History of Tourism

2. What was Mesopotamia
 It was the 1st civilization in History
 The world “Mesopotamia” has a Geek origin, and it mean the
land between rivers. Those rivers were Tigris and Euphrates.
 Today in this area we can find the countries of Iraq and Syria,
and a little part of Iran and Turkey.

3. Why live in Mesopotamia ?
 Create a high and safe flood plain
 Make irrigation and canal construction easy
 Provide protection
 The surrounding swamps were full of fish &
waterfowl

4. History of Mesopotamia
 Over the centuries, many different people lived in
this area creating a collecting of independent states
 Sumer- southern part (3,500-2,000 BC)
 Akkad- northern part (2,340-2,180 BC)
 Babylonia- these two regions were unified (1,830-
1,500 BC and 650-500 BC)
 Assyria- Assyrian Empire (1,100-612 BC)

5. Sumer (3,500-2,000 BCE)
 Sumerians settled in Sumer , the southern part of
Mesopotamia.
 They founded a group of city-states-> they were
independent, and each one ruled over its
surrounding lands. The most important of these
cities were Uruk, Ur and Lagash.
 They shared language and culture (they were part
of the same civilization), but they were not part of
an empire.

6. Akkadian Empire (2,330 – 2,130 BC)
 In the 3rd millennium BC new people settled in
Mesopotamia among the Sumerians, such as the
Akkadians, which settled in the city of Akkad in central
Mesopotamia.
 In 2,330 BC, the Akkadian king Sargon I, conquered
Sumer and established the Akkadian Empire. From that
city of Akkad he controlled all Mesopotamia. It was the
first time this land was ruled by the same leader.
 In 2,130 BC the Akkadian Empire was destroyed.
 Mesopotamia lost its unity.

7. Babylonian Empire(1,800-1,500 BC)
 In 1,800 BC , king Hammurabi from the city of
Babylon, began to dominate over the rest of the
territory, and unified Mesopotamia again.
 Hammurabi became very famous because of his
law code(Code of Hammurabi)… it was the first
history!!!
 In 1,500 BC the Babylonian Empire was destroyed
(conquered by the Hittites and the
Kassites).Mesopotamia lost its unity again.

8. Assyrian Empire (1,300 – 625 BC)
 Around 1,300 BC the Assyrians, the inhabitants of
the northern part of Mesopotamia, created a great
empire. They ruled over a very large territory that
went from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean
Sea.
 They were famous because of their ferocity and
cruelty.
 But the Mesopotamia civilization was reaching its
end…

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

10. Social Structure
 There are four main classes in
Ancient Sumer
 The priest were the highest then
the highest then the upper class,
after that the lower class, at the
bottom are the slaves.
 The priests were in charge of
making every one behave as the
gods would like
 The slaves came from different
towns from were the Sumerian
conquered before. Lower Class
Slaves
Upper Class
Priests

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

12. Religion
 The Mesopotamians religion
was the first to be recorded.
 Mesopotamians believed in gods
and goddesses that had their
divine natural forces.
 There were four creator gods
Anu sky god, Enlil storms and
helping people, Nin-khursag
earth goddess, Enki water god
and patron of wisdom.
 Priests in Mesopotamia were
responsible for sacrifices and
ritual that they thought the gods
needed.

13. Thank you!!!