Topic 2 

Cradle of Civilization 

MESOPOTAMIA

ANCIENT RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS





Unit 2:  topic 2 - Curriculum Guide

Table of Contents

Unit 2 - Topic 2: Overview.................................................................................................................................................................................... 1

Unit 2 - Topic 2:  Goal, GLE's, & Description....................................................................................................................................................... 2

Homework:  What Did You Learn in Topic 1?.................................................................................................................................................... 3

Student Strategies............................................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Lesson Activity:  Vocabulary Words - Homework........................................................................................................................................... 5

Lesson Activity:  Longitude and Latitude........................................................................................................................................................ 6

Unit 2 - Topic 2: Just a Few Things You Will Find on a Map - What Are They? ............................................................................................. 7

Unit 2 - Topic 2: Instruction............................................................................................................................................................................... 8

Lesson Activity: Climate Map To Be Used With Mesopotamia Civilizations Map....................................................................................... 9

Political and Physical Map............................................................................................................................................................................... 10

Lesson Activity: Building Context................................................................................................................................................................... 11

Mesopotamia Civilization Map

Formative Assessment/Developing a Claim.................................................................................................................................................. 12

The Fertile Crescent - Source 1................................................................................................................................................................. 13

The Fertile Crescent - Source 2................................................................................................................................................................. 14

The Fertile Crescent - Source 3................................................................................................................................................................. 15

Lesson Activity: Interactive Map Organizer................................................................................................................................................... 16

Formative Assessment/Developing a Claim Questions................................................................................................................................ 17

Lesson Activity: Characteristics of Civilization Organizer............................................................................................................................ 18

Lesson Activity: Building Context/Developing a Claim................................................................................................................................. 19

Source 1: Life in Sumer

Lesson Activity:  Building Context/Developing a Claim................................................................................................................................ 20

Source 2: Babylon

Lesson Activity:  Building Context/Developing a Claim................................................................................................................................ 21

Hammurabi's Code

Lesson Activity:  Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment..................................................................................................................... 22

Lesson Activity: Building Context................................................................................................................................................................... 23

Teacher Model:  Document A

Document B

Document C

Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment..................................................................................................................... 24

Lesson Activity: Building Context.................................................................................................................................................................. 25

Hammurabi the Lawgiver - Article 1

Sargon the Great - Article 2

Lesson Activity:  Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment................................................................................................................... 26

Lesson Activity:  Building Context................................................................................................................................................................ 27

Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim/Summative Assessment.................................................................................................................. 28



Unit 2 - Topic 1:  Overview

Page 1

Topic 2 Description:  Students examine various aspects of civilization in the Fertile Crescent as they analyze the role of geography in the development of civilizations.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Unit 2 Description:  Students explore how physical geography and location supported the growth of ancient civilizations; the characteristics of those civilizations; and how their achievement influenced other cultures.  Students are investigating different types of maps and understanding the difference between physical and political maps as well as the physical characteristics of the land where people chose to settle.  Students examine the ancient river valley civilizations in an effort to discover the impact geography and environment have on civilization.  This is key to helping them to visualize the organic growth of civilization. Students will explore how physical geography, natural/non-renewable resources and location supported the growth of ancient civilizations, the characteristics of those civilizations, and how their achievements influenced other cultures. 

Unit 2 - Topic 2:  Goals, GLE's & Description

Page 2

Topic 2:  Goal 

Students will use their understanding of the development of early civilizations, the knowledge they will gain from this unit, and their notes to explore why Mesopotamia trade was crucial to the development of their civilization.  Students will be able to write a brief essay about the importance of trade in Mesopotamia.

Topics (GLEs) for the unit & pacing:

Unit 2:  Approximately 7 Weeks

Topic 2:  Approximately 10 Class Periods

Connections to the Unit Claim

Students will examine various aspects of civilization in the Fertile Crescent as they analyze the role of geography in the development of civilizations.

Claim: 

How do geography and environment impact civilization?

Sub-Claim Question:

How did geography and environment shape the development of Mesopotamia?

ESSENTIAL CONTENT

6.2.1 - Analyze the relationship between geographical features and early settlement patterns using maps and globes.

6.2.2 Examine how the achievements of early humans led to the development of civilization.

6.2.3 Describe the characteristics and achievements of the ancient river civilizations of Mesopotamia, Egypt, Indus Valley, and China.

6.3.4 Determine world migration patterns and population trends by interpreting maps, charts, and graphs. 

6.4.1 - Identify and describe physical features and climate conditions that contributed to early human settlement in regions of the world.

6.4.2 Explain how world migration patterns and cultural diffusion influenced human settlement. 

6.4.3 Explain the connection between physical geography and its influence on the development of civilization.

ancillary content

6.1.1 - Produce clear and coherent writing for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences by completing the following tasks:

6.1.2 Construct and interpret a parallel timeline of key events in the ancient world.

6.1.3 Analyze information in primary and secondary sources to address document-based questions. 

6.1.4 Identify and compare measurements of time in order to understand historical chronology.

6.6.1 Explain the impact of job specialization in the development of civilizations.

6.6.2 Analyze the progression from barter exchange to monetary exchange.

6.6.3 Describe the economic motivation for expanding trade and territorial conquests in world civilizations using economic concepts. 

6.6.4 Explain how the development of trade and taxation influenced economic growth in the ancient world. 

Homework:  What Did You Learn in Topic 1?

Page 3

Directions for Homework:  Before we start this new Topic, take a minute to write about what you have learned so far.  Use complete sentences in your writing.  Try to fill these pages with the new knowledge you have gained.  Celebrating YOU, Because YOU ARE SOMEBODY!!!  Don't forget it.

Student Strategies - Caterpillar Writing, Thinking Like a Historian & R.A.C.E.

Page 4

Lesson Activity:  Vocabulary Words - HOMEWORK

Page 5

longitude monotheistic

latitude city-state

political irrigation

physical Judaism

cuneiform Scribe

polytheistic silt

Fertile Crescent Artisan

Cradle of Civilization empire

famine ritual


Mesopotamia Sumer

tribute social class

Land Between Two Rivers

Directions:  Open your NOTEBOOK and complete the vocabulary for a HOMEWORK assignment. You will not be tested on all words, but you need to know them for content.  The definitions are there for you in Quizlet.  Click on the picture in the middle of this page to go there.

Lesson Activity:  Longitude and Latitude

Page 6

Objectives:  The student will be able to differentiate lines of longitude from lines of latitude.

The student will be able to locate and identify the lines of latitude and longitude, the equator, the North Pole, the South Pole, and the prime meridian.

Students will use maps to compare geographical features and areas of settlement in ancient river valley civilizations to draw conclusions about the relationship between settlement patterns and geographical features.

Directions:  Open your NOTEBOOK and complete the "Fill-in-the-blank-Notes" for the  longitude and latitude activity after reading the article on longitude and latitude on this page. Once you complete the notes, plot the coordinates for Mesopotamia on the globe.

National Geographic Society. “Latitude.” National Geographic Society, 9 Oct. 2012, www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/latitude/. 

Directions:  Open your NOTEBOOK to the page that shows the globe and plot the coordinates for Mesopotamia.






Hemispheres

Just A Few Things You Will Find On A Map - What are they?

Page 7

The title

Each map has a title that tells what the map represents. For example, a map of the United States might simply be titled "The United States of America." Titles give us an idea of what we're looking at and for what purpose we may use the map.  What is the "TITLE"? Answer in your NOTEBOOK.

compass rose

Maps usually include a compass rose. A compass rose is a cross-like figure that shows direction. Compass roses display the four cardinal directions - north, east, south, and west - as well as the ordinal directions: northeast, southeast, northwest, southwest. A clever way to remember the order of the cardinal directions is with the mnemonic 'Never Eat Soggy Waffles' for north, east, south, and west.  Type the locations on your compass rose. NOTEBOOK:  Answer in your notebook.  Where is the compass rose on this map and what is the title of the map?

map key

Most kinds of maps have symbols and colors that represent certain things. In such cases, they typically have map keys, also called legends, which are boxes that tell you what the symbols mean. For instance, colors on a map can represent mountains, plains, plateaus, rivers, and lakes. On other maps, symbols might represent capitals, roads, railroads, and boundaries between states and cities.  Look at the map above, where is the map key and how do you know?  What is the title of the map?  Go to your NOTEBOOK to answer the questions.

Unit 2 - Topic 2:  Instruction

Page 8

Topic Overview:  In the previous topic, we examined the early settlement of Catalhoyuk.  In this topic, we will learn about the river valley civilization of Mesopotamia.  We will continue to examine how geography continued to impact human development in the earliest permanent human settlements.

Lesson Activity:  Climate Map To Be Used With Mesopotamia Civilizations Map

Page 9

Directions:  This climate map will help you to fill in the climate zones for your Mesopotamian Civilizations organizer on page 10.  You should have plotted the coordinates for Mesopotamia before getting to this point.  You can go back up to where you did that in your NOTEBOOK, find out at what point on the globe it should be, then come back to this map and look for the climate zones in that area.  Remember to use the map legend at the bottom.  It tells you what the colors on the globe are.  You will go to your Mesopotamia Civilizations Organizer and write what the climate zones are for Mesopotamia according to the map below. You will also use the physical and political maps that follow in order to gain more information that will be added to your organizer.

Weather and climate are different.  Weather is a short term description of the air in an area measured by temperature, precipitation, humidity, wind, and other factors. Climate is usually defined as the weather conditions in an area over a long period of time.  Climate is determined by 1 or more of the 5 causes of climate.  There are 12 different types of climate found on Earth.  Sometimes climate types are called climate zones. Each of the 12 climate types is grouped into 5 categories, except 1 (Highland).  Climates in the same category share characteristics and usually are found in the same area.  Climates change over time, usually, the change is very slow.  The Earth has experienced many different climates over its 4.54 billion years.  There are many different factors that cause climates to shift and change. 

Link to the above map:  www.climatetypesforkids.com/ 

“Climate Types for Kids.” Climatetypesforkids, www.climatetypesforkids.com/. 

The map animation above shows monthly temperatures around the world and how they change each month. You can see summer and winter happening in the northern and southern hemispheres. This occurs because the Earth revolves around the sun at a tilted angle, which changes the amount of direct and indirect sunlight for different parts of the Earth. 

 

“Climate Types for Kids.” Climatetypesforkids, www.climatetypesforkids.com/. 

The map animation above shows monthly precipitation around the world and how it changes each month. You can see the precipitation gets heavier during the warmer months because the warmth evaporates water and begins the water cycle. Also, notice the areas that are dark blue throughout the year. These are likely areas that have a tropical wet climate. 












Political and Physical Maps

Page 10

Example of a Political Map:  Political maps show the geographic boundaries between governmental units such as countries, states, and counties. They show roads, cities and major water features such as oceans, rivers, and lakes. 


Google Search, Google, www.google.com/search?q=definition of political map&rlz=1C1ZKTG_enUS902US902&oq=definition of political map&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l7.7543j1j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8. 
“World Political Map.” World Political Map, www.mapsofworld.com/world-political-map.htm. 
“World Map.” Political and Physical Maps and Definitions, 16 June 2020, www.worldatlas.com/aatlas/infopage/politphys.htm. 
Google Search, Google, www.google.com/search?q=physical maps&safe=active&rlz=1C1ZKTG_enUS902US902&sxsrf=ALeKk00B76J4lLjW94JuEF0mOuIPzN7Baw:1596267984665&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjZu8TRwfnqAhWXXc0KHZa1DiEQ_AUoAXoECA0QAw&biw=1920&bih=888#imgrc=E4zsx1gxmEw-NM. 

Example of a Physical Map:  The primary purpose of a physical map is to show landforms like deserts, mountains, and plains. Their topography style presents an overall better picture of the local terrain.   These maps represent a geographical area in a way that enables people to find places and/or to better understand the physical features of a particular destination.  

Use the physical and political maps below to help complete the Mesopotamia Civilizations Organizer.



Students, it is important that you learn map skills.  You will use this knowledge in your every day life.  I know what you are saying, "Well I have a GPS on my phone."  That may be true, but what happens when you do not have a way to charge it or it breaks, you need these skills.  Another reason you need to learn this information is that you will use these skills throughout all of the units we will cover this year.  Your teacher may not cover all of this information every time, so please learn it.  If you forget something, you can always come back here.  YOU GOT THIS, ALWAYS!!


Lesson Activity:  Building Context

Mesopotamian Civilization Organizer and Map

Page 11

ok, are you ready to rock mesopotamia?  Let's get this party started!  Enjoy!

Sing along, learn the song.  There are all kinds of ways to learn.  I hope you like it, I do.

ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA song by Mr. Nicky-fdblRch6m3g.mp4

Directions:  Students, you should have looked at and reviewed some of the main components of a map.  You are now familiar with those items. You will use the information from pages 7, 9, and 10 in this textbook to help you.

You will complete the following: 

Your map of Mesopotamia is located on your Mesopotamian Civilizations organizer as shown below.  It will be set up as a drag and drop activity in your NOTEBOOK.  You may use the color rendering to organize the layout of places on your map.  This will help you to recognize the places on the map when you see it again.  You will need your NOTEBOOK for this activity.  You will also need to use the line functions in Google Slides, in order to draw a compass rose on your map.

Directions:  Open your NOTEBOOK to continue working on your Mesopotamian Civilizations Organizer/Map.  You will label the map of the Fertile Crescent like the colored map shown here.  If this is not finished during the time given, students must finish work on their own time.

Formative Assessment/Developing a Claim

Page 12

Developing Your Claim:  Using the knowledge that you have gained working through the material that we have covered so far, predict (what you think based on facts) the impact of climate on human settlement patterns in this region.  Provide evidence from your sources and outside knowledge to support your answers.  Here are a few questions that you will answer in order to better predict the impact on human settlement.

Students you are now ready to develop your claim identifying the area in Mesopotamia that presents the best environment for human settlement to develop.  Please make sure to reference climate and geographic features in your response.  You should also include details from task materials we have covered so far.  We will use a claims rubric to grade your work.  Strive for a "4."  Do your BEST!

Directions for "How do I Provide Evidence?" video above:  Watch the video to understand how to state your claim using evidence from your sources.  The contents of this video may help you in some of your other writing assignments. HINT! HINT!

Claim Evidence Reasoning...in five minutes or less-faSAI0Anf9E_xvid.mp4

Directions:  You will complete this activity in your NOTEBOOK.

The Fertile Crescent - Source 1

Page 13

Fertile Crescent (Source 1)

Mesopotamia 

Ancient Mesopotamia has been called the "cradle of civilization," because archaeologists believe that the first cities on Earth developed there.  The word Mesopotamia translates from the Greek and it means the Kingdom "between two rivers."  The two rivers refer to the Tigris River and the Euphrates River, which created a rich area of land called the "fertile crescent."

The land where Mesopotamia was located in southwest Asia is largely desert today, but thousands of years ago it was green and vibrant.  The first people there were hunter-gatherers and there were abundant plants and animals they could eat to survive.  The rivers provided fresh water to sustain life.  Once people figured out how to farm and cultivate the land, the rivers provided the necessary irrigation to maintain crops and livestock.

From Nomadic Tribes to Farms and Agriculture

The history of Mesopotamia begins with the history of farming.  Around 8,000 BCE, a nomadic people figured out that if you planted a seed in the ground something amazing would happen.  It would grow into a plant.  This area of the world had many types of wild grains that could gradually be changed into crops and then farmed.  This process is called, "domestication."

Wheat, barley, and lentils were three of the wild plants that Mesopotamian farmers cultivated.  The same was true with animals.  Many of the wild animals that were native to the area could be domesticated into farm livestock.  Sheep, goats, cows, and pigs were all living wild in this area to begin with and then were domesticated to use for food and other products.

Nomads and Their Livestock

Once people learned how to domesticate both plants and animals, their lifestyles changed.  They did not need to be nomadic, which meant they did not need to move from place to place to get food.  By farming, they could grow more than enough food to feed themselves and their animals.  Farming did require the attention of people; otherwise, the crops would die.

Ancient City of Mesopotamia

For the first time, people were staying in one place for long periods of time so they could take care of their farms.  The groups of people that settled there needed the fresh water and fertile soil for farming.  Mesopotamia was the first area of the world where villages and cities began to form.

These first cities may have begun as early as 10,000 BCE.  However, a civilization does not form until there are some common cultural connections between the cities.  Unlike the more unified cultures of Egypt and Greece, Mesopotamia was a "melting pot" of different cultures.  Eventually, around 5,000 BCE, the settlements developed into city-states with some cultural ties to each other.

Now that people were growing enough food for many people, other roles for people began to develop.  This was called job specialization.  There were craftsmen, temple priests, and accounting scribes.  There were also rulers, as well as administrators and soldiers at different levels of society.


Baby Professor. The 7 Great Cities of Ancient Mesopotamia. Speedy Publishing, 2017. Lassieur, Allison. Ancient Mesopotamia. Childrens Press, 2013. 

Directions:  Watch the Video on Mesopotamia: Mesopotamia from Nomads to Farmers.  Open your NOTEBOOK and complete the 3-2-1 activity as you watch the video or after viewing the video.  That's up to you.  Just make sure you complete it.


Cuneiform - Ancient Writing

Job Specialization

Mesopotamia From Nomads to Farmers-Ki8S5I83Ccc.mp4

Watch Video

The Fertile Crescent - Source 2

Page 14

The Great Ziggurat

The Great Ziggurat

Fertile Crescent (Source 2)

Sumer

Around 4,000 BCE, a new group of people emerged in Mesopotamia, the Sumerians.  The Sumerians were unlike earlier Mesopotamians, they figured out how to build elaborate irrigation systems and canals, which allowed them to grow more crops.  The crops they grew could support larger villages, so the Sumerians built cities that became cultural and religious centers. As they developed cities and commerce and the idea of wealth, they had to develop a way to keep track of things.  They needed to know things like, how many cows did I give you last month and how much wheat are you going to give me, etc.  This was the beginning of written language.  They created the first writing system called cuneiform.  Sumerian literature had a great influence on the writing of many civilizations in Mesopotamia.  Some literature from this time remains today.  Some of those stories are like the stories at the beginning of the Bible.

Sumer was a collection of city-states.  A city-state consisted of one powerful city and several smaller cities and villages that worked together like an independent state.  Small villages started up around areas of irrigated farmland.  Sumerian cities were the capitals of larger city-states like Ur, Kish, Lagash, and Eridu.  These cities were huge urban areas with thousands of people, fields of grain, and pastures filled with animals.  These areas provided food for the people.  Thousands of farmers, herdsmen, and fishermen lived in the outlying areas.  At the center of each city, you would find a fine temple dedicated to the city's patron god.  Ur was the center of Sumerian religion and culture and the largest city in the ancient world.  A structure known as the Great Ziggurat eventually came to be the centerpiece of the city, a place of worship.

The Fertile Crescent - Source 3

Page 15

The Fertile Crescent  (Source 3)

Fertile Crescent, the region where the first settled agricultural communities of the Middle East and Mediterranean basin are thought to have originated by the early 9th millennium BCE. The term was popularized by the American Orientalist James Henry Breasted. 

The Fertile Crescent includes a roughly crescent-shaped area of relatively fertile land which probably had a more moderate, agriculturally productive climate in the past than today, especially in Mesopotamia and the Nile valley. Situated between the Arabian Desert to the south and the mountains of the Armenian Highland to the north, it extends from Babylonia and adjacent Elam (the southwestern province of Persia, also called Susiana) up the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to Assyria. From the Zagros Mountains east of Assyria it continues westward over Syria to the Mediterranean and extends southward to southern Palestine. The Nile valley of Egypt is often included as a further extension, especially since the short interruption in Sinai is no greater than similar desert breaks that disturb its continuity in Mesopotamia and Syria.

Throughout the region, irrigation is necessary for the best agricultural results and, indeed, is often essential to any farming at all. Radiocarbon dating has shown that the beginnings of agriculture, villages, and buildings in the Fertile Crescent there must be dated back to about 8,000 BCE, if not earlier, and that the use of irrigation followed rapidly. The ancient countries of the Fertile Crescent, such as Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, and Phoenicia, are regarded as some of the world’s earliest complex societies.

Mesopotamia is often referred to as the "cradle of civilization." 


The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. “Fertile Crescent.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 7 Apr. 2020, www.britannica.com/place/Fertile-Crescent. “Where Is the Fertile Crescent?” Wonderopolis, wonderopolis.org/wonder/where-is-the-fertile-crescent. 

Babylon stood alongside the Euphrates River

Question:   What geographical features might have encouraged the development of civilizations in this area?  

Directions:  Answer the question in your NOTEBOOK.

Lesson Activity:  Interactive Map Organizer

Page 16

PLEASE NOTE:

ON-COURSE Directions:  Students, your teacher will tell you which activity you will do as well as when and how you will do it.  Your teacher could assign both.

Ancient Mesopotamia 101 _ National Geographic-xVf5kZA0HtQ.mp4

ancient mesopotamia video

Directions:  You will watch a video of an interactive map of Mesopotamia.  This map will answer all of the questions on the form to your left.  You will complete this task in your NOTEBOOK.

Mesopotamia Interactive Map Eduplace Read Aloud.mp4

Formative Assessment/Developing a Claim Questions

Page 17

Students should review all materials covered thus far in order to answer the following questions.  Make sure that you find evidence from the sources and use outside knowledge to support your answers.

Sumerian City State

Lesson Activity:  Characteristics of Civilization Organizer

Page 18

Directions:  Students, you will visit a site about Life in Mesopotamia.  You will use this source to conduct research in order to complete the Characteristics of Civilizations graphic organizer, shown below. Click on the blue button to "Investigate Mesopotamia





Life in mesopotamia scavenger hunt

ON-COURSE Directions:  Your teacher will instruct you on when and if you will be completing this On-Course activity.

Fertile Crescent Today (above) Tigris River Today (Below)

Directions:  Go to your NOTEBOOK to complete the Characteristics of Civilizations organizer.

Lesson Activity:  Building Context/Developing a Claim

Source 1:  Life in Sumer

Page 19

Directions:  Students will read the sources shown below.  Using your NOTEBOOK, I would like for you to write key ideas and significant details from the sources.

Life in Sumer (Source 1)

The first writing system. The plow. The sailboat. The first lunar calendar.

These accomplishments and more were the products of the city-states of Sumer, which arose on the floodplains of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now modern-day Iraq. The Sumerians began to build their walled cities and make significant advances beginning around 3,500 B.C.E.

Their domination of this region lasted until around 2,000 B.C.E when the Babylonians took control. Sumerian culture and technology did not disappear but were adopted by its conquerors.

Located in what the ancient Greeks called Mesopotamia, which literally means "the land between the rivers," Sumer was a collection of city-states that occupied the southernmost portion of Mesopotamia. Most were situated along the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, lying just north of the Persian Gulf.


[1] This work by The Independence Hall Association is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The original work is available at http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4a.asp.
Courtesy University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and AnthropologyThis beautiful artifact, called by archaeologists "Ram in the Thicket," was squashed for 4,500 years or so before Sir Leonard Woolley excavated it from the Royal Cemetery at Ur in Mesopotamia. How did he know how to piece it together?

An Example of Silt Flowing Into the River

The physical environment there has remained relatively the same since about 8,000 B.C.E. The landscape is flat and marshy. The ground is primarily made up of sand and silt, with no rock. The climate is very dry, with only about 16.9 centimeters of rain falling per year. Natural vegetation is sparse, and no trees other than palm trees grow there. The rivers overflow their banks in the spring, sometimes violently, and destructively. During this process, they deposit a rich layer of silt on the surrounding floodplain.

The Cradle of Civilization

Considering the harsh and forbidding natural environment, how did the first civilization arise in Sumer? Surprisingly, the environment was part of what made civilization possible.

 The silt carried by the rivers down from the northern mountains provided rich fertilizer for growing crops when the rivers overflowed. The constant sunshine was also good for crops. But without water, they would have easily dried up and died. Through the leadership of priest-kings, Sumerians organized farmers in each city-state to build extensive irrigation systems of canals and dams. Before long, the desert was blooming with a surplus of barley, dates, and other crops.

 This surplus allowed many people to pursue occupations other than farming, while still being able to meet their basic needs. These people became artisans, merchants, and craftspeople. They helped build the cities and increase the wealth of the city-states through trade with neighboring societies.

 Sumerians also developed high-quality crafts, evidence of which was found in the royal tombs of Ur, excavated by Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s. Trade also helped the Sumerians to secure vital items such as timber from Lebanon and luxury goods such as the semiprecious stone lapis lazuli from the Indus River Valley.

 Gettin' Ziggy with It

Because of the surplus grain, the government could grow in size to support numerous officials and priests. It could also pay thousands of workers with barley while they were building canals, city walls, and ziggurats or while they were fighting to defend their city-state or extend its influence over the region. The barley was collected as a tax from the farmers. Farmers were also required to give some time to the government to work on projects. Slaves and hired workers also contributed.

 As the government and economy grew in size and complexity, officials and merchants required a sophisticated writing system to record transactions. First came number markings and simple pictograms, the writing system began to incorporate pictures representing a physical object or idea (such as a picture of the sun to represent the sun).

As trade and government activity increased, the writing system began to incorporate more abstract pictograms and phonograms, or symbols representing sounds. These new forms provided greater flexibility and speed in writing. They were adopted by other cultures (such as the Assyrians) who did not even speak Sumerian.

Sumerian Wisdom

The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets, using a reed pen called a stylus. Once dried, these tablets became hard and, fortunately for today's researchers, endured for millennia in the hot, dry climate.

Thousands of these tablets have been unearthed. Some libraries have even been discovered with over 10,000 of these clay tablets. And although the vast majority of these tablets contain records of goods collected and distributed by the governments and trade transactions, some contain myths, stories, and letters. These documents have provided much information about the culture and history of the Sumerian people.

With their ingenuity, the Sumerian people developed complex irrigation systems and a written language. They were the first people to use the plow to lift the silt-laden soil of their crop fields and they invented the sailboat. They were the first people to design a calendar based on the phases of the moon and they developed a numerical system, based on the number 60, which is still used to measure seconds and minutes.


Writing on Clay Tablet

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh

Gilgamesh was likely an actual king of Uruk in Babylonia who lived about 2,700 B.C.E.

Sumerians recorded stories and myths about Gilgamesh, which were written on clay tablets. The stories were combined into an epic tale. Versions of this tale were translated into other languages including Akkadian, which was spoken by the Babylonians.

The fullest surviving version is derived from twelve stone tablets, in the Akkadian language, which were found stored in the famous library at Nineveh of Assyrian King Assurbanipal.

The epic relates the heroic deeds of Gilgamesh, who is the king of Uruk. His father is mortal and his mother is a goddess. Since Gilgamesh is part mortal, he knows he must die one day. However, he longs for immortality, whether through doing great deeds or discovering the secret of eternal life. He roams the earth on this quest and meets Utnapishtim, the only human granted eternal life by the gods. He tells Gilgamesh many stories, including one of a great flood that covered the Earth.

What happens to Gilgamesh? Read the tale and find out. The following is an excerpt from Gilgamesh.

 O man of Shuruppak, son of Ubartutu:

Tear down the house and build a boat!

Abandon wealth and seek living beings!

Spurn possessions and keep alive living beings!

Make all living beings go up into the boat.

The boat which you are to build,

its dimensions must measure equal to each other:

its length must correspond to its width.

Roof it over like the Apsu.

From Tablet XI — translation by Maureen Gallery Kovacs, 1998 

A culture of many firsts, the Sumerians led the way for other societies that followed them.

Lesson Activity:  Building Context/Developing a Claim

Source 2:  Babylon

Page 20

Babylon (Source 2)

The Babylonians used the innovations of the Sumerians, added to them, and built an empire that gave the world, among other things, codified laws, a tower that soared above the earth, and one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

Geographically, the empire of Babylonia occupied the middle and southern part of Mesopotamia. Situated between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, it stretched from the present-day city of Baghdad south to the Persian Gulf.

The first written mention of Babylonia's famous capital city, Babylon, dates to about 3800 B.C.E. During that time, most of Mesopotamia was made up of Sumerian city-states. The king of Babylonia Sargon I, however, was of Semitic background. During his reign, Semitic literature, art, and architecture flourished. He ruled from Susa and conquered lands as far away as Syria.

The First Empire

Over the next 1,500 years, the Mesopotamian city-states vied with each other for power and influence. It was not until Hammurabi (ruled 1792-1750 B.C.E.) united most of this area after a triumphant military campaign that the city of Babylon reached its first great glory. In the years during and following Hammurabi's reign (known as the First Empire), Babylonian rulers constructed temples, roads, and an extensive canal system. They also codified laws.

 The rule of the Babylonian kings contrasts favorably with the rule of the Assyrian kings who destroyed the first Babylonian Empire and left a legacy of war and destruction. After Assyrian dominance in Mesopotamia, which lasted from approximately 1400-600 B.C.E., the Babylonians established a second great Empire.

 King Nabopolassar, a Chaldean, (Chaldea was a region of southern Mesopotamia), helped to conquer the Assyrian capital of Nineveh in 606 B.C.E. and used the opportunity to establish his own kingdom in Babylon.

Nabopolassar's son, Nebuchadnezzar, succeeded his father in 604 B.C.E. During Nebuchadnezzar's reign, the Tower of Babel reached its apex, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon were constructed, Babylonians destroyed the Great Temple in Jerusalem, and 7,000 Jews were brought back to Babylonia in captivity.

The Tower of Babel

The Tower of Babel was a ziggurat, a pyramid-shaped temple built to a local god. The most important god of Babylon was Marduk, who outshone all other gods in the Babylonian pantheon.

Construction on the Tower of Babel had begun about 1100 B.C.E., and when Nebuchadnezzar finished it, the tower reached a height of 91 meters (295 feet). According to a tablet left by the king, the tower was made of "baked brick enameled in brilliant blue." 

City of Babylon

Sargon the Great

City of Babylon

The Tower of Babel

The Hanging Gardens

 Nebuchadnezzar built the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the World, for his wife who missed her lush homeland.

 The gardens did not "hang" literally — that is, its plants or trees didn't dangle from ropes. "Hanging" refers to the garden's terraces which overhung one another.

 But what makes a terraced garden special enough to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World?

 Babylon received little rain, and stone slabs needed to hold terraces in place were almost nonexistent in the region. Ingenious engineers devised a chain pump that brought water from the nearby Euphrates River to irrigate the gardens. Specially designed bricks kept the flora in place.

 The result was a green oasis that today's scholars believe rose between 80 and 300 feet into the air. The gardens were a lush mountain of foliage in the middle of a flat, dry desert.

Ultimately, the Hanging Gardens of Babylon disappeared, and the Tower of Babel and the Babylonian Empire were destroyed by the Persians around the year 478 B.C.E.

 Babylonian language evolved from pictographs to cuneiforms throughout the life of the civilization.

 But the sands of time cannot hide the magnificent accomplishments in engineering, law, art, and architecture that the Babylonians left as their legacy to the world.


 [1] This work by The Independence Hall Association is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The original work is available at http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4b.asp.

Lesson Activity:  Building Context/Developing a Claim

Source 3:  Hammurabi's Code

Page 21

Hammurabi's Code: An Eye for an Eye[1]

"An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth."

This phrase, along with the idea of written laws, goes back to ancient Mesopotamian culture that prospered long before the Bible was written or the civilizations of the Greeks or Romans flowered.

"An eye for an eye ..." is a paraphrase of Hammurabi's Code, a collection of 282 laws inscribed on an upright stone pillar. The code was found by French archaeologists in 1901 while excavating the ancient city of Susa, which is in modern-day Iran.

Hammurabi is the best known and most celebrated of all Mesopotamian kings. He ruled the Babylonian Empire from 1792-50 B.C.E. Although he was concerned with keeping order in his kingdom, this was not his only reason for compiling the list of laws. When he began ruling the city-state of Babylon, he had control of no more than 50 square miles of territory. As he conquered other city-states and his empire grew, he saw the need to unify the various groups he controlled.

 A Need for Justice

Hammurabi keenly understood that to achieve this goal, he needed one universal set of laws for all of the diverse peoples he conquered. Therefore, he sent legal experts throughout his kingdom to gather existing laws. These laws were reviewed and some were changed or eliminated before compiling his final list of 282 laws. Despite what many people believe, this code of laws was not the first.

Oldest Code Known

The oldest known evidence of a law code are tablets from the ancient city Ebla (Tell Mardikh in modern-day Syria). They date to about 2400 B.C.E. — approximately 600 years before Hammurabi put together his famous code.

The prologue or introduction to the list of laws is very enlightening. Here, Hammurabi states that he wants "to make justice visible in the land, to destroy the wicked person and the evil-doer, that the strong might not injure the weak." The laws themselves support this compassionate claim and protect widows, orphans, and others from being harmed or exploited.

The phrase "an eye for an eye" represents what many people view as a harsh sense of justice based on revenge. But, the entire code is much more complex than that one phrase. The code distinguishes among punishments for wealthy or noble persons, lower-class persons or commoners, and slaves.

King Hammurabi

Hammurabi's Law Code

Turning Points in History - Hammurabi's Code of Laws.mp4

VIDEO

"Hammurabi, the king of righteousness, on whom Shamash has conferred the law, am I."

Watch the Video above referencing Hammurabi's Laws. 

The above video discusses how laws are important in today's world and uses Hammurabi's Code to show us when and how it all started.

 Once you finish, go to your NOTEBOOK and complete a 3-2-1 activity on this video.

Don't mess with the serpent-headed, scorpion-tailed mythical dragon of the god Marduk!

Directions:  Open your NOTEBOOK to the next lesson activity in this Topic.  You will watch the video and then complete the 3-2-1 activity.

The Laws

Hammurabi's Law Code

"Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash, and enlighten the land, to further the well-being of mankind ..."

So begins the Law Code of Hammurabi, a list of nearly 300 laws etched into a two and one-half meter high black diorite pillar, discovered in 1902 but dating back to the time of Hammurabi himself (1792-1750 B.C.E).

Some laws were quite brutal, others rather progressive. Members of the upper-class often received harsher punishments than commoners, and women had quite a few important rights.

Most of the nearly 300 laws written on the pillar pertain to property rights of landowners, slavemasters, merchants, and builders.

Here are some of the more unusual laws that seem very foreign to a modern society:

If any one finds runaway male or female slaves in the open country and bring them to their masters, the master of the slaves shall pay him two shekels of silver.

If any one is committing a robbery and is caught, then he shall be put to death.

If a son strike his father, his hands shall be hewn off.

If a man knock out the teeth of his equal, his teeth shall be knocked out.

If a barber, without the knowledge of his master, cut the sign of a slave on a slave not to be sold, the hands of this barber shall be cut off.

If a slave says to his master: "You are not my master," if they convict him his master shall cut off his ear.



Hammurabi's Laws Written Below

King Hammurabi

Hammurabi's own words illustrate this point: "If a man has destroyed the eye of a man of the gentleman class, they shall destroy his eye .... If he has destroyed the eye of a commoner ... he shall pay one mina of silver. If he has destroyed the eye of a gentleman's slave ... he shall pay half the slave's price." The Babylonians clearly did not live under a social system that treated all people equally.

The code deals with many topics of concern other than assault. It outlines rules for witnesses and those making accusations of crimes. For example, "If any one bring an accusation of any crime before the elders, and does not prove what he has charged, he shall, if it be a capital offense charged, be put to death." It details how theft or destruction of property should be handled and gives guidelines for dealing with trade and business problems.

In some cases, these rules are quite reasonable and fair: "If any one owe a debt for a loan, and a storm prostrates (kills) the grain, or the harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for lack of water, in that year he need not give his creditor any grain; he washes his debt-tablet in water and pays no rent for this year."

The code also gives rules for family matters, such as marriage, divorce, and adoption. Payment amounts for the work of doctors and other professionals are outlined. Although the pay for doctors was good, they suffered severe punishments for fatal errors. The code states that "if a physician make a large incision with the operating knife, and kill him, ... his hands shall be cut off."

The code covers all types of issues related to farming and herding animals, and it also lays out rules on the ownership and sale of slaves.

 Go Jump in a River!

Hammurabi's Code may not seem very different from more recent laws and precedents that guide the processes of a trial. But, there are a few major differences between ancient Babylonians and today's laws. Hammurabi's Code required accusers to bring the accused into court by themselves.

A number of the laws refer to jumping in the Euphrates River as a method of demonstrating one's guilt or innocence. If the accused returned to shore safely, they were deemed innocent; if they drowned, they were guilty. This practice follows the Babylonians' belief that their fates were controlled by their gods.

From the code, it is evident that the Babylonians did not believe all people were equal. The code treated slaves, commoners, and nobles differently. Women had a number of rights, including the ability to buy and sell property and to obtain a divorce. The Babylonians understood the need for honesty by all parties in a trial and for court officers to be free of corruption so that the justice system could function effectively.

Hammurabi's Code serves as a window into the prevailing values of ancient Babylon.


[1] This work by The Independence Hall Association is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The original work is available at http://www.ushistory.org/civ/4c.asp.
ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA song by Mr. Nicky-fdblRch6m3g.mp4

HAMMURABI'S CODE

This is an additional video that you may want to enjoy on your own time.  A great way to learn more about our history.  In the next several pages we will be discussing Hammurabi, so this video will help you with that.

Migration to the Fertile Crescent Disc Ed.mp4

migration to the fertile crescent

Again, here is an additional video for your viewing pleasure on your own time.  Nothing to do but enjoy.

The Fertile Crescent-wspk2OPdazU.mp4

the fertile crescent

Do not worry about doing anything but viewing the video.  You will learn.  Thank you.

Lesson Activity:  Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment

Page 22

In order to further develop your claim, answer the following questions and remember to provide evidence from the sources and your outside knowledge to support your answers.

Questions:

Directions:  Please open your NOTEBOOK and answer the questions.

Lesson Activity: Building Context

Page 23

NOTE:  Students please read the following for understanding of what you will be doing in this task.

One of the most important achievements of the Babylonian civilization is its legal code.  Let's explore more about life in Babylonia by examining their law code.  This lesson focuses on the skill of evaluating evidence.  Students, you will consider the strengths and limitations of different pieces of historical evidence.  Hammurabi's Code is one of the oldest law codes in the world, dating back to the 1700s BCE.  This makes it close to 4,000 years old.  The laws in Hammurabi's Code can help us learn about Babylonia.

What does it mean to evaluate evidence? As historians, we try to understand what happened in the past by looking at different accounts about the past. For each account that we examine, we need to consider what useful information it provides about the time period that we are studying. We also need to remember that one account is never enough information to understand what happened in the past. That means that we must consider the limitations of each document that we examine and think about what other information we might need. 

Who was Hammurabi? Hammurabi was a member of the Amorite dynasty who united all of Mesopotamia under the Babylonian Empire. He became king of Babylon in 1792 BCE and ruled until 1750 BCE. (NOTE:  look at the years, remember during this time the years counted backwards because it did not start at 0, rather it ended at 0)

Hammurabi is most famous for his law code, which is one of the oldest in the world. It is a list of 282 laws that deal with many different parts of society. The code was created in part to help unify a quickly expanding empire. In this law code, the government set up certain punishments for crimes so “that the strong might not injure the weak.” Before this code, individuals basically decided how they wanted to take revenge on people who hurt them. Hammurabi’s Code made rules more standardized so that everyone would know the crimes and penalties, similar to the way everyone knows school rules.

What does it look like? Various copies of Hammurabi’s Code have been found. Most are inscriptions on baked clay tablets. The most well-known surviving copy is an inscription on a stone slab called a stela. It is about 7 feet high, 2.5 feet across, and 1.5 feet thick at the base. At the top, there is a relief, or image, of Hammurabi and the god Shamash. The laws are written on the stela vertically and read from right to left. (NOTE:  We read books from left to right.)

In the 12th century BCE, the king of Elam (located in present-day Iran) took the stela. Like many artifacts, it was eventually lost. In 1901, French archeologists found the stela in Susa, Iran. They then took it to France. It is now housed in the Louvre Museum in Paris.  Directions:  Watch the video to take a virtual trip to the Louvre Museum in Paris, where you will see what you have been reading about.

Central Historical Question. Like detectives, historians use the evidence they find to decide what life was like in the past. Today we are going to answer the question: What can we learn about Babylonia from Hammurabi’s Code? 

The Law Code Stele of King Hammurabi-JO9YxZYd0qY(2)_x264.mp4

Hammurabi's Laws Video

Directions:  You will need your NOTEBOOK to complete the 3-2-1 ticket after you watch the video.  But do not put your notebook away, you are not done.

German, Dr. Senta, and Dr. Senta German. Smarthistory, smarthistory.org/hammurabi/. 

teacher model - Document A

Introduction:  Historians are like detectives. They use the evidence they find to try to piece together what happened in the past. Often, when they are studying ancient history, there is not a lot of evidence to use. What could we learn about Babylonia from this section of Hammurabi’s Code? I’ll also be paying attention to the limitations of this document, because one source is never enough to understand what happened in the past. Remember, in previous learning, you know that one piece of evidence is not enough.  You need to look at other sources to put it all together.

Teacher - I DO

Document A: Hammurabi’s Code – Religion 

The following selection is from the introduction of Hammurabi’s Code. As you read, pay attention to the religion of Babylonia. What did people believe in? Who were their gods? 

When Anu the Sublime . . . and Bel, the lord of Heaven and earth, who decreed the fate of the land, assigned to Marduk, the over-ruling son of Ea, God of righteousness, power over earthly man, and made him great . . . they called Babylon by his celebrated name, made it great on earth, and founded an everlasting kingdom in it. Then Anu and Bel called by name me, Hammurabi, the exalted prince, who feared God, to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak; so that I should rule over the black-headed people like Shamash, and enlighten the land, to further the well-being of mankind. 

Source: “Code of Hammurabi,” 1780 BCE 

Vocabulary:

Sublime:  greatest

decreed: ordered

exalted: highly thought of, grand

“Hammurabi's Code.” Stanford History Education Group, sheg.stanford.edu/history-lessons/hammurabis-code. 

These are my thoughts after reading the document.  These are things that stood out to me.

1st - I see several names here: Anu, Bel, Marduk & Ea. It seems like they were all gods. This suggests that Babylonians were polytheistic, or believed in more than one god.  I know this because the title says the passage is about Religion and it also says in the passage, "the lord of Heaven and earth."

2nd - Hammurabi says the gods Anu & Bel called his name and told him he would rule Babylon. This makes me think that Babylonians might have believed their rulers got their powers from the gods.

3rd - “. . . to bring about the rule of righteousness in the land, to destroy the wicked and the evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak”: This seems like a goal of the Code. Hammurabi says he wants his laws to protect the weak and the oppressed. 

4th -  My Teacher Thoughts - End of document.  Just from this one section of the Code I’m able to learn some things about Babylonia. However, I know that I can’t use this document by itself to draw conclusions about Babylonia. I will need to look at other accounts about Babylonia to verify what I am reading here. 

Guiding Questions:  Document A - Religion (Students Answer)

Document A: Religion 

1. According to this document, where did Hammurabi get his power as king?

2. Monotheistic or Polytheistic? 

a. According to this document, was Babylonia a monotheistic society (belief in one god) or a polytheistic society (belief in many gods)? 

b. How do you know this from Hammurabi’s Code?

DOCUMENT B

Document B: Hammurabi’s Code—Economy 

The following selections from Hammurabi’s Code discuss the economy in Babylonia. As you read, pay attention to what was important to Babylonians, as they tried to make a living.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

42. If any one take over a field to till it, and obtain no harvest from it, it must be proved that he did no work on the field, and he must deliver grain, just as his neighbor raised, to the owner of the field.

43. If he do not till the field, but let it lie fallow, he shall give grain like his neighbor's to the owner of the field, and the field which he let lie fallow he must plow and sow and return to its owner.

53. If any one be too lazy to keep his dam in proper condition . . . if then the dam break and all the fields be flooded, then shall he in whose dam the break occurred be sold for money, and the money shall replace the corn which he has caused to be ruined.

54. If he be not able to replace the corn, then he and his possessions shall be divided among the farmers whose corn he has flooded

 59. If any man, without the knowledge of the owner of a garden, fell a tree in a garden he shall pay half a mina in money.

Source: “Code of Hammurabi,” 1780 BCE.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 Vocabulary

till: farm, work 

fallow: land with no seeds planted

fell: cause to fall 

Directions:  Students will answer the following "Guided Questions" after reading the document.

Guided Questions:  Document B: Economy

1. Working the fields: Summarize laws 42-43 in your own words. 

2. The dams: Summarize laws 53-54 in your own words.

3. Type of Economy:

 a. According to this document, do you think most people in Babylonia made money in cities or in the country?

 b. How do you know this from Hammurabi’s Code? 

DOCUMENT C

Document C: Hammurabi’s Code—Society 

The following selections from Hammurabi’s Code discuss rules for Babylonian society. As you read, pay attention to how society was structured. Was everyone treated equally? 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

117. If any one fails to pay a debt, and sells himself, his wife, his son, or daughter for money or give them away for forced labor: they shall work for three years in the house of the man who bought them and in the fourth year they shall be set free.

138. If a man wishes to separate from his wife who has borne him no children, he shall give her the amount of her purchase money and the dowry which she brought from her father's house, and let her go. 

141. If a man's wife … wishes to leave it: if her husband offer her release, she may go on her way, and he gives her nothing as a gift of release. If her husband does not wish to release her, and if he take another wife, she shall remain as servant in her husband's house.

196. If a man put out the eye of another man, his eye shall be put out.

199. If he put out the eye of a man's slave, or break the bone of a man's slave, he shall pay one-half of its value.

202. If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public.

203. If a free-born man strike the body of another free-born man or equal rank, he shall pay one gold mina.

 Source: “Code of Hammurabi,” 1780 BCE.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Vocabulary 

dowry:  money or property that a wife’s family gives to her husband when they marry 

Document C: Society 

1. Equality

a. Code 196:  What is the punishment for putting out the eye of “another man”?

b. How might code 196 be seen as an attempt to promote “equality”?

c. Code 199 describes a different punishment for putting out the eye of an enslaved person.  What might this suggest about equality in Babylonia? 

d. Find two other passages that provide evidence of inequality in Hammurabi’s Code. (Be sure to cite the number of the code.)

 i. Evidence 1: 

ii. Evidence 2: 

2. What do codes 117, 138, & 141 suggest about the status of women in Babylonian society? 

Lesson Activity:  Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment

Page 24

Here are some questions that will help you further develop your claim.  Provide evidence from the sources and your outside knowledge to support your answers.

Directions:  Please take out your NOTEBOOK and answer the questions.

the code of hammurabi

ON COURSE Directions:  Your teacher will instruct you on when or if you will complete this assignment.  Any unassigned activities can be done on your own time for further knowledge of the subject.

Lesson Activity: Building Context

Page 25

Okay, we have seen that Mesopotamia was home to many city-states, such as Sumer and Babylon.  Hammurabi of Babylon was not Mesopotamia's only famous ruler.  We are going to learn about another key ruler in Mesopotamia and compare their rule to Hammurabi's."

Directions:  Dear students, you will read and review Hammurabi the Lawgiver and Sargon the Conqueror.  Write down any notes you feel are important.  Complete a 3-2-1 activity for each source.

Hammurabi the Lawgiver - Article 1

Hammurabi the Lawgiver

Between 1790 and 1750 B.C. Hammurabi (hah»muh»RAH«bee), king of the city-state of Babylon, conquered and reunited most of Mesopotamia and the upper valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. In doing this, he created a large empire. This empire became known as the Babylonian Empire.

Like Sargon, Hammurabi was more than a military leader. He improved each city-state under his rule by promoting trade, building projects, and keeping up dikes and canals. Under his rule, Babylon thrived as a center for trade.

One of Hammurabi's most important achievements was his reorganization of Mesopotamia's system of taxation. Under a system of taxation, people are required to pay taxes to support the government. Hammurabi made changes to the tax system to ensure that all the people of Mesopotamia paid their share. Tax collectors traveled throughout the region, collecting tax money. The money collected paid for all of Hammurabi's improvements.

Perhaps Hammurabi is best remembered for the work he did with the laws of his land. Each city-state had long had its own set of laws, or rules. Hammurabi collected all these laws, sorted through them, and came up with one complete listing of laws. The collection of laws compiled by the Babylonian leader is known as the Code of Hammurabi.

Hammurabi's collection consisted of 282 laws that dealt with almost every part of daily life. The laws covered such topics as marriage, divorce, adoption, slaves, murder, stealing, military service, land, business, loans, prices, and wages. Almost no area was overlooked.

The old laws were complicated and often unfair. The Code of Hammurabi explained the laws in clear statements and set standard punishments.

Some of the laws within the Code of Hammurabi followed the idea of "an eye for an eye." These laws explained that whoever caused an injury should be punished with that same injury. This means that a person who broke someone's arm in a fight would be punished by having his or her arm broken.

Not all Hammurabi's laws offered "an eye for an eye" punishment. Some laws outlined specific fines for crimes. Others imposed a penalty of death.

In describing the purpose of his code, Hammurabi explained that he wrote it

To cause justice to prevail...

To destroy the wicked ...

To enlighten the land and to further the welfare of the people.

In addition to putting together a code of laws, Hammurabi introduced the idea of equal justice or fair treatment under the law. His equal justice, however, was limited to equality within each social class. Under the Code of Hammurabi, leaders, priests, and the wealthy were often favored over other people.

Hammurabi's code lasted over the years, but the leader's empire did not. By 1600 B.C. the Babylonians, too, had been conquered by another people.  What is an "eye for an eye" law? 


“Hammurabi the Lawgiver.” History for Kids For Kids, Nile River, Gods, Maps and Pyramids, www.history4kids.co/2013/02/hammurabi-lawgiver.html. 

Sargon the Conqueror - Article 2

Sargon the Conqueror

The first known conqueror in Mesopotamia was a warrior named Sargon. He was born to a nomadic people who lived in northern Mesopotamia. As a young man, he served as an official in the Sumerian city-state of Kish. Sargon later killed the king of Kish and took control of the city-state. Sargon gathered an army and marched through Mesopotamia, establishing an empire. An empire is a conquered land of many peoples and places governed by one ruler. Sargon became the region's first emperor or ruler of the empire.

In the middle of his empire, Sargon built a capital city called Akkad (AH.kahd). His empire and its people came to be known as Akkadian. Though the Akkadians were not Sumerians, they adopted the Sumerian culture as their own. As a sign of his conquest over the huge area, Sargon ordered every boundary pillar and city wall torn down.

For the next 55 years, Sargon ruled over his empire. He maintained his rule both by force and by organization. Sargon was probably one of the first kings in Mesopotamia to set up a standing army made up of paid soldiers who served for a long period of time. Before that time, people became soldiers only in times of war. Sargon also appointed loyal nobles as governors to control conquered cities.

Sargon was an effective ruler and his empire was well organized. By about 2300 B.C. the Akkadian Empire stretched from what is now Iran westward to the Mediterranean Sea. When the empire finally weakened, the Mesopotamian city-states found themselves caught between two strong centers of power Assyria (uh.SIR.ee.uh) and Babylonia. Why did Sargon tear down boundary pillars and city walls? 


“Sargon the Conqueror.” History for Kids For Kids, Nile River, Gods, Maps and Pyramids, www.history4kids.co/2013/02/sargon-conqueror.html. 

Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim/Formative Assessment

Page 26

Here are some questions that will help you further develop your claim.  Provide evidence from the sources and your outside knowledge to support your answers.

Directions:  Please take out your NOTEBOOK and answer the questions.

Lesson Activity: Building Context

Page 27

There are three other river valley civilizations that we will be looking at in this Topic. First, let's investigate some more about Mesopotamia.  Click on the URL address here. 

http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/menu.html .  This will take you to the Mesopotamia site, let's go investigate.  Once you click on this site, the screen will open up and it will redirect you to another page.  Click on the first line to redirect and it will take you there.  Record 5 important facts about Mesopotamia in your NOTEBOOK.  Click on each one of the locations shown to read about each.  Explore, there are many interesting facts here.

Now you will read about Trade and Transport.  Please read the passage and record 5 important facts about trade and transporting goods.  Visit this site about Trade and Transport, you will enter the same way you did during the last activity.  http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/trade/index.html  Click on Trade and Transport, read the information, and then click on Story.  STOP THERE.  Record your facts.  When finished, move to the next activity.







You will click on the link provided here to go explore the Trade and Transport task.  Same as the other two locations shown above.  This will take you to the EXPLORE Button.  Click on the different types of transport to find out about what was being transported and where it was going.  

http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/trade/explore/exp_set.html  This will be a very fun and easy task.






Click on each of the subtopics (foot, donkey, gulf boat, raft, coracle, river boat, and cart) and record information on your Trade and Transport Guided Reading Organizer on each topic about transporting goods in Mesopotamia.

--------------------------------------------

Mesopotamia River Barge

ON-COURSE Activity:

Your teacher will tell you which activity you will be doing and when.  Your teacher may choose to do one or both.

Directions are shown below.  Open your NOTEBOOK

Lesson Activity: Developing a Claim/Summative Assessment

Page 28

Life in Mesopotamia: The Importance of Trade

Trade was critical to Old Babylonia, where many highly prized natural resources were scarce but agricultural goods were in surplus. A vibrant trading system developed, bringing manufactured goods and raw materials from as far as Turkey, and even India, 1,500 miles away. Trade became integral to the economy and to the culture. In this lesson, students explore the trade industry in Old Babylonia and its far-flung influence. 

Mesopotamia, a hot, dry region subject to floods, became fertile enough to produce a surplus of grain thanks largely to a system of canals first built perhaps a thousand years before the Old Babylonian period. In this way, agricultural products became available for trade. In general, however Old Babylonia had a dearth of natural resources. Ceramic bowls and figurines as well as bricks for buildings were produced locally from clay. But clay was found throughout the Middle East. Bitumen, a naturally occurring residue from underground oil deposits used in construction and to waterproof boats, was one of the only other important natural resources found in Old Babylonia. But artifacts recovered from the period often feature materials (such as gold) not readily found in Mesopotamia.



Use the passage, video, and resources map to explore other important information about what was traded, where did it come from, and achievements of the peoples of Babylonia to help your writing.

This video on Babylonia tells us of the great achievements of these ancient peoples, achievements that we use to this day.

This is a map of natural resources found in Babylonia (a city in Mesopotamia) and areas surrounding Babylonia.

The Babylonian mind-G37qpVUzB1g_x264.mp4

Page 1 of 2

Modern Trade

The entire world relies on trade. In the U.S. we get fine wine from France and cheap clothing from China. The U.S., in turn, exports things like military hardware to nations around the world. The ancient Mesopotamians weren't any different. They had some products to give and some which they needed to get. This lesson is going to go over these ancient people's trade products (imported and exported) as well as the basics of their trade economy.

Trade Economy in General

Ancient Mesopotamia was a region that now comprises portions of Syria, Turkey, and Iraq. By far and away, their trade economy depended on its major waterways. Like we use container ships to send goods from one continent to another across an ocean, the ancient Mesopotamians relied on boats that sailed up and down the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. These rivers were also connected to canals, smaller rivers, lakes, and marshes where boats could sail through to deliver or pick up trade goods.

And like any trade economy imposes fees and tariffs, the ancient Mesopotamians did much the same. If you were a merchant back then, you could expect to pay fees to obtain permits to sail through one area or another. There were literally checkpoints set up on rivers to ensure you had these permits. You could also expect to pay a fee to dock somewhere. And, you could definitely expect to pay a duty or tariff when you crossed into a new territory.

Of course, people didn't just send things over water. They also traded overland. Likewise, such merchants would pay tariffs and duties. They would haul their trade products using human porters, camels, sleds, and wagons pulled by draft animals.

The ancient Mesopotamians traded amongst themselves but they also had the ability to sail around the Middle East and in the Mediterranean in order to buy and sell their products. There is some speculation they even made it all the way around Africa.

Ancient Mesopotamians traded with East Africans, Egyptians, Indians, as well as other Middle Eastern nations like those in Afghanistan, Iran, and the Arabian Peninsula.



Page 2 of 2

Specific Trade Products

So what did they trade with them? Well, it kind of depends on whom they traded with. Some goods were readily available in one place but not another. For example, elephants and apes were imported from India in general. Melukkha (the Indus valley), would send black wood like ebony as well as ivory, gold, and gemstones to ancient Mesopotamia.

Magan, now Oman, would export copper, diorite stone, ivory, ochre pigment, and semiprecious stones to ancient Mesopotamia.

Gold, ivory, pearls, copper, lapis lazuli, dates, and onions were traded with Dilmun, which is believed to be Bahrain today.

In turn, the ancient Mesopotamians exported plenty of their own goods, depending on which part of Mesopotamia we're talking about. The city of Ashur (in Iraq) would export textiles. Syria exported timber, olive oil, wine, wood, textiles, and various crafts.

Land Routes & Transportation

In case the city you need to get to isn't near any water, then a land route is your best option. For travel purposes, you could buy or hire one of the following:

Assurnasirpal immediately tells us that you want to avoid the wheeled vehicles if you can. The roads around Mesopotamia are unpaved and it can be pretty muddy in a lot of places in ancient Mesopotamia, so the wheels get stuck and break down left and right.

Instead, he says, stick to the sleds as they can navigate the terrain a bit better or use the so-called 'royal roads' if you want to avoid major potholes. These roads are maintained by the government specifically so people can quickly move between one location and another with as few obstacles as possible. These roads even had rest areas for travelers to spend the night.

If you are transporting things by land and need to cross a river, you can probably find a bridge, perhaps a pontoon bridge, or a ferry to take you across for a fee. Just save some money for any customs fees and duties as you cross from one territory or another. Actually, save up enough because Assurnasirpal says these weren't very well established so you could end up paying more than you think.


Study.com, study.com/academy/lesson/mesopotamian-trade-routes-transportation.html. 

Use the knowledge you have gained from this unit, and your notes to explore why Mesopotamia trade was crucial to the development of their civilization.  Write a brief essay about the importance of trade in Mesopotamia.

Here are some questions that will help you to better develop your claim for writing.  Please consider your findings to help you.

HINT:  You covered all of this material in one of the earlier task that you were assigned.

Directions:  Take your NOTEBOOK out and complete the questions.

mesopotamia river valley review

ON-COURSE Directions:   This is an excellent way for you to review what you have covered in this Topic.

The people of Mesopotamia were polytheistic (which means belief in many gods).  We will be examining world religions in a later unit.





You have reached the end of Topic 2