The Rise of Sumerian and

Akkadian
Reynan M. Macarang
BSEd II- Social Science
 Civilization

 A complex culture in which

large numbers of people share
a variety of common
elements.
 Basic Characteristics of
Civilization
 1. An urban focus
 2.New political and military structures
 3.A new social structure based on economic power
 4.The development of more complexity in material sense
 5. A distinct religious structure
 6. The development of writing
 7. New and significant artistic and intellectual activitiy
The Birth of Mesopotamia
The name Mesopotamia came from the
Greek language and means “the land
between two rivers”.
This the region between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers.

It included today a big part of Iraq and

some parts of Syria and Turkey.
Modern Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia was part of Fertile Crescent, a great arc
of fertile land stretching from Persian Gulf to the
eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea
The First Settlers
About 6,00 years ago, nomadic herders settled in southern
part of Mesopotamia and gradually adapted farming.

They found grazing area for their animals near the mouth of
the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.

They drained swamps so that they could plants crops on rich

lands.

Constructed dams, and dikes to keep rivers from flooding

their farm

Made irrigation to drier northern areas.

Who were the Sumerians?
Sumerians were nomads from the mountains of
northeast

They mingled with farming people and later,

Southern Mesopotamia became known as “Sumer”
(flat plain).
As of 3,500 B.C.E, they had established a number
of independent cities including Eridu, Ur, Uruk,
Umma and Lagash.
Each city-states has city and farmlands around it
Sumerian Cities
 Sumerian cities were
usually made by
artisans who worked
with muds instead of
woods.
 Cities were
surrounded by walls.
 They were made
from sun-dried
bricks.
 Most houses
were without
windows
with rooms
built around
a central
court.
 Thousand of
people lived in
each city-states.
 Each city-states
has a ruler who
had a combined
power of a priest
and a king.
 Sumerian Government
Sumerian viewed kingship as divine in origin-kings
they believed, derived their power from the gods and
were agents of gods.

“You in your judgement, you are the son of Anu (god of

sky); your commands like the work of gods, cannot be
reversed. Your words, like rain pouring down from the
heaven , are without number.”
Army, government bureaucracy and the priest and
priestess all aided the kings in their rule.
 Kings had power to led
armies, supervised the
building of public
works, and organized
workers for irrigation
projects.
 Government and
religion are combined.
 Sumerian Religion
Like other ancient people, they believed in
many gods or polytheism.

Each city-states had their own gods that

they believed controlled the city.

Priest worked with kings to please the

gods, and made several sacrifices for good
harvest, flood and public safety.
Sumerian Priest
 Ziggurat
 The most prominent
building in each
Sumerian city-state
was the temple which
was dedicated to chief
god or goddess of the
city and often built
atop a massive tower
called “ziggurat”.
Ziggurat
 Shaped-like pyramid,
ziggurat has several levels.
 Top is dedicated to prayings
and sacrifices for the god.
 Middle of it were the homes
of the priests and priestess.
 Around the base were shops
of artisans.
Gods of Sumer
 Sumerian Gods
Enlil, God of the wind and
Anu, god of Sky storm
 Sumerian Gods
Enki, god of Earth Ninhursaga, mother goddess
Economy and Society
Sumerian economy was primarily agricultural but commerce
and industry became important.

People produced woolen textiles, pottery, and metal works.

Sumerian exchanged wool, wheat, barley, and dairy products

for building supplies like stone hoes and wood lumbers.

Sumerians even traded to the land to the edge of Mediterranean

in the west and by sea to India in the east.

They imported copper, tin and timber in exchange of their

goods.
 First use of
wheel was
done about
3,500 BC that
made the
transport of
goods easier.
 Sumerian
also traded
with the use
of sailboat.
 Cuneiform
Wedge-shaped system of writing

Using sharp-pointed or reed stylus to write symbols

Composed of 60 symbols, which ranged from a single

wedge to complex patterns of about 70 wedges.

It is the source of information for modern historian or

scholar

Sumerians established schools for teaching cuneiform

writing.
 Scribes signed the
tablet with complete
date, and the name of
city where the record
was made.
 It can record some
business transactions
and also marked with
the signature of
buyers, sellers, and
some witnesses.
 Behistun Rock
In 180’s, a British officer named Henry
Rawlinson found the key to cuneiform writing.

He identified three types of writing on a huge

cliff; known as Behistun rock, located on the
old caravan between Babylon and Ecbatana.

One inscription was in Babylonian cuneiform;

the others were in Semitic language and Old
Persian, which was known by scholars.
 Behistun Rock
Henry Rawlinson Behistun Rock
 Epic of Gilgamesh
 Gilgamesh is the semi-
mythic King of Uruk best
known from The Epic of
Gilgamesh (written c. 2150-
1400 BCE) the great
Sumerian/Babylonian poetic
work which pre-dates
Homer’s writing by 1500
years and, therefore, stands
as the oldest piece of
epic western literature.
 Fall of Sumer
FACTORS:
• Lack of unity;
did not have a
united
government
• Location is
open to
invasion
The Rise of Akkads
 Akkad
 Akkad was the north
western half of ancient
Mesopotamia.
 The inhabitants of
Akkad, had their own
Akkadian language
which eventually came
to replace Sumerian
over the centuries
before and after 2000
BCE.
 In the 23rd and 24th centuries BCE, Akkad
had emerged as the strongest of
Mesopotamia
 Around 2330 BCE, the Akkadian Empire
rose to the strongest in the region and
probably also in the world at that time.
 Akkad
The heartland
of Akkad was
where the
Euphrates
and Tigris
rivers are at
their closest.
 About 2350 B.C, Sargon
the Great of the
neighboring kingdom of
Akkad, conquered the
divided city-states.
 He brought city-states
under control and became
the world’s first empire.
 Sargon’s empire extended
from Mediterranean Sea
up to the Persian Gulf.
 Sargon ruled until
2279 B.C for about
55 years and another
60 years for his sons
and grandsons to rule
the whole
Mesopotamian lands.
 Sargon launched a campaign of military
conquest to unite all of Mesopotamia
 He also conquered all of southern
Mesopotamia as well as parts of Syria,
Anatolia, and Elam (western Iran)
 He then became king over all of southern
Mesopotamia
After a hundred years, Gutians, fierce warriors
from neighboring invade Akkad and left it to
collapsed.
Ur, one of the city-state, regained its power about
2100 B.C and ruled both Sumer and Akkads.
Mesopotamian’s Advances
In mathematics, they drew up multiplication and
division tables.

They even made certain calculations in geometry.

They developed a number system which has a base of 60.

From this, a system of dividing a crcle into 360 degress

began and an hour with 60 minutes.
In astronomy, they observed stars regularly and
recorded the changing positions of the planets
and different phases of the moon.

First written records of astronomy was made by

the Mesopotamians.

From these, they developed a twelve-month

calendar based on the cycles of the moon.
Lunar Calendar
Code of Hammurabi
Hammurabi’s laws with everything that affected
the community, religion, irrigation, military
service, crime, business and property dealings
and marriage and family relations. Portions on
Hammurabi’s laws follows:

If a (free man) accused another (free man) and

brought a charge of murdered against him, but
has not proven it, (the) accuser shall be put to
death.
If a man stole either an ox or a sheep or a pig or a goat, if it
belonged to the temple or if it belonged to the state, he
shall make thirtyfold restitution()repayment. If it belonged
to a proven citizen, he shall make good tenfold. If the thief
does not have sufficient to make restitution, he shall put to
death

If a robber has not been caught, the robbed man shall set
forth the particulars regarding his lost property in the
presence of the city’s god. And the city and the governor in
whose territory and district the robbery was committed
shall make good to him his lost property
 If a man was too lazy to make the dike of his
field strong.. And break has opened up in his
dike and he has accordingly let the water
ravage the farmland, the man in whose dike
the break was opened shall make good the
grain that he let destroyed