MesopotamiaMr. Pentzak

Bell Ringer # 12

Take out your homework

1. Where is Mesopotamia?

2. What were the names of the civilizations that lived there?

3. What things did those civilizations accomplish?

4 Copy the following sentence:

Mr. Pentzak’s class will not have a pop quiz today.

Circle the verb, underline the nouns, and draw a triangle around the adjective in that sentence.

LOL JK

POP QUIZ!!!

Clear your desk of everything besides a pencil & a pen

Take your quiz in PENCIL. Grade in PEN

Pop Quiz #2.5

Take out your homework on City-States in Mesopotamia. Write your answers on a blank sheet of paper.

1. Name one of the two rivers that framed Mesopotamia

2. What was Hammurabi’s Code?

3. True or false, the Sumerians had a religion that was mostly monotheistic?

4. What does the word “Mesopotamia” mean in Greek?

5. True or false, Mesopotamia had few natural resources available for people to use?

*BONUS* What was the Sumerian written language called?

Vocabulary List One

1. Matriarchal- Female dominated rule or government

2. Patriarchal- Male dominated rule or government

3. Push Factor- Negative reason for migration

4. Pull Factor- Positive reason for migtation

5. Animism- Attributing souls to inanimate objects in nature (trees, rocks, animals)

6. Paleo- A stem meaning old

7. Neo- A stem meaning new

8. Lith- A stem meaning stone

9. Nomad- A person with no fixed home/moves in search of food

10. Agriculture- Growing food crops and raising animals; farming

Vocabulary List Two

1. Fertile- producing or capable of producing abundant vegetation or crops

2. Irrigation-a system of supplying land with water by means of artificial canals, ditches, etc., esp. to promote the growth of food crops

3. Silt-fine sand, clay, or other material carried by running water and deposited as a sediment

4. Ziggurat-a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple

5. Scribe-a person who copies out documents, especially one employed to do this before printing was invented

6. Monotheism- the belief in one god

7. Polytheism- the belief in many gods

8. City-State-a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state

9. Alliance-a union between people, groups, countries, etc. : a relationship in which people agree to work together

10. Arid-having little or no rain; too dry or barren to support vegetation

Flash Cards

Write the word and draw a picture on the FRONT

Write the definition on the BACK

Make one for each vocabulary word

Make them out of lined paper or index cards

Vocab Alive!

We will divide ourselves until we have ten groups

I will assign you a vocabulary word

Your group will come up with a physical action that represents the meaning of the word

We will go around the circle; Say your word, say the the definition, show your action. The next group says your word, repeats the definition, repeats the action, then adds their word, definition and action.

Bell Ringer

Take out your List One and List Two flashcards. Do this on a separate sheet of paper.

What word was a Sumerian invention that helped grow crops in their hot, dry climate?

In the above question, which vocabulary word describes that climate?

What are the two rivers in Mesopotamia?

When those rivers flood, what do they leave behind that makes the land capable of producing abundant crops?

What vocab what is described above?

When you are finished, quietly review your flashcards…

Bell Ringer

Please do this on a separate sheet of paper.

1. Sumerians worshiped several gods. What vocabulary word describes this?

2. What is the building called were Sumerians went to pray?

3. When the rivers flood, what is deposited as a sediment that makes the land fertile?

4. What word was a Sumerian invention that helped grow crops in their hot, dry climate?

5. What vocabulary word describes that climate?

Bell Ringer #14

Who was the matriarch of the Mesopotamian gods?

Who was the hero god of Mesopotamia, and what did he accomplish?

Based on the content of that story, what things did ancient Mesopotamians value?

Creation Stories

What are they?

Creation stories attempt to explain the beginning of time, the creation of the Earth and humans, and natural phenomenon (earthquakes, the rising and setting of the sun, thunderstorms, volcanoes, etc.)

Every culture has their own beliefs. Do we know any examples?

We are going to focus on Mesopotamia’s Creation Stories

On your paper

Main characters

Setting

PLOT (What happens first, next, climax, then, last)

Answer the questions at the end of the story

Cornell Notes

I would like you to start taking notes using the Cornell System

This allows you to effectively quiz yourself (by covering either one of the columns) and helps you to remember information long term by summarizing it in your own words.

(Topic on top line) DateNOTES

Here is where you write brief notes

Use abbreviations

Draw yourself pictures

Invent your own shortcuts, don’t focus on writing the entire slide word for word

Skip a line between new ideas or topics to keep information seperated.

CUE COLUMN Fill this section in after you are finished taking notes.

Use key words, main ideas, or sub topics to give you clues about what you wrote down.

When you study, cover up your notes and try to recall info only from the ideas in the Cue Column

Summary of the entire lesson goes here (Leave the last 5-7 Lines of your paper for this section).

MesopotamiaMeans “Between the Rivers”

Tigris & Euphrates

A region, not a country! Controlled by various societies/civilizations over time. Sumerians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Persians, Greeks,

Romans, etc.

Geography Natural Boundaries:

-Zagros Mnts. -Taurus Mnts.-Persian Gulf -Mediterranean Sea-Red Sea -Arabian & Syrian Desert

Isolated

Fertile flood

plain

Fertile Crescent

“Fertile Crescent”- A boomerang shaped region in the middle east

The first civilizations begin hereArid= (of land or a climate) having little or no rain;

too dry or barren to support vegetationAnnual flooding of Tigris and Euphrates deposits siltSilt= fine sand, clay,

or other material carried by running water and deposited as a sediment

Rise of Civilization

Agriculture develops about 10,000 years ago Hunter-Gatherers previously!

Neolithic farmers settle in Fertile Crescent around 6000 BCE

Agriculture becomes increasingly complex which in turn makes society more complex

Villages → Towns → Cities → City-States

Division of labor & specialization (jobs), surplus!

Sumerians

Settle in the region around 5000 BCE

A distinct and flourishing culture emerges Later civilizations will borrow heavily from them

Develop irrigation= a system of supplying land with water by means of artificial canals, ditches, etc., esp. to promote the growth of food crops

Inventions: plow, wheeled vehicles, sailboat, mathematics, astronomy, the arch, writing, potter’s wheel, and the frying pan

Bring us out of Neolithic age, Bronze Age! (c. 3100 BCE) Iron will replace bronze c. 1200 BCE

Sargon the Great

Akkadian (North of Sumer, South of Assur)

Conquers most of Mesopotamia

First Empire

Ruled c. 2334 BCE – 2279 BCE

Subsequent kings tried to emulate

Cultural blending as empire spreadsAlso known as Cultural Diffusion-The spreading out of culture, culture traits,or a cultural pattern from a central point

Babylon

Babylon

Possibly built by Sargon the Great

Major political, cultural, and religious center of Mesopotamia

Highly prized-attacked often

Hanging Gardens

City Life

Ur & UrukFirst cities

Walled

Mud brick cities

Narrow, crowded streetsBuildings several stories high

Ziggurat in center of town

Economy

Extensive trade networks develop Needs/wants- timber, metal ore/alloys, precious

stones, spices Traded for agricultural products and textiles Wheat, beans, grapes, olives, flax

Contracts and debts recorded by scribes on cuneiform tablets

Several laws enacted regarding trade, wages, and prices

ReligionPolytheistic

Over 3,000 gods. Each city had a patron god

Statues would be placed in temples so there would always be something praying to the gods

Daily sacrifices beer, bread, fruit, wine, meat

Same gods, names change over time

depending on the culture in power

Religion cont.

Ziggurat- a rectangular stepped tower, sometimes surmounted by a temple

Every city had one, and rulers used them to display their wealth and devotion to the gods

Marduk was the most important god

Tiamat (salt water)

Apsu (fresh water)

Women

Not equal to men, but had rights See shift in view of Tiamat

Able to own property, navigate legal issues, buy and sell goods, operate businesses

Upper class/religious class were literate

Married young Dowries Divorce

Culture

Similar throughout Mesopotamia, borrow heavily from one another

CuneiformOne of the earliest forms of written

languagesClay tablets, reed stylusescuneus "wedge” forma "shape"

Epic of GilgameshGilgamesh c. 2500 BCE, written

text c. 1700 BCE

Hammurabi

Babylonian, lived c. 1750 BCE

Expanded the empire and controlled all of Mesopotamia

Nicknamed “Law Giver,” creator of Hammurabi’s code, one of the first written law codes in history

Written in Cuneiform on large stele (pillars)

Strict punishments- discourage crime!

Different penalties depending on social status

Ashurbanipal

Lived 685 BCE- 627 BCE

Assyrian (pretty much the last successful Assyrian king)

Patron of the arts, highly educated

World’s first library filled with over 30,000 cuneiform tablets Financial records, agricultural records, Epic of

Gilgamesh, creation story