History is a story that tells us who we are … by telling us who we were.

The story must tie facts together, but there is no need to have all the information to tell the story

Stories from the past combine to help us tell our story

Time before the development of writing Scientists say it may go back hundreds of thousands of

years No documented “story” without writing Really belongs to scientists and archaeologists Many human advances, including the ability of humans

to domesticate agriculture – leads to settlements

Civilizations developed along major river systems all over the world

Some settlements are tens of thousands of years old

Rivers brought not just water, but silt as well, which fertilized the land

Certain rivers are predictable in their floods

Mesopotamia: Tigris and Euphrates Civilization was called Sumer Mesopotamia means “between the rivers” 3300 BC Issues:

Flooding of the valley due to the rivers Epic of Gilgamesh described as a flood that will

destroy the world as they new it Archeologists have found this to be true of the area

Built large dikes to corral the water to be used for drinking and irrigation

What geographical characteristics made the Fertile Cresent a good place to develop?

Tigris and Euphrates Rivers Modern Day Iraq Invented Writing: Cuneiform (Wedge-shaped

writing) Government: City-states Religion: polytheistic and tied to nature using

temples as a place of worship (page 32 of textbook)

Epic of Gilgamesh: Flood story (page 35 text) Hammurabi's Code: equality before the law

After invasion from numerous other civilizations what was the lasting legacy left by the Sumerians? Language Writing Astronomy and mathematics