Mesopotamia TV (Updated Dec 2024) PDF

Early Civilization – Mesopotamia F.1 Self-Study Topic Study Mesopotamia 1. Geographically 2. Culturally 3. Politically 4. Comparison between Mesopotamia and Huanghe Valley  A. The Geographical Mesopotamia ❖ “Mesopotamia” came from the Greek meaning “between the two rivers” ...

Early Civilization – Mesopotamia F.1 Self-Study Topic Study Mesopotamia 1. Geographically 2. Culturally 3. Politically 4. Comparison between Mesopotamia and Huanghe Valley  A. The Geographical Mesopotamia ❖ “Mesopotamia” came from the Greek meaning “between the two rivers”  A. The Geographical Mesopotamia i. Map work – be careful with spelling (e.g. Tigris, desert, Mediterranean…) Sumer  A. The Geographical Mesopotamia 1. Why is the area inside the dotted line in the map (purple area in the following map) is called the Fertile Crescent? Ans: (1) Fertile – rich soil (2) Crescent – new moon-shaped area Sumer  A. The Geographical Mesopotamia 2. Babylon and Ur were two famous cities in the Fertile Crescent. What were the similarities between their locations? Ans: (1) Built along the river, (2) surrounded by mountains and (3) deserts Sumer  A. The Geographical Mesopotamia 3. If you were the leader of a tribe at that time, explain your reasons for settling down in the Fertile Crescent Answers: (1 mark @) Favourable environment for the settlement: - river to provide water for daily uses and irrigation - plenty supply of food e.g. fish, birds and animals living near the river - fertile soil for farming, and hence crops for food and trade - near rivers and sea for water transport by boats and facilitate trade - resources along the rivers, such as mud and reeds for making different things, e.g. mudbricks, clay tablets, reed pens, baskets, etc. -physical barriers e.g. mountains and deserts for protection - any other acceptable answers B. The Mesopotamian Civilization It included the following developments: ❖ economic ❖ religious ❖ social  B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Economic Development ❖Agriculture and trade were the pillars of the economy People irrigated their land through a system of canals and dams. They could grow more food than they could eat. They used the surplus to trade for goods and services.  B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Economic Development Choose and draw some items to represent the Mesopotamia Civilization in different aspects. Explain your answer. * Focus on the historical significance of the items chosen and explain how they reflect the feature of the civilization in that aspect. Don’t give personal reasons like “I like it”. Bars of Silver  B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Economic Development Choose and draw some items to represent the Mesopotamia Civilization in different aspects. Explain your answer. * Focus on the historical significance of the items chosen and explain how they reflect the feature of the civilization in that aspect. Don’t give personal reasons like “I like it”. Why do you choose it? Important to the development of trade in Mesopotamia because it was used to calculate weight. Duck weights  B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Religious Development Ziggurats By 2000 BC temple towers were built to link heaven and earth. Ziggurats were very large, pyramid-shaped structures on top of which a shrine to the god was built.  B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Religious Development ❖In Mesopotamia, each town and city was believed to be protected by its own god ❖The temple was both the center of worship and the center of every city ❖The highest duty of people was to keep the gods happy  B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Religious Development ❖People believed that the universe was ruled by the gods, who behaved like humans. They had feasts, marriages, children and wars. They could be jealous, angry, joyful or kind. ❖The gods represented various natural phenomena such as rain and wind and had supernatural powers Four-faced goddess of rainstorms. She holds a vase from which flow streams of water. A rippled water pattern covers her dress B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Religious Development Evil or not? ❖Pazuzu was portrayed as a demon which stands like a human but has a scorpion’s body and lion-like face ❖But as an enemy of the demon of sickness, Pazuzu was worshiped as the protector of childbirth B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Social Development What resulted from trade? The Sumerians invented writing. Marked on wet clay tablets using reed pens.  B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Social Development Writing: Cuneiform ❖The first Mesopotamian writing is also called “cuneiform” (“wedge-shaped” in Latin) ❖How does trade promote the development of writing? ❖What is the major function of writing? To keep record of business, taxation and production figures B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Social Development Life was closely related to religion A seated man and woman celebrating an event/ritual by joining a banquet Servants attended the banquet. Some brought a jar of beer while others brought an animal to be slaughtered Musicians and dancers performed in the banquet  B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Social Development Use of bricks to build Being the Fertile Crescent, people built with earth and water to make bricks of clay because the Fertile Crescent lacked stone and wood. This shows King Ur-Nammu at the start of a big project – rebuilt and enlarged the temple of the chief god. He is carrying on his head a basket of clay from which the critically important first brick would be made  B. The Mesopotamian Civilization: Social Development Hanging Gardens: One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World Nebuchandezzar, King of Bablyon (600 BC) was said to have built the Hanging Gardens for his wife, Amytis, because she was homesick for the flowers and trees in her homeland.  Hanging Gardens: One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World ❖ The plants were planted on the side of large terraced steps, which rose to 30 stories high. ❖ These were watered by chain pumps bringing water from the Euphrates river. ❖ The rich soil allowed exotic greenery and flowers.  C. The Political Mesopotamia ❖ The geographical advantages and disadvantages made political takeovers frequent in Mesopotamia. ❖ Based on the following list of facts, draw a time line to show the major political kingdoms in Ancient Mesopotamia (BC 4000 to BC 600).  C. The Political Mesopotamia Some of the major kingdoms in Ancient Mesopotamia from 4000BC to 331BC 4000BC Civilization began in Sumer. The Sumerians were the first people in history to establish cities and invent writing. 2350-2150BC Akkadian kingdom 2000-1600BC Babylonian kingdom. King Hammurabi unified the Fertile Crescent and set up Babylonian Empire. 2000-1000BC Assyrian kingdom 1000-612 BC Neo-Assyrian kingdom 625-539BC Neo-Babylonian kingdom 539-331BC Persian kingdom  C. The Political Mesopotamia ❖ Each Sumerian city had its own government and army, like an independent state. ❖ Ur was the largest city- state in Sumer. ❖ The Sumerians were ruled by kings, who Ziggurat of Ur (2100BC), were regarded as the now in Iraq representatives of gods.  C. The Political Mesopotamia ❖ Around 2100 BC, the Sumerians made the Code of Ur- Nammu to maintain law and order. ❖ The Sumerians believed that their legal code was given by god. People who broke the laws would be punished. ❖ Based on the laws of the Sumerians, Babylonians made the Code of Hammurabi.  C. The Political Mesopotamia ❖ The Code of Hammurabi was carved on a stone pillar. C. The Political Mesopotamia Türkiye Similarities and Differences  2. “the richness and significance of the museum can never be the same again.” Do you agree? This question is related to the nature of primary sources and the study of history. Primary sources: artefacts that were produced during the historical period under study (e.g. items made during the times of Mesopotamia for studying the history of Mesopotamia). Once destroyed, they cannot be replaced. The study of history relies a lot on primary sources for understanding how life was like in the past.  Consolidation Consolidation: Go to the following link to get the flashcards, tests, games etc. which help you revise. You are expected to spell the key terms. Link: https://quizlet.com/_3kbixp Key terms you must be able to spell: – Sumerians – bars of silver/ silver shekel – duck weights – ziggurat – cuneiform – clay tablets – reed pens Further Enquiry and Reflection Refer to your lesson handouts