Mesopotamia

By: Abi Lundstrom & Amanda Levin 3000 B.C.- 1500 B.C.

"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth." -Code of Hammmurabi (Glencoe's world history book)



The Summerians were lacated in the birth of civilization in Mesopotamia. Their society consisted of nobles, commoners, and slaves. They invented their own form of writing called cuneiform. One of the works was the Epic of Gilgamesh which is known to be the oldest story in the world. The Summerians also held the first library in the world, Library of Ninnavah, which hold 22,000 clay tablets.

Sargon of Akkad (being a northern city state) founded the first empire in history. In Babylon, located in the lower Tigis Euphrates River Valley, Hammurabi made the Code of Hammurabi also known as the law of retaliation. this is where the saying "an for an eye makes the whole world blind" came from. Nebuchadnezar later comes and rebuilds Babylon. In 1550 BC the Hittites conquered the "Gate of God" (Babylon). These poplw were the first to use iron which started the Iron Age lasting from 1500-600 BC. The last to conquer and destroy Babylon was the Assyriand, also the worlds first military power.

Cyrus the Great set up a Persian Empire in 550 BC. Darius divided the wmpire into 20 satrapies or provinces. The Great Royal Road from Asia Minor to Susa was 1677 miles long and had 111 relay stations 15 miles apart. The Phonecians or "Sea Peoples" were the greatest traders ijn the ancient world.

__**5 most important people:**__

 * 1.**__**Hammurabi-**__ 1792-1750 BC, created the Code of Hammurabi which was the first written down law system connsisting of 282 laws. also known as the "Laws of Retaliation"
 * 2.__King Solomon-__** 970-930 BC, expanded government and trading, made Jerusalem the capital and built a temple there which was the symbolic center of Hebrews ans housed Ark of the Covenant
 * 3.__Sargon of Akkad-__**2340-2284 BC called the king of battles "34-0" and founded the first empire in world history which was from the Persian gulf to the Mediterranian Sea
 * 4.__Nebuchadnezzar-__** 605 BC nicknamed "Mad Ox", the leader of the chaldeans, defeated the asserians and rebuilds Babylon where the hanging gardens are located (one of the seven wonders of the ancient world).
 * 5.__King Croesus-__** 605 BC was the first to use coins and his face appeared on them the saying "As rich as Croesus" was well known.

__**5 terms:**__

 * 1.__Theocracy__**__**-**__ The sumerians believed that the gods ruled the cities, making the state a theocracy--or a government by divine authority.
 * 2.**__**ziggurat-**__ The most prominent building in a Sumerian city that was dedicated to the gods and goddess'. It was a massive step tower.
 * 3.**__**empire-**__ A large political unit of state under a single leader the controls many people or territories in the Mesopotamian civilizations.
 * 4.**__**cuneiform-**__ A "wedge shaped" system of writing, written on clay tablets with a stylus then baked or dried in the sun. This was created around 3000 b.c.
 * 5.**__**city-states-**__ As cities expanded, they came to have political and economic control over the surrounding countryside basic units of sumerian civilization.

[|the British Museum has a collection of Mesopotamia history] [|this tells about the gods of Mesopotamia] [|this site has a timeline for Mesopotamia] [|click here to see more about religion in Mesopotamia] [|this site shares everything you need to know about Hammurabi]

media type="youtube" key="S5uWAWShizQ" width="425" height="350"media type="custom" key="11404636"

5000BC: Birth of civilization 2000BC: Babylonia is born in the ancient lower Tigris-Euphrates Valley 2000BC: Abraham founded the Hebrews at the Valley of Palestine 1800BC: The Epic of Gilgamesh was written 1550BC: Hittites conquered Babylon 1200BC: Assyrians became the world’s first military power 1025BC: King Solomon set up his kingdom at the Jerusalem capitol 814BC: Carthage dominated trade in the Mediterranean Sea 700BC: the Assyrian Empire destroyed Babylon 550BC: the Persians became the largest empire in the Middle East
 * __TIMELINE__**