14. In d o -E u r o p e a n
M ig r a t io n s : 4 m -2 m
B C E
T h e M id d le E a s t : “ T h e
15. T h e A n c ie n t F e r t ile
C r e s c e n t A r e a
T h e M id d le E a s t : “ T h e C r a d le o f
16. S u m e r ia n
C iv iliz a t io n•The first Sumerian cities emerged in
southern Mesopotamia around
3200 B.C.
•Nomadic herders settled in the
Southern part of Mesopotamia and
gradually changed the farming way of
life
•They built dams and dikes to keep
the rivers from flooding their fields.
•The farming villages emerged along
the river and grew into 12 city-states
17.
18. S u m e r ia n R e lig io n -
P o ly t h e is t ic
E n k i
A n t h r o p o m o r p h i
c G o d s
the belief in many gods
•Enki - the god of rainEnki - the god of rain
•Marduk - principal god of BabylonMarduk - principal god of Babylon
• Ashur - god of the AssyrianAshur - god of the Assyrian
empireempire
• Gula (in Sumerian) or ShamashGula (in Sumerian) or Shamash
(in Akkadian) - sun god and god(in Akkadian) - sun god and god
of justiceof justice
•Ishtar - goddess of warIshtar - goddess of war
•Ereshkigal- goddess of theEreshkigal- goddess of the
underworldunderworld
•Nabu- god of writingNabu- god of writing
•Ninurta- Sumerian god of war andNinurta- Sumerian god of war and
god of heroesgod of heroes
•Iškur- god of stormsIškur- god of storms
•Pazuzu - an evil god who broughtPazuzu - an evil god who brought
diseases which had no known curediseases which had no known cure
19. Worshiped many gods.
Believed gods controlled
every aspect of life.
Saw afterlife as a grim
place. Everybody would go
into darkness and eat dust.
To keep the gods happy,
each city built a
ziggurat, or pyramid
temple.
Each state had distinct
social hierarchy, or
system of ranks.
Most people were peasant
farmers.
Women had legal rights;
some engaged in trade
and owned property.
City-states with hereditary
rulers.
Ruler led army in war and
enforced laws.
Complex government with
scribes to collect taxes
and keep records.
RELIGION
SOCIAL
STRUCTUREGOVERNMENT
20. “ T h e
C u n e if o r m
M e s o p o t a m ia n
T r a d e
21. C u n e if o r m : “ W e d g e -
S h a p e d ” W r it in g•The Sumerians used a system of record-
keeping that used baked clay
•These tablets are invaluable record of history
of the Sumerian and of later peoples of
Mesopotamia
24. Schools were established:
• Only few people (particularly the boys) were
trained to write cuneiform
• They were sons of upper-class professionals
(priest, temple and palce officials, army
officers, sea captains and other scribes)
• The students who learned the art could work
as scribes for the temple, the royal court or
wealthy merchants
25. S u m e r ia n S c r ib e s
“ T a b le t
H o u s e ”
26. Sumer falls to conquerors
• They did not form a strong and unified government
• War between city-states
• Sargon the Great was the ruler of the kingdom of
Akkad who invaded the city-states
• He established the world’s first empire
• His empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean Sea
• The empire lasted for only about 100 years
27. T h e A n c ie n t F e r t ile
C r e s c e n t A r e a
T h e M id d le E a s t : “ T h e C r a d le o f
28. Sumer falls to conquerors
• Ur was the city-state that was able to regain
power and ruled both Summer and Akkad
• Hammurabi was the ruler from Babylonia
who conquered and united the whole
Mesopotamian Peninsula
30. G ilg a m e s h
•The Mesopotamians
believed that the dead
descended to a
gloomy underworld
•Epic of Gilgamesh
was one of the
earliest literary works.
31. G ilg a m e s h E p ic
T a b le t :
F lo o d S t o r y
32. Z ig g u r a t a t U r
T e m p le
“ M o u n t
a in o f
t h e
G o d s ”
43. Mesopotamian Trade System
• The two rivers provided a way to ship
goods
• The wheel and the sail improved
transportation system
• Marketplace were present in Mesopotamian
cities
44. Clay Tablets : History
• Discoveries of clay tablets in the Near East shown
trade contracts, lists of rulers, maps, poems,
legends, prayers and laws (not interpreted until the
19th
Century)
• Henry Rawilson (1840) discovered the key to the
cuneiform writing.
– Tree types of writing on a huge cliff, known as the
Behistun rock.
45.
46. Mesopotamia
• Ancient region located between the Tigris
and Euphrates Rivers
• Forms part of the Fertile Crescent
• Occupied by present day Iraq, South-
eastern Turkey and Eastern Syria
47. Sumerian Civilization (4000-2500
BC)
• Oldest civilization and center of a
sophisticated culture by 3000 BC
• People hailed from the mountains of Turkey
• Established autonomous city-states ruled
over by a king with absolute powers or
THEOCRACY
• Cuneiform, irrigation, wheel-turned pottery,
wheel-driven carts
48. Akkadian (2750-2590 BC)
• Founded by King Sargon, who united the
warring city state of Sumer and built an
empire in the city of Agade (Akkad)
• Destroyed by weak leadership, until the
empire is divided into two following attacks
by the Elamites and the Amorites
49. Babylonian (1760 BC)
• Founded in 1760 under Hammurabi, the
sixth Amorite king of Syria who defeated
the Elamites and chose Babylon as the
capital of his empire
• The city-states of Akkad and Sumer were
united and trade and commerce flourished
in the region
50. Babylonian (1760- 1500BC)
• People worshipped the god Marduk
• Code of Hammurabi protected the poor
against the abuses of the rich
• Attacked by the Hittites two centuries later
and eventually fell to Agum, a Kassite ruler
in the 16th
century BC
51. The Hittites (1600-1200 BC)
• Ancient people of Asia Minor and the
Middle East, inhabiting present day
Anatolia in Turkey,
• Most important contribution is their use of
iron, becoming the first people to use horse-
drawn cart during wars
52. Phoenicians, Hebrews, Assyrians
and Chaldeans (1200-400BC)
• “Sidonians”
• Abraham; King Solomon
• Nineveh as capial
• King Nebuchadnezzar
• King Darius - Persia
