I.

The City States of the

Sumerians
A. Settled in Mesopotamia- between
the rivers
1. Between the Tigris and Euphrates
Rivers
2. 7000 years ago
3. Rivers helped them raise crops
and animals
4. Fertile Crescent

B. Life in Sumer
1. Better than prehistoric humans
2. Woman had legal rights
3. Slaves could set up a business and
buy their freedom
4. Children could be sold into slavery
and beaten by teachers
5. Hierarchy
6. Complex government

C. Ziggurats and Religion

1. Temples located in ziggurats
2. Main building in each city-state
3. Dedicated to the citys chief god or
goddess
a. Believed gods had human feelings
b. Kept gods happy through worship in
temples and sacrificing animals

4. Belief in afterlife

Ziggurat

D. Sumerians invented
writing
1. Cuneiform- Sumerian writing
2. Symbols created for each sound or
word
3. Wrote on soft clay tables with a
stylus- a sharp, pointed writing tool
4. First people to write down history

Cuneiform Tablet

E. Other Sumerian
Inventions

1. Plow, sailboat, wheels on carts,

potters wheel
2. Arches and ramps
3. Astronomy and mathematics
- Number system based on 60

10/17 Sumerian Reading,

Writing, and Arithmetic
1. Why did early Mesopotamians
create a writing and arithmetic
system?
2. What is the basis of the their
number system?
3. How were records made permanent?
4. What happened in 2500 BC?
5. How many different signs were there
in the Sumerian system?

II. Akkadians and

Babylonians
A. Sargon I united the city-states of
Mesopotamia- FIRST EMPIRE
1. Akkad- north of the Sumerians
a. used bronze weapons
b. Sargon ruled for 35 years

B. Sargon I borrowed from the

Sumerians
1. System of writing- used cuneiform
for written records
2. Translated Sumerian writings about
govt and religion into their own
language
3. Akkad collapsed after the death of
Sargon I

C. Babylonians- 1800 BC
1. King Hammurabis army defeated
the Akkadians and Sumerians
2. Built a ziggurat to honor Marduk
3. Merchants came from Asia to do
business b/c of developed trade
routes

D. Hammurabis Code
1. First system of laws
2. Civil law and criminal law
3. He ruled for 40 years and recorded
300 laws at the end (found in 1902
in Iran)
4. Golden Age of Babylon
5. Mesopotamia divided into city states
again after his death in 1750 BC
and Nebuchadnezzar revived it in

Warm UP 10/19
TRUE OR FALSE
1.Hammurabis code of laws included
criminal and civil law.
2.Sargon I ruled Babylon.
3.Hammurabi ruled Sumeria.

III. Phoenicians
A.Fertile Crescent- Area of land in
the Middle East shaped like a
quarter moon
B. Phoenicia built city-states in Canaan
in 1100 BC
1. Narrow civilization
2. Little land for farming

D. Phoenicians use cedar trees to build

ships and become sea traders
1. Built Tyre and Sidon
2. Traded cloth, glass, wood, and metal
objects
3. Traveled to England, Africa, etc.
4. 814 BC Settled in Carthage (North
Africa)
5. Single sailed ships with oars
6. Used the North Star to navigate and
mapped sea routes

E. Gifts of the Phoenicians

1. Developed a 22 letter alphabet
2. Spread the culture and products of
the Middle East
3. Purple dye

IV. Hebrews
A. Holy Book (the Bible) tells their story
B. Where did they come from?
1. Abraham and Moses
2. Moved out of Mesopotamia around
2000-1500 BC
3. Wandered as nomads
4. Traveled to Egypt during a famine- no
crops grow
5. Egyptians enslaved the Hebrews

C. Hebrew contributions
1. 10 commandments
2. Judaism- religion developed by the
Hebrews that Jews practice today
3. Morality- right way of behaving
toward others
4. Monotheism- belief in one god.

Do the following statements

describe the Sumerians,
Akkadians, Babylonians,
Phoenicians, or Hebrews?

1. They built city-states.

2. They created a 22 letter alphabet.
3. The Bible tells their story.
4. They used cedar ships for trading.
5. They build ziggurats.
6. Ruled by King Hammurabi
7. Ruled by Sargon I
8. They used bronze weapons
9. Invented arches and ramps
10.Built a ziggurat honoring Marduk.