• Standard:

14.Introduce the Fertile Crescent cultures, Sumerians, Babylonians (Hammurabi), Assyrians and Phoenicians and their contributions to civilization

16.Describe the decline of Egypt and rise of other African cultures:– Kush, Ghana, Mali, Songhai,

• including trade, products, slavery, learning,

• beginnings and spread of Judaism and Islam

The Fertile

Crescent

The Geography

Located between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers

• The area once had large forests– But they were cut down for buildings and

firewood• Today it is mostly desert

“The Land

Between the

Rivers”

Ancient Mesopotami

a

• The rivers deposited silt as they flowed south– It created

loose soil, good for farming• The people

grew wheat and barley

Southern Mesopotamia

• But they were threatened by annual floods and drought– They built levees

to protect from fall flooding

– The built canals for irrigation during summer drought

Northern Mesopotamia

• It had good rainfall– But the soil was rocky

• not always good for farming

• Some people cut timber and used metals and stone from nearby mountains

• Review– Pg 57 #1 – 5

• Use complete sentences

Sumer

• The first Mesopotamian civilization  – About 5000 BC

• They were an agricultural community– They grew crops and stored food

• The people of Sumer were great inventors

Sumerian Inventions

Irrigation systems

Wagon Wheel

Sailboat

Potter’s Wheel

New ideas in Science and Math

The Sumerians developed a number system based on 60 and a 12-month calendar.

Cuneiform

Cuneiform Writing• Made by scratching a wet clay tablet

with a sharp reed pen

– It was a form of picture writing with about 500 symbols to represent sounds, ideas and objects

Sumer’s Schools

• Only a few boys of the wealthy went to school

– They practiced cuneiform letters and studied mathematics to make accurate records

• Some students became scribes

– They recorded laws, legends, and songs

• Girls did not go to school

City-States• Life in Sumer was centered on its city-states

– Which were often at war with each other

• City-states had thick mud-brick walls for protection

– They fought for control the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers

The King• Ruled from the palace

– Operated the courts– Ran the army– Planned canals and other

projects

Religion

• Was the center of Sumerian life

• They practiced polytheism– The belief in many gods

and goddesses• Ishtar, the goddess of

love and war, was the most famous

The Ziggurat• A pyramid of mud and brick

– It was located at the center of the city and had a temple at the top

• People gave gifts to the temple to please the gods and goddesses

Daily Life in Sumer• Wealthy families

– Lived in large brick houses with servants and slaves

• Slaves were prisoners of war, sold by slave merchants– They had

special haircuts so they could be identified

• Poorer families lived in reed houses This kind of house is still built in Iraq today.

– Everyone worked

– Parents taught children their crafts

Leisure• The people of Sumer enjoyed playing board

games and listening to music

City-States Unite

• Sargon, king of Kish created the first great empire

• He united all the independent city-states of Sumer

• He extended the empire north and west

• Cuneiform writing allowed Sargon to send his laws across the kingdom

• After Sargon’s death the empire broke up and the city-states became independent again.

Storytellers• Greatest legend is the

story of Gilgamesh– He set out on a journey to

discover how humans could live forever

– In the stories he has many adventures, but never finds the secret of living forever.

• Here is one of those stories• http://

www.mesopotamia.co.uk/geography/story/sto_set.html

• Review– Pg 63 #1 – 5

• Use complete sentences

Babylon and Assyria

Hammurabi

• King of Babylon

– Built dams across the Euphrates River

• Which allowed him to control the river’s water flow

Babylon• Hammurabi’s capital city

– Center of trade in the Fertile Crescent

– Became wealthy and powerful

Code of Hammurabi

• 228 laws dealing with everything (wages, divorce, military service, etc.)

• All citizens were expected to obey

– Not everyone was equal under the code of laws

Hammurabi

• http://www.natgeoeducationvideo.com/film/1011/mesopotamia

Time of War• After

Hammurabi’s death Assyria fought many wars against Babylon.

• It’s armies were feared

– Battering rams and horse-drawn chariots made them faster and more dangerous in battle.

Assyria– By 600 B.C.

the Assyrian empire stretched from Egypt to the Persian Gulf and into modern Turkey

Assyrian Life• Prisoners were brought in as slaves

– To work on farmlands and building projects

– Some eventually became Assyrian citizens

• Assyrian men were hunters, soldiers and government leaders.

• Assyrian women stayed home and cared for families

The Aqueduct• Nineveh was located on the Tigris River

• One ruler built an aqueduct (a raised waterway) to carry the water to 30 miles away.

War Between Babylon and Assyria

• The Assyrian king, threatened by revolt in Babylon, ordered the city to be destroyed.

– Palaces and homes were burned

– The city was flooded with river water

• Babylon fought back and destroyed Nineveh

• Assyria never recovered

• Babylon was a rich and important city and had one last period of glory

• Review– Pg 71 # 1 – 5

• Use complete sentences

The Birth of Judaism

Abraham• The Hebrew Bible

says

– The Jewish people are the descendents of Abraham and his wife Sarah

–A family of Ur

A Covenant with God• Abraham and Sarah set out for Canaan• When they got there he made a covenant,

or special agreement, with God

• This event is considered to be the beginning of Jewish history

Migrating to Egypt

• There was a time of hunger

• The Israelites went to Egypt where there was food

• At first they were welcomed

• Later a new ruler enslaved them

Moses

• Was born to Israelite parents

• And later adopted by the pharaoh’s daughter– He was raised in the

royal household– He shared the wealth

and power of ancient Egypt’s rulers

• According to the Hebrew Bible:– After seeing an Egyptian beating an

enslaved Israelite Moses pushed the man away• The man fell and was killed and Moses

fled to Midian–Present day Saudi Arabia

Moses as Prophet• After many years God persuaded

Moses to return to Egypt and lead his people out of slavery

– To the Israelites Moses is a prophet

• A person who speaks for God

• Moses led the Israelites to safety

Mount Sinai

• Where God gave Moses the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, called the Torah

The Torah

• In Hebrew, Torah means “to teach”

• Some of the laws were similar to those in Babylonia

Move to Monotheism

• One important way the Torah was different from other laws

– God forbade the Israelites to worship any other gods

– This set the Israelites apart from other people in the Fertile Crescent

Ten Commandments

• Laws God gave Moses

• The Core of the Jewish religion and teachings

40 Years in the Wilderness

• Then the Israelites crossed the river Jordan into Canaan

• But without Moses

– He died just before they crossed

The Nation of Israel

• In Canaan the Hebrews defeated several kings

– They established the nation of Israel

King David

• Under King David’s leadership Israel became a powerful kingdom

– He made the city of Jerusalem his capital

King Solomon

• King David’s son

• He built a great temple

• Jerusalem became the center of religious and political life for the Jews

– It continues to be so today

Israel Divides• After Solomon’s

death the kingdom of Israel split into two

• The northern kingdom remained Israel

• The southern kingdom was called Judah

Israel

• In 721 B.C. Israel was conquered by the Assyrians

Judah• In 586 B.C. Judah was

destroyed by Babylonia

– Solomon’s temple was destroyed

• Jews were led away to Babylon

Diaspora• The scattering of Jews away from their

homeland

• 1917-1948 Great Britain recognized the rights of the Jewish people to establish a “national home in Palestine." – But curtailed the entry of Jewish refugees into

Israel even after World War II. – They split Palestine Mandate into the modern day

Jordan and Israel.• 1948 War of Independence • 1956 Sinai War • 1967 Six Day War • 1973 Yom Kippur War• Despite the numerical superiority of the Arab armies,

Israel defended itself each time and won. After each war Israeli army withdrew from most of the areas it captured.

• Review– Pg 77 #1 – 5

• Use complete sentences

• Next up …

– The Nile River Valley

• Evaluation– Chapter Test