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ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
MESOPOTAMIA AND SUMER
MESOPOTAMIA AND SUMER
Mesopotamia - means "Land Between Two Rivers"
Two Rivers: Tigris and Euphrates
Forms part of the famous "fertile Crescent"
Reasons why Mesopotamia became the birth place of history and civilization: strategic location, fertile soil and favorable climate
CITY STATES DEVELOP IN SUMER
Twelve city-states were formed.
City-state = city and farmlands around it
Each city-state had its own government and was independent of the other city states.
Council of elders - rule the city
appoint lugals (generals) to lead the armies in times of war
C.)
known as the "Lawgiver of Babylonia" - greatest achievement was the promulgation of a written law code (Hammurabi Code)
Hammurabi code - inscribed on a black stone 8 ft. high
consist of 285 laws pertaining to family relations, property rights, marriage, divorce, adoption of children, labor commerce, and crimes
SUMER FALLS TO CONQUERORS
Babylonian society: 3 Social Classes:
Nobles - king, aristocrats, priests, and rich landlords
Freemen - farmers, merchants, soldiers, artisans
Slaves
Religion of ancient Babylonians
worshipped as many as 65,000 gods (Shamash - god of the sun, Marduk - god of war, Ishtar - goddess of love, Bel - god of the earth, Ea- god of water, Tiamat - goddess of chaos, Nergal - god of death)
believed in life after death
SUMER FALLS TO CONQUERORS (BABYLONIANS)
Arts - Ancient Babylon
- ziggurat - greatest architectural achievement of Babylonians
SUMER FALLS TO CONQUERORS ASSYRIANS
settled at the region north of Babylon
established their capital city (Assur) on the bank of the Tigris River
Founded by Tiglath-Pileser I
Tiglath-Pileser III - greatest Assyrian emperor
Military genius who never lost in battle
Sennacherib - transferred Assyria's capital to Nineveh (named after the goddess Nina, Assyrian goddess of love)
Nineveh - fell before the attack of combined Chaldean-Medes armies
** With the capture of this city, the Assyrian empire collapsed
SUMER FALLS TO CONQUERORS CHALDEAN
Chaldean Empire - known as the 2nd Babylonian empire
founded by Nabopolassar - Chaldean conqueror of Nineveh
Nebuchadnezzar - son of Nabopolassar
greatest monarch
Nabonidus - last Chaldean ruler who neglected the affairs of state
Hanging Gardens of Babylon - crowning glory of Babylon
MESOPOTAMIA'S CONTRIBUTIONS TO CIVILIZATION
It invented writing.
It produced the world's first written literature (epic of Gilgamesh - famous Mesopotamian epic)
It gave mankind the earliest written law codes (Hammurabi code)
It introduced the sexagesimal system in Mathematics (1 min - 60 sec, 1hr - 60 min, circle - 360 degrees or 6 60s)
It gave mankind the first cities, schools, libraries, temples (ziggurats), hanging gardens (hanging Gardens of Babylon), palaces and sculptural objects.
OTHER FACTS
King Gilgamesh - learned that a plant that gives immortality grows at the bottom of the sea
However, the plant was stolen by a snake before he can use it
Sumerians made splendid jewelry from gold and silver inlaid with semi-precious stones.
The Sumerians were expert in Math.
Babylonians - 1st to devise the 12 signs of the zodiac
ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS
EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
EGYPTIAN CIVILIZATION
emerged in the valley of the Nile River
Egypt - known as "the gift of the Nile"
THE EGYPTIANS BELIEVE IN MANY GODS
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