Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent
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Transcript of Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent
MESOPOTAMIA AND THE FERTILE CRESCENT
The Fertile Crescent
The Fertile Crescent
An area of fertile land in Western Asia and North Africa
Mesopotamia: “The Land Between the Rivers” Tigris River and the Euphrates River
Life in Mesopotamia
Basic government run by CITY-STATES: cities that have political and economic control over surrounding area
Cities were centered around the ziggurat, a massive stepped tower that served as the temple
Mesopotamia is a THEOCRACY: a government ruled by divine authority or God
Great Ziggurat of Ur
Religion in Mesopotamia
Mesopotamians were POLYTHEISTIC: they believed in many gods
Scribes developed one of the earliest systems of writing called cuneiform: a system of wedge-shaped markings
Scribes also developed a system of mathematics based on the number 60
Cuneiform Tablets