Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia Overview

Study Notes

The Tigris and Euphrates Rivers flow from Turkey through Syria and Iraq to the Persian Gulf.
These rivers provided the lifeblood for the development of farming settlements over 6,000 years ago.
Mesopotamia means "land between the rivers" in Greek.
The region's curved shape and fertile land led scholars to call it the "fertile crescent".

Before 4500 B.C., people began settling and farming the flat, swampy lands of southern Mesopotamia.
Around 3300 B.C., the Sumerians arrived.
Sumerians built irrigation ditches to bring river water to their fields, allowing them to produce a surplus of crops.
They used mud bricks to build city walls for defense.
The Sumerians traded grains, cloth, and tools with mountain and desert people, receiving stone, wood, and metal in return.
Sumerians had specialized workers, complex institutions, record keeping, and improved technology.
By 3000 B.C., Sumerians had built numerous cities, each surrounded by barley and wheat fields.
These cities functioned as "city-states," similar to modern countries.
Examples of Sumerian city-states include Uruk, Kish, Lagash, Umma, and Ur.
The Sumerians practiced polytheism, worshipping multiple gods.
Enil, the God of storms and air, was the most powerful god.
Sumerians believed humans were servants of the gods and often sacrificed animals, food, and wine to them.

Sumer had a class system with kings, landowners, and priests at the top, followed by wealthy merchants.
The vast majority of Sumerians were farmers working fields and workshops.
Slavery existed, with slaves coming from foreign lands (war) or within Sumer (children sold to pay debts).
Historians believe Sumerians invented the wheel, the sail, and the plow.
They were also known for their arithmetic, geometry, architecture, and cuneiform (writing system).

The Nile River flows for 4,100 miles northward across Africa, making it the world's longest river..
Egyptian settlements flourished along the fertile Nile River.
The Nile's annual flooding brought water and rich soil, allowing settlements to grow.
Each year in July, rain and melting snow caused the Nile to rise and flood its banks.
This flooding left behind fertile black mud called silt, which allowed wheat and barley to thrive.
Historian Herodotus called Egypt "the gift of the Nile."

Upper Egypt:
- Higher elevation.
- River area in the south of Egypt.
- A thin strip of land from the first cataract to the point where the river starts to fan out.
Lower Egypt:
- Nile delta region.
- The delta begins about 100 miles before the river enters the Mediterranean Sea.

A carved piece of slate depicting Narmer wearing the crown of Lower Egypt on one side and the crown of Upper Egypt on the other.
Some scholars believe it celebrates the unification of Egypt.

Pharaohs were considered "God-Kings" in Egypt.
They were seen as powerful and great as the gods.
Egypt functioned as a theocracy, with the Pharaoh as the head of the government and religious authority.