Rachael's+Group

Gilgamesh
 * __Free Clipart on Mesopotamia-__**

Map of Mesopotamia

Musician most likely playing a lyre

Bull of Heaven

Ziggurat

Woman

Wheeled cart

Scribe

Boat

Man

~Emily

Worksheet


 * 1.)Architecture**

Ziggurats a temple used for religious purposes. The top held cheif god or goddess of the city.


 * 2.)Music**

They had many instruments including the pipes, the drums, the lyre, etc. They also wrote love songs.

the wheel which helped other inventions like: the pottery wheel~ Used to make pottery and flatten clay chariots~used for people and horses wheeled carts~ also used to transport good and other things Sledges~ a flat bottomed car with no wheels (before the wheel) arch~ used to support homes and enrtyways cups mirriors
 * 3.)Inventions/ Improvements**

__**Online sites used: http://www.dl.ket.org/humanities/connections/class/ancient/mesop.htm__ http://home.cfl.rr.com/crossland/AncientCivilizations/Middle_East_Civilizations/Sumerians/sumerians.html 1.)Inventions/Improvements**__

Mortar and pestle~ used to grind food A sickle with flint blades~ used to cut seeds, bitumen (a natural asphalt found in waters) used to glue wood handels onto it invention and casting of glass counting based on 60. Also with cubes, square roots, multiplication charts, and a circle with 360°. Cuneiform used originally used to track business deals. Hearth~ Used to heat homes astronomy- priests observed the skies literature- they wrote songs, poems, and storis like the epic __Gilgamesh.


 * Urban Focus**__

Trade- It brought money to the cities. Archaelologist found items as far as Egypt!
 * 1.)Economy**

Each citystate had a king, an organized government, and one main god the city-state worshiped and armies. They also had taxes too. The ruler had very powerful influence. He organized the rules, armies, and funcitons.
 * 2.)Government**

The city-states had different social classes Upper classes- usually rulers, high priests, and high officials. Middle class- usually merchants, scribes, artisians, lesser priests. Lower Class- peasant farmers. Some people owned land but most belonged to kings Owned slaves (most taken in wars)
 * 3.)Social**

The sumerians had over 3,000 gods. Gods controlled their whole life. Biggest duty was to keep the gods happy. (used ceremonies, sacrifices, ext.) "The most important ceremony occurred at the new year when the king sought and won the favor of Inanna, the life-giving goddess of love. The king participated in a symbolic marriage with the goddess. This ritual, Sumerians believed, would make the new year fruitful and prosperous." - 2nd Website Believed in afterlife- belived in grim underworld ~ RACHAEL
 * 4.)Religion**


 * //Blue Book//**

6.) **forms of significant artistic and intellectual activity** 1. Architecture 2. Music 3. Invention
 * ziggurats- terrace pyramids connected by the stairs
 * lyre- musical instrument from Ur 2500 B.C.
 * ox-drawn plow to plow their crops
 * sputed vessel - used for carrying water around 3000 B.C
 * used a special cup to measure grain around 2000 B.C.
 * battering ram - wooden beam weapon mounted on wheels to crush wall
 * built slings to hurl stones
 * made helmets and armor for battle

1. politicial - each city-state had a different god or goddess, government, and a king 2. economic- many traders came to mesopotamia 3. social- marketplace- merchants selling things and musicians, acrobats, etc. were on te streets performing 4. culture- throughout city-states, share a common culture 5. religious development- food was eaten after presenting and offering it to the god or goddess http://www.dl.ket.org/humanities/connections/class/ancient/mesop.htm Architecture -houses- had entrance, hearth, and mudwalls - houses- built from tall reeds Inventions/Improvements -used system of counting based on 60 and circle for 360 degrees -glass -potter's wheel -canals, dams, and irrigation ditches used to water their crops -mortat and pestles for grinding - bladed sickle used to cut small things like seeds
 * 9.) Urban Focus**
 * Websites used:**
 * ~Henry**


 * //RED BOOK__//**


 * A. New Forms of significant artistic and intellectual activity (#6)-**

1.) Architecture 2.) Art/ Writing
 * walled cities with **bronze** gates
 * ziggurats- made up of squares in descending size
 * first schools taught cuneifrom
 * cuneiform-writing on clay using sharp rees, basically wedges
 * first time anyone wrote down laws
 * cuneiform- modern day writing based on it
 * oldest writing found in history

3.) Inventions/ Improvements
 * to imptrove transportation- wheel
 * maximized amount of ffod and minimized effort by creating the plow
 * the sailboat replaced man power with wind power
 * 12 month calander using moon cycles-marked important dates such as religious festivals and plantng times
 * number system based on 60's
 * 60 second minute, 60 minute hour, 360 degree circle
 * clock using specific amounts of water
 * Hamurabi improved the tax system
 * rebuilt and created new canals to improve irrigation system

4.) A Government
 * formed a working government
 * Hummurabi created a "government housing program"
 * he created a code of law
 * each city had its own code, picked best laws of each, fromed a big code that all citizens must obide by
 * new job- judges
 * judges were to keep peace
 * if unhonst judges were punished
 * if a witness lied they were also punished
 * all inocent until proven guilty
 * punishment depends on class (upper, middle, lower)


 * B.) Urban Focus**

1.) Political Development
 * population grew causing the need for cities
 * "inventions, customs, and ideas of the Sumerian and Babylonian Culture were copied and improved upon by other peoples.
 * "cradle of civilization"
 * 3500-3400 BC a seal was used to mark goods and documents written on clay
 * Sargon I combined Akkad and Sumer to form the first empire
 * Hammurabi formed the Babylonians and Mesopotamians to form another empire (after the others demise)

2.) Religious
 * 3,000 gods
 * Babylonians had same gods but with different names
 * Hammurabi changed religion- 1 Babylonian god + city-state god
 * believed that they were made out of mud and were servants to the gods

3.) Economic
 * Hammurabi made the empire an important trade center
 * sold extra material for money or artered it for other supplies
 * some people came from as far away as India and China (they paid in silver and gold)

4.) Social
 * center of city- ziggurat
 * upper class houses (priests and merchants) / 2 stories high with balcony
 * middle class houses (government officials, artisians, and shopkeepers) / 1 story high
 * lower class houses (farmers, fishermen, and unskilled workers) / farther out

5.) Culture > **~Emily**
 * extremely similiar to eachother/ when dominated and made into an empire the other people changed their culture