Chapter 3 Key Terms1. Fertile Crescent2. Mesopotamia3. irrigate4. city-state5. barter6. polytheism7. ziggurat8. cuneiform9. empire 10. ally11. cultural trait12. Hammurabi’s Code13. rule of law

14. cavalry15. standing army16. tribute17. currency18. stele19. import20. export21. navigation22. colony23. cultural diffusion24. alphabet

Chapter 3 Section 1: The Civilization of Sumer

• The Fertile Crescent– Located in the Middle East– Includes Mesopotamia

• Lies between two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates)• “land between two rivers”• Cradle of civilization

Agriculture in Mesopotamia• Rich soil• Grew many grains and vegetables• Raised sheep, goats, and cattleGeography of Mesopotamia• Contains the foothills of the Taurus and Zagros mountain chains in the North• In the South…

– Foothills flatten into plains– Hot, dry region with little rainfall– Soil is rich with nutrients because of the two rivers

• Two rivers could be harmful if the floods were too high and caused damageFarming the Land• Used technology to irrigate, or supply water to, their crops.• Created funnels to automatically drop seeds into the ground

City-States of Sumer• Better agricultural techniques= produce more food=

population grew• 3400 BCE cities started to formCities Emerge• First city was Uruk- population 40,000• Others were Ur, Lagash, and Nippur• World’s first city-states

– An independent state that includes a city and its surrounding territory

Trade• Most trade done by barter

– A trading system in which people exchange goods directly without using money

• Used rivers and canals to transport goods• Then, used new technologies (the sail and wheel) to

make trade easierSocial Classes• Each class had distinct roles

– Upper class- ruler, his top officials, powerful priests, wealthy merchants, owners of large plots of land

– Middle class- farmers and skilled workers– Lower class- slaves

Sumerian Religion• Practiced polytheism– Belief in more than one god– Gods controlled every aspect of

life- rain, wind, and other elements of nature

– Behaved much like people- ate drank, slept, married

– Gods lived forever– Needed to keep the gods happy– Only priests communicated with

the gods– Built pyramid-shaped brick tower

temples called ziggurats• Filled with beautiful paintings and

statues

Sumerian Writing• At first they drew pictographs– Simple pictures that represent

objects

Cuneiform• Created by 3400 BCE• Uses triangular-shaped

symbols to stand for ideas or things

Epic of Gilgamesh• 2000 BCE- first story• Stories are myths- made-up

tales of gods and heroes

Sumerian Government• First leaders were priests• When conflicts arose the way cities were ruled

began to changeDevelopment of Kingship• Conflicts over land and water led to wars• Priests chose military leaders that would

sometimes continue to control city-states- became first kings

Kings and Priests• Kings needed support of the priests • Priests supported the kings by declaring that the

gods had chosen themWritten Laws• Earliest known law code written around 2100 BCE

by Ur-Nammu- the King of Ur– Laws about marriage, slavery, causing harm to others

Achievements• Trade spread the Sumerian’s achievements• One of the first cultures to make bronze by mixing

copper and tin

Section 1 Quiz1. The term Mesopotamia refers to which two rivers?

a) Danube and Euphratesb) Nile and Danubec) Mississippi and Tigrisd) Tigris and Euphrates

2. Another term for a city and the surrounding land it controls is…a) city-stateb) empirec) kingdomd) nation-state

3. The laws written by Ur-Nammu are an example ofa) a law codeb) national controlc) a priestly textd) a religious text

4. Which of the following is a type of building?a) Gilgameshb) pictographsc) polytheismd) ziggurat

5. Cuneiform is a type of…a) clay tabletb) mathematicsc) writingd) wedge