The document discusses the emergence of the first civilizations around 6,000 years ago, primarily in Mesopotamia along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which transitioned from neolithic villages to city-states due to agricultural and commercial prosperity. It outlines the political organization, social hierarchy, religion, and cultural contributions such as writing and legal codes like the Code of Hammurabi. Additionally, it highlights the architectural advancements and the alternating power dynamics among various Mesopotamian empires, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians.

1. THE FIRST CIVILIZATIONS: MESOPOTAMIA
María Jesús Campos
learningfromhistory.wikispaces.com

2. THE FIRST URBAN CIVILIZATIONS: THE RIVER
CIVILIZATIONS
 Some 6 000 years ago,
some Neolithic villages
became cities as a result of
agricultural and commercial
prosperity.
 These civilisations invented
writing.

3.  The first great civilizations developed along large
rivers surrounded by fertile land:
 Mesopotamia: Tigris and Euphrates Rivers
 Egypt: the River Nile
 India: Indus River
 China: Huang He (Yellow) and Yangtze (Blue) Rivers

5. MESOPOTAMIA, THE LAND BETWEEN TWO
RIVERS
 The first civilizations
appeared in the Fertile
Crescent, in the fertile plains
between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers.
 These area was called
Sumer.

6. POLITICAL ORGANIZATION
 Thanks to agricultural and
commercial prosperity,
Neolithic villages became
independent city-states.
 The most important city-
states in Sumer were Ur,
Uruk and Lagash.
 They had in common
racial features but they
were independent in
politics.

7.  Need for defense led to an
increase in the importance of
military commanders and, finally,
to the creation of monarchies.
 The monarch controlled the
city-state and was in charge of:
 Executive power: government
 Legislative power: law
 Military power: army
 Religious power: connections
to de god
 Judicial power: justice

8.  He was advised by civil servants and
scribes (bureaucracy) that collected
taxes, applied the orders and the
laws…
 He controlled the population through
the army and the priests.

9. SOCIETY
 Population increased
thanks to the production of
food and the prosperity
achieved through
commerce.
 They were urban
civilizations. Most of the
people lived in the city-
state.
 The social division
increased. It was
connected to their function

10. Monarch
Priests
Army and
Scribes (civil
servants)
Peasants, Farmers,
Merchants,
Traders…
Slaves

11.  Mesopotamian hierarchy: privileged groups and
non-privileged groups.
 Privileged-groups: controlled the power and the
wealth.
 The Monarch
 The priests
 The army and the civil servants
 Non-privileged groups: produced the products
needed by society
 Farmers, peasants, stockbreeders…
 Merchants, traders, craftsman...
 Slaves: group without rights. They were their
master’s property. They became slaves through conquest
(war prisoners) or debts.

12. MESOPOTAMIAN RELIGION
 Polytheistic: their gods were
similar to human beings but they
were immortal.
 Temples were the god’s residences
on Earth. They were built on
stepped pyramids called
ziggurats.
 Each city-state was under the
protection of a god.
 They believed in life after death
and buried their dead with
everything they would possibly

13. MESOPOTAMIAN CULTURE
 The Sumerian people are
believed to be the first ones
to develop a written
language.
 Cuneiform writing
consisted of signs drawn on
clay tablets with a reed.
 Writing made it possible to
organize the state by
recording government
issues and business
transactions.

14.  The first schools were created
here to train scribes. Only
male children from rich families
went to school.
 The Code of Hammurabi is
one of the earliest legal codes
in history.
 Engraved on a rock around 1800
BC.
 Based on the law of retaliation
(“an eye for an eye”).

15. MESOPOTAMIAN ART: ARCHITECTURE
 Materials: brick and adobe (bricks of clay and
straw)
 To sustain the ceiling they invented the arch and
the vault.
 Walls were decorated with brightly coloured glazed
ceramics with floral motives, geometric designs,
scenes of war…
 Type of buildings:
 Palaces
 Ziggurats (temples)

16.  Ziggurats: temples
built at the center of
the city. They were
the house of god on
Earth.

18. MESOPOTAMIAN ART: SCULPTURE
 Materials: gold, lapis, clay,
wood…
 Types:
 Statues (not attached)
 Reliefs (different carving
techniques)
 Themes:
 Men and women worshipping
 Kings
 Military or hunting scenes…

19.  Examples:
 King Gudea of
Lagash
 Standard of Ur (2700
B.C.)
 Doorway of the
Khorsabad palace:
Lamassu (bull with
human head and
wings to protect the
king from visible and
invisible enemies)

21. MESOPOTAMIAN POLITICAL EVOLUTION
 Mesopotamia was divided
into 2 regions inhabited by
two different people:
 The Assyrians in the north
 The Akkadians and
Sumerians who lived in the
South.
 The political evolution of
Mesopotamia is marked by
an alternation of power
between these peoples.

22. Mesopotamian empires:
 The Sumerians.
 The Akkadian Empire
 The Babylonian
Empire
 The Assyrian Empire
 The Persian Empire

23.  The Sumerians: city of Sumer. Controlled the territory
organized in different city-states during the 3rd millenium.
 Akkadian Empire: the city of Akkad controlled the cities of
Lower Mesopotamia between the year 2330 BC and the
year 2200 B.C. when the empire disappeared and a long
period of division started.
 Babylonian Empire: around 1800 the city of Babylon
founded an empire that was going to last until the 900 BC.
(Code of Hammurabi)
 Assyrian Empire: expanded from the Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean sea. Main cities Asur and Ninive. From the
9th century BC to the 6th century whe it was conquered by
the Persians.

24. WHAT DID MESOPOTAMIANS DO FOR US?

25. Developed by María Jesús Campos
Chusteacher
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