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Mesopotamia was a succession of 

societies

Sumeria (Sumer)

 Akkad

First Babylon

 Assyria

Second Babylon

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Mesopotamian Civilization

3000 BC

 ± Settlement within the fertile crescent increases

 ± Contact with other cultures in the area Sumerian cities develop

  ± Concentrating in the southern regions of the

alluvial plains of the Tigris and Euphrates

Rivers

Why?

 ± Most fertile soil

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Geography

Unpredictable rivers (Tigris and Euphrates)

Flat land open to invasion

Semi-arid

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Societies based on city-states

Influence of geography on development

Government ± theocracy

Class System

Monarch / nobility

Priests / scribes Commoners

Slaves

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Mesopotamian Civilization

Religion takes important role inlife

Deities are in human forms andrepresent some natural phenomenon

No separation of Church andstate

Ziggurats ± religious centers

Humans were subservient to

the Gods

Gods are hard to predict

Art of Divination

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Ziggurats - stepped towers topped by temples

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Cuneiform- first system of writing

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Cuneiform tablet

with envelope

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Cuneiform-developed to keep

record of businesstransactions and taxes

Later used for

literature

The first work of  literature was the Epicof Gilgamesh - a

Sumerian flood story

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Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh recounts the adventures of Gilgamesh, king of the ancient Mesopotamian city of Uruk, in his quest for immortality.

Composed about 2000 bc on clay tablets. One of theoldest literary works.

The poem is probably Sumerian in origin but wasabsorbed and adapted by succeeding eastern Mediterraneancivilizations.

In the first prose passage, the goddess Ishtar tries to enticeGilgamesh to marry her; Gilgamesh¶s rejection enragesIshtar and she seeks revenge.

In the second passage, the sage Utnapishtim reveals thatthe gods once attempted to exterminate humankind with agreat flood.

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Gilgamesh

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Writing was reserved for the wealthy classes

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Trade links with Egypt and Harappa

Sumerian mathematics based on 60

(clock and circle)

Sumerian astronomical charts basis for 

modern astronomy

Invented quadratic expressions

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ConqueredSumeria ± Akkadfirst empire

Somecentralization of power 

Sargon I firstemperor 

Absorbed / tookon Sumerianculture

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Conquered Akkad

Hammurabi

Continued Sumerianculture

Code of Hammurabi

282 laws

Based on Lex Talonis

( eye for an eye) and

social class

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Conquered

Babylon

Highly organizedmilitary

Ruthless and

hated

Largest of the

Mesopotamian

empires

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King

Nebuchadnezzar 

Hanging gardens Continued

Sumerian culture

Conquered by the

Persians

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Thank You