Mesopotamia was located between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in modern-day Iraq. Several ancient civilizations flourished there between 5000 BCE and 600 BCE, including the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. The region had a desert climate but the rivers provided fertile land for agriculture. City-states dominated the political structures, each ruled by a king, and empires like Babylon and Assyria later united the region through conquest. The Mesopotamian economy was based on agriculture and trade of crops and resources. Religion, science, and the arts also developed significantly.

1. Mesopotamia
5000 BCE – 600 BCE

2. Overview: Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is not a
country. “Mesopotamia”
means “the land between
two rivers” in Greek.
Mesopotamia is the region in
the middle east between the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
There were several
civilizations that flourished
in the area between 5000
BCE and 612 BCE, including
the Assyrians, Babylonians,
and Sumerians.

3. Timeline: 4 major kingdoms of
Mesopotamia
Between 3000 BC and 600
BC, four major kingdoms
ruled Mesopotamia, the
area between the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers:
•Sumer
•Bablyon
•Assyria
•Persia

4. Location: Modern-day Iraq
Note the area in GREEN. This is the area known as the FERTILE
CRESCENT. There are two major rivers, the EUPHRATES and the
TIGRIS, that make it possible to grow crops and support larger
populations.

5. Geography: Deserts & Valleys
Mesopotamia is a desert region,
except for the valley containing the
EUPHRATES and TIGRIS rivers.
There are no natural boundaries
like mountains that provide
protection for the region. This area
was accessible to invaders from all
sides, although the desert would
sometimes act as a deterrent to
invaders.

6. Political Structures
Sumerian City-States Babylonian Territory

7. Political Structures:
Sumerians, 5000-1900s BCE
• Sumer was divided •Each city-state was
into city-states, ruled by a priest-king
meaning that each or a king who was the
city had it’s own ruler,
laws, and social head of the city
customs. government and the
• Each city-state was temple.
centered around a •Kings had both civic
temple dedicated to and religious
a god or goddess. responsibilities.

8. Political Structures:
Babylonia, 1700s – 1400s BCE
• Babylon was a city in south-central •The Code of Hammurabi
Mesopotamia that united most of used a strict system based on
Mesopotamia by the 1700s BCE. moral and economic values.
• In approximately 1728 BCE, a king For example, if someone were
named Hammurabi ruled the city to damage (or kill) someone
of Babylon and the territory of else’s slave, they must make
Babylonia. reparations – meaning they
• Hammurabi created a bureaucracy must pay back the value of the
(system of government workers), slave.
centralized the government around •The Code of Hammurabi is
the capital city of Babylon, and one of the first examples of
created a taxation system. However, codified law – law that is
he is most famous for his system of organized and written down –
laws, called HAMMURABI’S a precursor to modern
CODE. constitutions.

9. Political Structures
Assyrians, 2000 BCE – 612 BCE
• Assyria was made up of small city-states, like
Sumer.
• Each city-state was led by a king.
• By the 1500s BCE, Assyria was a powerful
kingdom that competed with Babylonia for
territory and resources.
• In 612 BCE, Assyria was once again conquered
by the Chaldeans from Babylonia.

10. Economics: Mesopotamia
• Mesopotamia’s •Mesopotamian’s
economy was based traded their natural
on agriculture and resources and excess
trade. crops for things that
• Mesopotamian’s were scarce in
traded natural Mesopotamia, like
resources, like jewels wood.
and precious stones. •Mesopotamian’s also
traded art, pottery,
jewelry, and slaves.

11. Religion & Philosophy
Mesopotamian civilizations were primarily
polytheistic, worshipping multiple gods and
goddesses.
The gods
were
worshipped
in temples
called
Ziggurats.

12. Society
• Society in ancient Mesopotamia was patriarchal (led
by men) and male-dominated.
• Priests and Kings were the highest ranked people in
Mesopotamian society.
• Warriors and tradesmen made up the middle class,
along with educated bureaucrats in Babylon.
• Women and slaves made up the bottom strata of
society.
• However, the basic structure of Mesopotamian
society was divided into two classes: free people and
slaves.

13. Inventions & Technology - Sumer
• Sumerians developed cuneiform, the oldest
known written human language.
• Sumerians are responsible for the beginnings of
mathematics – arithmetic, geometry, and
algebra.
• Sumerians also invented or developed the
wheel, irrigation systems, and many tools
and weapons, such as hoes, axes, knives,
arrowheads, swords, chariots, sandals,
and more.

14. Inventions & Technology - Babylonia
• Babylonians were known for their metalwork,
glassmaking, weaving, irrigation, and armor.
• One of the reasons the Babylonians were able to rule
so many city-states was because of their metal
weapons and armor, including daggers, swords, and
spears.
• The Babylonians left behind evidence of the practice
of medicine, astronomy, and architecture.

15. Inventions & Technology - Assyria
• Like the Sumerians and Babylonians, the
Assyrians developed metal weapons and armor.
• The Assyrians were also known for their jewelry
making abilities.
• Some archaeologists believe the Assyrians may
have developed a telescope, as there is evidence
of a glass shaped as a large lens, like one would
use in a telescope.

16. Art
• Sumerians developed many art forms, including
literature, painting, pottery, architecture,
and jewelry.
• Babylonians also had literature, weaving,
sculpture, painting, pottery, and jewelry.
• The Assyrians were known for their sculptures
and reliefs (carvings on walls) depicting battle
scenes and religious ceremonies. They were also
known for jewelry, sculpture, and other art
forms.

17. Mesopotamian
Art