout the
    Mediterranean world
    The alphabet influenced
    Greek, Latin, & English
    Lasting Contributions
    Technology:
    Sumerians inventions
    include the wheel, sail,
    plow, & bronze metalwork
    Closure Activity
    Examine the following primary
    source documents and answer the
    questions. Write a paragraph
    answering the following question
    (give evidence from the documents):
    Was Hammurabis Code just?

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