Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent PDF

Chapter Mesopotamia and 2 the Fertile Crescent Essential Question How did geography influence the development of civilization in Southwest Asia?...

Chapter Mesopotamia and 2 the Fertile Crescent Essential Question How did geography influence the development of civilization in Southwest Asia? Cyprus Mediterranean Sea CONNECT Geography & History Syrian Desert Use the map and the time line to answer the following questions. Jordan 1. Where in the Fertile Crescent were most cities of the River early Southwest Asian empires located? 2. In which Southwest Asian empire was Hammurabi’s Dead Code developed? Sea er Riv 30oE 35oE le Ni 5000 B.C. People by the Euphrates 3000 B.C. River begin to irrigate crops. The first system of writing ▲ (early Mesopotamian jug) is in use in Sumer. 4000 B.C. A dry period begins in Africa, causing the Sahara to spread. ▲ (the Sahara today) 24  GEOGRAPHY & HISTORY Fertile Crescent 2400–1600 B.C. ##LICK LICK HHERE ERE to see the creation of the Fertile Crescent N and how it supported city-states @ ClassZone.com W E Caspian S Sea Z A G R O M S M 35oN E Eu hr SO O p a Tig P U tes O r is R TA N Ri T M ver iver A IA IN S Agade Kish Babylon 0 50 100 miles AKKAD 0 50 100 kilometers Nippur Umma Fertile Crescent Lagash Uruk SUMER Akkadian Empire c. 2300 B.C. Ur Babylonian Empire c. 1750 B.C. 30oN Modern coastline City-state Persian Capital city Gulf 45oE 50oE 40oE 1792 B.C. Hammurabi‘s Code is developed 550 B.C. in Babylonian Empire. Persian Empire is (statue of Hammurabi) largest in world. ▲ 2600–2500 B.C. 1570 B.C. 500 B.C. People of the Indus The New Kingdom Zapotec civilization Valley build cities. in Egypt begins. grows in Mexico. (Zapotec sculpture) ▲ 25  Section 1 Key Ideas BEFORE, YOU LEARNED NOW YOU WILL LEARN As people became better farmers, they The geography of Mesopotamia influenced settled in larger villages. Some settlements where people settled and how they lived. developed into complex villages with new ways of life. Vocabulary TERMS & NAMES BACKGROUND VOCABULARY Mesopotamia ( MEHS uh puh TAY mee uh) currents concentrated flowing of water land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers swell increase in size or volume floodplain flat land bordering the banks of a river REVIEW silt fine, fertile soil carried by rivers and irrigation watering dry land by using ditches, deposited on nearby lands pipes, or streams arid climate type marked by hot summers and surplus amount produced in excess of what limited rainfall is needed drought (drowt) long period of little or no rainfall when it is difficult to grow crops Reading Strategy Re-create the chart shown at right. As you SUMMARIZE read and respond to the KEY QUESTIONS, use the chart to record a sentence or two Geography of Mesopotamia summarizing the content under each of the The rivers of Mesopotamia were three main headings in the section. important because... See Skillbuilder Handbook, page R4. Mesopotamians watered their crops by... Because of a lack of resources,... GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS Go to Interactive Review @ ClassZone.com 26 Chapter 2 The Geography Starting with a Story Imagine you are a farmer of Ancient living near a river in Southwest Asia. The yearly flood, which makes farming possible, has not Mesopotamia come. Now the village is fighting for its life! #LICK #LICK HERE HERE to listen to the story @ ClassZone.com Connect to What You Know Think of a time when you have seen pictures of a flood on television or in newspapers. Floods cause destruction by washing away objects in their path. Do you think a flood can also have good consequences? The Land Between Two Rivers KEY QUESTION How did the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers support farming? The Tigris (TY grihs) and Euphrates (yoo FRAY teez) rivers are in Southwest Asia. They start in the mountains of what are now Turkey and Kurdistan. From there they flow through what is now Iraq and head southeast to the Persian Gulf. Mesopotamia The region where these two rivers flow is called Mesopotamia (MEHS uh puh TAY mee uh). The name Euphrates River means “land between the rivers.” This land is mostly flat with Even today, people small, scrubby plants. The rivers provided water and means of of Mesopotamia farm the land next to the travel. In ancient times, it was easier to travel by boat than over Euphrates River. The land. Boats can carry heavy loads, and river currents helped move flat land by a river is boats that were traveling down river. Also, few roads existed. a floodplain. ▼ 27  Fertile Soil Almost every year, rain and melting snow in the mountains caused the rivers to swell. As the water flowed down the mountains, it picked up soil. When the rivers reached the plains, water overflowed onto the floodplain, the flat land bordering the banks. As the water spread over the floodplain, the soil it carried settled on the land. The fine soil deposited by rivers is called silt. The silt was fertile, which means it was good for growing crops. An Arid Climate Less than 10 inches of rain fell each year in southern Mesopotamia, and summers were hot. This type of climate is called arid. Although the region was dry, ancient people could still grow crops because of the rivers and the fertile soil. Farming villages were widespread across southern Mesopotamia by 3500 B.C. ANALYZE EFFECTS Explain how the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers supported farming. Controlling Water by Irrigation KEY QUESTION Why was irrigation so important for farmers? The work of a farmer is difficult. Crops need the right amount of water to thrive. The floods and the arid climate in Mesopotamia meant that farmers often had either too much water or too little. CONNECT Geography & History Ancient Irrigation The model shows how an ancient irrigation system worked. Gates controlled how much water flowed from the river. Main canals led from the river. They sloped gently downward to keep the water flowing. Medium-sized branch canals led away from the main canals. 4 Small feeder canals led CRITICAL THINKING water directly to the fields. Draw Conclusions Why do you think it was important to control how much water flowed from the river? 28 Chapter 2  ▲ Irrigation This detail from an Egyptian Floods and Droughts The yearly floods of the Tigris and mural shows how farmers Euphrates rivers were unpredictable. No one was sure when the used buckets to move floods would occur. They might come in April, or they might not water during the summer months, when the water happen until June, well after farmers had planted their crops. The level in the rivers was low. extent of the floods depended on how much snow melted in the mountains in spring and how much rain fell. Heavy rains and snow melt brought violent floods that washed everything away. Too little rain and melting snow, however, meant that there would be no flood. A long period when too little rain falls is called a drought (drowt). In an arid region such as Mesopotamia, drought is a constant danger. During a drought, the level of the Tigris and Euphrates would drop, making it hard for farmers to water their crops. If crops failed, the people of Mesopotamia starved. Irrigation As early as 6000 B.C., Mesopotamian farmers began to take steps to control the water supply. They built earthen walls along the riverbanks to hold back excess water during floods. They also built canals to carry water from the rivers to their fields. Such a system for watering dry land is called irrigation. Water from the Tigris and Euphrates was muddy, and silt often clogged the canals. Keeping canals clean and the water flowing was a constant challenge for Mesopotamian farmers. DRAW CONCLUSIONS Describe the importance of irrigation to farmers. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent 29  A Land of Few Resources KEY QUESTION How did Mesopotamians cope with a lack of resources? Humans have always had to solve problems in the environment. Some problems result from lack of resources. For example, Mesopotamia had no forests to provide wood. The region also had little stone and lacked minerals, such as metals. Reed and Brick Houses Because of that lack of resources, the ancient Mesopotamians had few conventional building materials. Since the Mesopotamians could not build with wood or stone, they used what was readily available—reeds and mud. They formed bundles of reeds into “pillars” and inserted them into holes in the ground. They bent the pillars over and bound them together, forming a roof. They plastered the walls with mud to strengthen them. The Mesopotamians also mixed mud and straw together to make bricks. They hardened the bricks by drying them in the sun. Buildings constructed with these bricks were much sturdier than reed and mud houses. Even so, both types of buildings crumbled easily in bad weather and had to be repaired often. Brick Walls Lack of resources caused other problems for the people of Mesopotamia. The region was easy to invade because it was not surrounded by mountains or other natural barriers. As a result, people from other areas often came to steal from the Mesopotamians or conquer them. The Mesopotamians wanted to protect themselves. Building of Mud ▲ and Reeds This style of building has been used in the region for at least 5,000 years and is still used today. How did the Mesopotamians use reeds as a building material? 30  However, they lacked the trees or stone needed to build strong defensive barriers. So they built brick walls around their towns and villages. Around the bigger towns, the walls sometimes were as much as 25 feet thick. The walls had guard towers at regular intervals along their length. In addition, the walls often were surrounded by a wide open ditch or a water-filled moat. This provided a formidable defense against invading armies. Trading for Resources Mesopotamians obtained stone, wood, copper, and tin through trade with people throughout Southwest Asia. They also traded for luxuries, such as gold, ivory, ebony, and precious stones. In exchange for these goods, the Mesopotamian merchants offered grain, dates, and other farm products. This was possible because the Mesopotamians grew a surplus of crops. Surplus means more than they needed for themselves. Jobs such as trading, digging canals, building walls, and farming had to be done over and over. Community leaders began to organize groups of people to do the work at the right ▲ Trade Goods This figurine shows a ram time. Section 2 explains more about the organization of caught in a thicket. Mesopotamian society. It is made with gold, shell, and a blue stone ANALYZE EFFECTS Explain how the Mesopotamians overcame called lapis, which were their lack of natural resources. obtained through trade. ONLINE QUIZ 1 Section Assessment For test practice, go to Interactive Review @ ClassZone.com Terms & Names Key Ideas 1. Explain the importance of 3. What did the Tigris and Euphrates rivers Mesopotamia silt drought provide for ancient Mesopotamians? floodplain arid 4. How did Mesopotamian farmers obtain the right amount of water for their crops? Use Your Reading Notes 5. How did the lack of natural resources affect 2. Summarize Use your completed chart to answer Mesopotamians? the following question: How did the Mesopotamians change the environment Critical Thinking to deal with geographic challenges? 6. Analyze Causes How was irrigation connected to trade? Geography of Mesopotamia The rivers of Mesopotamia were important because... 7. Draw Conclusions How did Mesopotamians Mesopotamians watered their crops by... create a successful society? Because of a lack of resources,... Write Job Descriptions Create a job description for a worker in Mesopotamia. Some possible jobs include irrigation system planner, canal digger, wall builder, trader, and project scheduler. Form a small group, and share your job descriptions. Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent 31  Section 2 Key Ideas BEFORE, YOU LEARNED NOW YOU WILL LEARN The geography of Mesopotamia influenced where A complex way of life, called civilization, people settled and how they lived. developed in Sumer, a region in southern Mesopotamia. Vocabulary TERMS & NAMES cuneiform (KYOO nee uh FAWRM) first known civilization advanced form of culture that writing system, which used wedge-shaped developed in cities symbols city-state political unit made up of a city scribes people who specialized in writing and and its surrounding lands record keeping ziggurat (ZIHG uh RAT) temple built atop a series of increasingly smaller platforms polytheism belief in many gods and goddesses king highest-ranking leader of a group of people pictographs pictures or drawings that represent a word or an idea Visual Vocabulary pictograph Reading Strategy Re-create the chart shown at right. As you read MAKE GENERALIZATIONS and respond to the KEY QUESTIONS, use the Civilization in Sumer chart to record generalizations about various Advanced cities aspects of the civilization of Sumer. Specialized workers See Skillbuilder Handbook, page R12. Complex institutions Record keeping Advanced technology GRAPHIC ORGANIZERS Go to Interactive Review @ ClassZone.com 32 Chapter 2