FIRST HISTORICAL

CIVILIZATIONS: MESOPOTAMIA
Four early River Valley Civilizations
Mesopotamia Civilization - Tigris & Euphrates Rivers
Egypt Civilization - Nile River
Indian Civilization - Indus River
Ancient China - Huang He (Yellow) River
USA

Mesopotamia was
located in the
Middle East( 中
东 ).
Mesopotamia
was located in
what is now the
country of Iraq.
The Cradle( 摇篮 ) of
Civilization
 The Cradle of Civilization

When a newborn baby begins life, he or she is placed in a

cradle. Mesopotamia was called as the cradle of
civilization because the first civilizations began there, about
7000 years ago in 5000 B.C.

Mesopotamia was located in the Middle East, which was

located in Southwest Asia( 西亚 ). The first civilizations and
examples of writing were found in Southwest Asia. These
things began in Mesopotamia!
 Land Between Two Rivers

• The name Mesopotamia comes from two Greek

words that mean “middle” and “river”.

• Mesopotamia was a land surrounded by the Tigris

and Euphrates rivers.

• The Euphrates is about 600 miles longer than the

Tigris, but the Tigris carries more water. In ancient
times, both were used for fishing, transportation and
irrigation( 灌溉 ).
 Geography of Mesopotamia
Mostly dry desert climate in Middle East( 中
东 ).Except in region between Tigris and
Euphrates rivers.

A flat plain( 草 原 ) known as Mesopotamia

lies between the two rivers.
(the Middle East)
Mesopotamia was located on a flat plain called the Fertile
Crescent because it has a rich soil. The shape is somewhat
similar to a crescent.
• Farming began in southern Mesopotamia in
5500 BC.
• Flat, swampy( 沼泽 ) region.
• The Tigris and Euphrates rivers often flooded
during the spring.
• The floods left a very fertile mud, called silt –
this made the soil very fertile( 肥沃 ).
Where did Mesopotamia Civilization started?

Many city-states formed

along the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers in
Mesopotamia.
The region where the two
rivers meet was called
Sumer.
Mesopotamia civilization
started in Sumer.
The people who lived in the
Sumer region were called
Sumerians.
 How Did These Cities Develop?
• Due to the fertile soil in
Mesopotamia, farming
was very successful.
• In fact, people were able
to create extra food.
• When there were extra
food, the population
grew and more and more
village started to
develop.
 Geographic Challenge 1

• Little rain
• Rivers dry up
 Geographic Challenge 2
• Water from rainfall and snowmelt
• Rivers overflow without warning
 Geographic Challenge 3
• Land of Mesopotamia was located in the
middle of open plain.
• There is no natural barrier( 障碍物 ).
Permanent Settlements of
Mesopotamia Civilization

• Many city-states formed

along the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers in
Mesopotamia.

• Some of the
Mesopotamia cities
were Ur, Uruk, Kish,
Lagesh, Eridu and
Nippur.
 City-States in Mesopotamia

• All the cities shared the same culture.

• Each city had different government, rulers and
warriors.
• They have their own city walls and functioned
like an independent country.
 Do you still remember the first
city of Mesopotamia??

How did Mesopotamian clarify( 弄

清 ) their land boundaries( 界限 )?
Sumerians
 A Sumerian City
Sumerian city
streets were so
narrow that you
could hardly get a
cart( 手推车 )
Narrow Streets
through them.

Rich Sumerians
will have a
courtyard( 庭院 )
area in their house
for their family to
gather and children
Courtyard Area
to play.
 Housing
• The upper class lived in
large homes that were
wide and nearly three
stories high.
• The materials used to
make houses was sun-
dried mud brick,
because there was little
wood and stone.
• The roofs( 屋 顶 ) were
flat( 平 ), so that it was
like a another floor.
 On hot nights, people
slept outdoors on the top
of their house’s flat roof.

Sumerians had a form of light

at night. They burned oil
lamps.
 • The average person in
Food Mesopotamia ate about two
meals a day except for the
rich who ate three.

• Lots people ate unleavened

（ 无 酵 ） bread and
vegetables.
• Meat was expensive
so most people ate
vegetables.
• A popular treat of
rich people was the
Kafta kabob.
 • Mesopotamian drank
Drinks large amounts of beer
(up to a whole gallon
a day).
• They also drank camel
milk
• In Ancient Mesopotamia wives were bought and sold.
• Marriages were arranged by the parents.
• Wives were capable of filing( 提出 ) a divorce.

Marriage
 Marriage Market
• Once a year in each village the young women
eligible( 合 格 ) to marry were collected all
together in one place.
• While the men stood around them in a circle. Then
a herald( 通报者 ) called up the young women one
by one and offered them for sale.
• He began with the most beautiful and she will be
sold for a highest price. All of them were then sold
to be wives.
 The course of the marriage process had five stages which
needed to be observed in order for the couple to be legally
married:

1) The engagement/marriage contract

2) Payment of the families of the groom to the bride.
3) The ceremony/feast( 宴会 )
4) The bride moving to her father-in-law’s home
5) Sexual intercourse between the groom with the bride
expected to be a virgin on her wedding night and
to become pregnant later.
Mesopotamia’s King

Social Classes
Priests( 祭师）

Scribes( 抄写员 )

Craftsmen( 工匠 ),farmers, merchants

Slaves( 奴隶 )
 Mesopotamia’s Society
• Five social classes
a. Kings
b. Priests
b. Scribe
c. Ordinary workers: farmers, merchants and
craftsmen
Slaves: were not free citizens
 Mesopotamia’s Society
• Powerful priests held much political power( 政 治 权 利 ) in
the beginning.
• Mesopotamian believed that priests were able to
communicate with the God.
• Even the some of the kings in Mesopotamian did not dare
to go against the priests.
 Mesopotamia’s Society
• Military commanders( 军 事 部 队 ) eventually became the
king creating a new structure of government called a
Dynasty （朝代 ).
• Dynasty is a series of rulers descending from a single
family line
Mesopotamia’s Society
 Mesopotamia’s Society
• Craftsmen crafted statue of Gods and Kings.
• They also crafted on the walls of palace and temples.
• They also crafted small detailed cylinder stones that were
used as seals.
• These seals were quite small because they were used as
signatures.
 Mesopotamia’s Society
• The slaves were at the lowest social class.
• When one city-state conquered another, they usually
brought back prisoners to work as slaves.
• Sometimes citizens of the city-state could become slaves
by being a criminal or by going into debt.
• Slaves usually did household chores in the homes of the
wealthy or constructed buildings around the city-state.
LIFE OF CITIZEN IN MESOPOTAMIA
Family Life
• In a Family men had more
power than women.
• Boys were taught their
family trading business
• Girls stayed home and
learned how to housekeep
and cook for the family.
• One right that a women
have is that they can get a
divorce.
• Men were the masters of
the house.
 Childhood

• Rich boys were taught how

to read and write in school.
• In the lower class, boys were
taught there fathers and
family trade like fishing.
• Girls, rich and poor stayed
home with their mother to
learn housekeeping and
cooking.
• Girls were also taught to take
care of children.
 School
• Record keeping was very
important to ancient
Mesopotamians, they wrote
everything down.
• There written language was
called cuneiform.
• Schools were attached to
temples, and only boys had the
privilege of going to school.
• Students had to do a perfect job
or they were beaten as
punishment.
• Most students wanted to go to
school in spite of punishments.
Childbirth
• Death to infants during birth
was very common due to having
no doctors at times.
• Mesopotamians wore amulets
while giving birth and well after
giving birth.
• The amulet was meant to chase
away the god Lamashtu
(pictured beside)from stealing
babies after birth.
• There were about two to four
children born to each husband.
 Writing System of Mesopotamian
One of the first writing systems - Cuneiform
 Writing System In Mesopotamia
• Writing began because they needed to keep a record
trading activities.
• They need to record how many extra crops were bought and
sold.
• In early days, they use pictures to keep a record and the
picture slowly developed into writing.
 From Pictogram To Cuneiform
• Over time, people realized drawings were hard to
record all the data.
• They started to represent drawings with symbols
which was in wedge shape.
• The symbol was known as cuneiform.
 How Did Mesopotamian Write?
• The scribes will write on a tablet of clay by using
a stylus.
• They pressed the stylus into the clay to leave
the writing on the clay and sun-dried the clay.
 A Student Tablet
• A student table was known
as ‘bun’ and it is convex in
shape.
• The tablet fit naturally into
the palm of hand.
• There are 4 rows of sign on
the tablet whereby the
teacher will inscribed( 刻写 )
the sign in row 1 and 2.
• The students will then
copied the text into row 3
and 4.
 Mesopotamian culture
The Epic of Gilgamesh is, perhaps, the oldest
written story on Earth. It is about the adventures
of the cruel King Gilgamesh of Uruk.
It contains a “flood story” that predates the
Hebrew Old Testament story of Noah by at least
2000 years.
It was written on 12 clay tablets in cuneiform
script.
 Central Government System of
Mesopotamia

• Government system in Mesopotamia was the Theocracy government

system.
• The king of Mesopotamia was considered as the God and the owner of
the city states.
• Even tough the king was considered as the God, people still did not
worship the king.
• Only one king in Mesopotamia make the people worshiped him, King
Naramsin because he felt himself too great.
The Akkadian Empire lasted about 200 years, 2350–
2150 B.C.
 Babylonian Empire
They overtook Sumerians around 2000 B.C.
And they built capital, Babylon, on Euphrates river
 The most famous king of Babylonian Empire was
Hammurabi [1792-1750 B.C.]

Famous Code of Law

“the punishment
fits the crime” and
“eye for an eye”

He took all the laws of the region’s city-states and

unified them into one code. This helped unify the
region.
The Ziggurat at Ur was first excavated by British archaeologist
Woolley in 1923.
 Mesopotamian religion

They believed in many gods - polytheism

Mesopotamian warrior-god, gold figurine. Marduk, the Dragon god

(2.400-2.500 B.C.)
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