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1. Lalit Verma Presentation
Topic-Mesopotamia
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• CLASS=11thE

3. *Mesopotamian civilization
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-Mesopotamia is a greek word ,meaning,”land between two rivers”.the present name of the country of this
civilization in Iraq. The region is a vast, dry plains through which two great rivers ,the Euphrates ,and tigris
flow . Part of region of Mesopotamia Is also known as fertile crescent ,as the fertile silt made the land ideal
for farming .it comprises of four regions-sumer, the southern-most region ,babylonia and akkad ,the middle
region ,and Assyria ,the northern-most region.
*Rise and decline states of Mesopotamian
-The Sumerians were the first humans to form a civilization. They invented a flourished and
developed civilization ans system of governance. Uar ,Lagash ,erek , and eridu were the famous
cities. Around in 2500 BC King Sargon of Akkad conquered over the sumerians. He formed the
first united empire , where the city status of sumer were united one ruler. But in 2100 BC, the
akkadians were also defeated. The city of Babylon become the most powerful city in Mesopotamia.

4. King Hammurabi of Babylon, one of the famous kings, conquered a large empire and
issued a law code and formed a system of law.
Babylonia civilization was based on Sumerians civilization. Then the Assyrians occupied
the northern part of Mesopotamia (1100 to 612 BC). After this, Kaldiayai defeated the
Assyrians and established a powerful Babylonian empire (612 BC – 539 BC), but in 539
BC, the Persians put an end to their rule. The civilization of Sumerians, Babylonian,
Assyrians and Koldians are together known as the Mesopotamian Civilization.
*Characteristics of Mesopotamian Civilization
(A) Hammurabi”s Law code: The king of Babylon established code of laws for his people
of his kingdom, and this is one of the ancient law codes. It was recorded on clay tablets
and 8 feet tall pillars of stones called steles.
(B) Social Life of Mesopotamia: The king was treated as the earthly representative of the
patron god of the city. After the king and his family, the second important position was
that of the priest, who was the administration for a long period. In the middle of the
prevalent social system were the Zamindars and the shopkeepers. The labourers and the
servants were at the lowest. Army played an important role, as many took places during
that time.
(C) Economic life: (1) Agriculture and Animal Husbandry: Agriculture was the main
occupation the people of this civilization. They ploughed their fields by modes of a pair of
oxen and used to show the seeds with the help of a funne.

5. They used to irrigate their fields with the help of the collected water by themon a
large scale by the use of the integrated system od dykes, reservoirs, drainage
channels, etc. Farming was carried on by the peasanta, rather than slaves, and
breeding of animals were also done.
(2) Trade and Bussiness : The civilization of Mesopotamia was a commercial
civilization. Temples were not only homes of Gods, but they also acted as banks.
Banks were first developed here. Mesopotamia had trading relations with the
Indus Valley Civilization, many ruins of Indus Valley Civilization have been found
in Uar city of Mesopotamia.
(D) Religious beliefs: The people of this civilization believed in many Gods. Each
city had a primary god and the temple of the main god was Known as jiggurat,
which meant “hills of the Heaven”. Uar was one of the largest city in
Mesopotamia. The construction of jiggurat in the Uar city was done on an
artificial mountains. There were three storeys in it and its height was more than 20
feet. The people of Mesopotamia were more concerned about their present,
rather than in the future. They were more focusedon their day to day problem.
Even their priests were busy in the administration of the kingdom.
(E) Scientific Knowledge : The Mesopotamians developed an impressive body of
scientific knowledge through close observation of the natural world. In
astronomy, they had madeastonishing progress.

6. They could calculate the time of sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset. They
had calculate the length of the day and the night and divided the whole day
into 24 hour. They were the first who calculate than 60 seconds is equal to 1
minute and 60 mnutes is equal to 1 hour . Interpreting circle into 360 degrees.
The Mesopotamians were well aware of the importance of science and
mathematics.
(F) Architecture: The architects of Mesopotamia created an Arch. The essential
feature of Arch was that it could easily handle huge weight abd also looked
beautiful.
(G) Cuneiform Script : The first Script ws development in sumer. The first
script to be used by trades for maintaining their day to day word was based on
pictures, and is therefore known as “pictographic”. Finally, around 2500 BCE
the script and evolved in Cuneiform or wedge-sharped writing.