Post on 11-Jun-2015
description
Chapter 2 Section 1
Mesopotamia
Fertile Crescent
• Land area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
• Called MESOPOTAMIA or land between rivers
• Located in current day Iraq
Government
• Formed city-states….cities that had their own government
• First people were Sumerians
• Had walls built of mud, used arches and domes
• Center of city was a religious temple called a ziggurat
• Gods were thought to have ruled the cities making them a theocracy or a govt. by divine authority
• Later kings took power
Empires
• Large political state under the rule of one ruler• First was started by Sargon
• Babylonian Empire was led by King Hammurabi• Started the Code of Hammurabi
• 282 laws dealing with all aspects of life
• Was uniform throughout the Babylonian Empire
Customs and Traditions
• Patriarchal society• Society dominated by men• Women had less rights
• Polytheism• Belief in many gods
• Cuneiform• Early system of writing• Scribes were the first record keepers
Sumerian Inventions
• Wagon Wheel
• Potters wheel
• Sundial
• Arch
• Math and Astronomy