Ancient+Mesopotamia

Ancient Mesopotamia: A survey of Mesopotamian geography, society, culture and politics by Natalie Ho and Mikayla Xie

=**Geography**=

[[image:3.png width="423" height="407"]]Mesopotamia was in southwest of Asia
(1)Mesopotamia is the region between Tigris and Euphrates, it is mostly flat.Those rivers were flow from the mountains and picked up many soil, the soil was vert fertile, so the Mesopotamia people can grow crops very well, so the people in Mesopotamia can traded he crop to lots of good things.(Carnine, et. al, 2009) "Almost every year, rain and melting snow in the mountains caused the rivers so 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."(Carnine, et. al, 2009) People here were harvest the mountains of crop. So i think the people in Mesopotamia were very rich. (2) There are a lack of resources in Mesopotamia. There have no forests, little stone and minerals, so people live in a reed and brick houses.(Carnine, et. al, 2009) "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. "(Carnine, et. al, 2009). As we can see, the geography effect not only Mesopotamia's economic and also effect its social quite a lot.(Carnine, et. al, 2009)This photo here are telling people what was the house like in Mesopotamia, it all made from reed!

= = =**Society**= Sumeria was one part of Mesopotamia. There, people settled in larger villages. And some of them are grew into cities. (Carnine, et. al, 2009)"City leaders had to start organizing workers to solve problems, such as building and cleaning irrigation canals. As a result, society and culture grew more complex."(Carnine, et. al, 2009) So people in Sumeria were have a leader to rule them and help them solve the problem. So the leader at that time just like the our government now.(Carnine, et. al, 2009) Sumerian has its own code, it divided people into three difference class, nobility, ordinary people and slave.(http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/17377576.html) Women in Sumeria at that time were high rank, they can "positions varied widely"(Carnine, et. al, 2009)and "Some upper-class women became priestesses, which was a role of honor. Free women could own land, and they could work as merchants and artisans, such as weavers. Still, then main role for most women was raising their children."(Carnine, et. al, 2009)

[[image:aic-humanties/1.png]]Women at that time were living in the second floor, this proves that they have status.
I am a slave.Every morning,I have to go to the slave market for my new master.If nobody want to buy me,I have stand for whole day. People who might be my master walk around and look at me.Finally,a fat woman buy me and get me home.I think I might change my own life.

=**Culture**= 1.By 3000 B.C. ,the Sumerians invented drawing on clay tablets. They drew symbols of some products,ideas and sounds,which means "picture writing". Later,they stopped using pictographs and began to use cuneiform ( symbols with wedge-shaped). This kind of writing was very complex. To learned all those 600 different symbols took a few years. As a result,only few people could write and read.(Carnine, et. al, 2009) This was how people write pictographs. 2. "Sumerians believed in many gods and goddesses"(Carnine, et. al, 2009), so this belief called polytheism.(Carnine, et. al, 2009) People in Sumeria were very believe in gods and they always go to temple to protest themselves and their cities. There are very feat about the disaster and bad things, and "they believe their gods could prevent bad tings from happening."(Carnine, et. al, 2009) Sumerians have their own gods and each god has many priests, Sumerians as the priests as their leaders.(Carnine, et. al, 2009)"In addition, the Sumerians has thousands of lesser gods and goddesses."(Carnine, et. al, 2009)"Each god had many priests. The priests worked to satisfy the gods and claimed to have influence with them. Because of this claim, people accepted the presets as leaders."(Carnine, et. al, 2009) = = = = =**Economy**= The Sumerians major economic is people grew lots of grain and traded another kind of things like "stone, wood, copper, tin, gold, ivory, ebony, and precious stones." with people throughout Southwest Asia. (Carnine, et. al, 2009) "In exchange foe these goods, the Mesopotamian merchants offered grain, dates, and other farm products."(Carnine, et. al, 2009). So people trade something they don't have with crops, it bring lots of riches to Sumerian because all the things they traded were very precious such as gold.(Carnine, et. al, 2009)

=**Government**= The emperor Sargon was the first person who took control of the whole region in Mesopotamia. At first,Sargon does not intervene to dominate Sumer. However ,once Lugalzagesi has accomplished this ,Sargon conquered Lugalzagesi and unified Sumer. This picture shows us the empire of Sargon,the region under Sargon's control and the kingdom of Lugalzagesi.

The Sumerian king Ur-Nammu made the oldest known laws in the world. "His laws outline a policy of tolerance and equality and make no distinctions for a person's wealth or status. They specify fines for breaking the law,rather than corporal punishment,even for crimes of assault."(Hunt,2010) = =

= = = = = = =**Change**= 3. Sumerians were in war in 2113B.C. And falls to the Babylonians at last."Although the Guti effectively take over Sumer, and appoint Gutian overlords above the Sumerian administrators, they are unable to hold onto their gains. In 2133 BCE Utuhegal, who rules at Uruk, defeats the Guti, and then in 2133 his brother, Ur-Nammu, defeats Uruk and restores the city of Ur to even greater Third Dynasty, but unfortunately this proves to be a short-lived resurgence of Sumerian power. After the death of Ur-Nammu's son Shulgi, Sumer falls to the Babylonians, a new force that has taken over the Akkadian empire."(Hunt, 2010) This war change the whole society of Sumeria, it means Sumeria was gone, Babylonia was the new Kingdom.

PLOW: Around 6000 B.C.,the Sumerians invented the plow to help farming. The plow was digging stick with handles. They could be pushed and pulled to broke up hard soil,which made planting easier. So people could have more food. "(Carnine, et. al, 2009), WHEEL: Around 3500 B.C.,the Sumerians invented wheel . They used wheel in many ways,such as moving heavy things.

The potter's wheel enabled Sumerians to make better quality pottery faster,which means they could have more item to trade.
 * (Hunt,2010)**