All the people in Mesopotamia lived in large territories that were called city-states. A city-state was an area of land ruled by a king. Each city state was ruled by a different king.
Sometimes they got along with each other and sometimes they did not. In fact, the city-states kind of had a love/hate relationship. They often traded with each other for things they wanted. However, they went to war against each other too. Usually they fought over land and power. The love hate relationship means at times they got along but also went to war.
In Mesopotamia, the king was in charge. He made ALL decisions for his city-state.
There were FOUR (4) main groups of people below the king:
Read about each of these and then put the correct letter next to the description on your notes. Each group will have 4 facts on our study guide.
Priests were very powerful, probably the most powerful other than the king. In fact, they reported directly to the king. They were in charge of making sure everyone behaved and did what they were told. It was also their responsibility to keep the gods they believed in happy. The priests helped sick people and were the doctors in Mesopotamia. If a person was sick, they called for a priest. Each city-state had a large temple in the center of town. They called it a ziggurat. When offerings were left at the ziggurat or temple, the priests made sure it was used to honor the gods. Priests were easy to tell apart from others because they shaved their heads. Usually only men were priests.
The upper class people weren't as powerful as priests, but they still had a better life than most. Upper class people included scribes (people who learned to write), judges, and the rich. They wore lots of jewelry, men and women, to show off their wealth and look nice. They also had long hair and wore expensive clothing. Upper class people lived in a two story house made of mud-bricks closer to the ziggurat or temple in the middle of town.
Lower class people were the largest group and were farmers, artisans, merchants, and fishermen. They were the "workers" of the civilization, but had rights. They did not live in luxury, but were comfortable. Houses for lower class people were often smaller and farther away from the ziggurat or temple. They wore jewelry, but probably not very nice and definitely not made of gold or real jewels. They followed the clothing fashions as much as they could afford.
Slaves had the hardest life and did the most difficult work. When city-states fought each other the winner often conquered others and made them slaves. They would bring them back home to work. Slaves could also be criminals working as punishment for a crime they committed. Slaves worked for the king, priests, and the rich. Slaves were bought and sold often. If you were rich enough you could own one. Slaves were treated as property.