Early River Valley Civilizations

Lo1: Define Mesopotamia, Sumer, city-state, cultural diffusion, polytheism, Hammurabi
Lo2: Identify the region of Sumer and discuss aspects of Sumerian culture
Lo3: Explain the impacts of Agricultural Revolution on Sumerian Culture
HMIC: Chapter 2 Section 1 Reading Guide and Assessment (Blog) 

 Mesopotamia: an ancient region in West Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
Sumer: an ancient region in southern Mesopotamia that contained a number of independent cities and city-states
city-state: a city that with its surrounding territory forms an independent state
cultural diffusion: the spreading out of culture, culture traits, or a cultural pattern from a central point
polytheism: the belief or worship of more than one god
Hammurabi: 18th century b.c. or earlier, king of Babylonia

 Sumer and Its Culture: 
-  located on the Alluvial plain.
-  occupied the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers
-  population increased drastically due to new irrigation techniques
-  cities and towns were founded, some with as many as 40,000 inhabitants
-  more adequate food storage allowed for diversity in profession: priests, tradesmen, artisans,           politicians and farmers
-  kings emerged, as did family dynasties and the concept of the "city-state"
-  Sumerians invented the earliest forms of writing, known as "cuniform"
-  a Pantheon of Sumerian gods and goddesses emerged, with many of the deities representing the natural elements of the world
-  the world's first (surviving) epic was the Sumerian "Epic of Gilgamesh", which told of great flood
-  Sumerians first divided the hour into sixty minutes and the minute into sixty seconds; they also organized a calendar based on moon cycles
-  the Ziggurat was the Sumerian temple built on top of a "mountain" of earth

Agricultural Revolution and Sumerian Culture: 
- allowed the people of Sumer to explore new jobs
- population increased drastically because of new irrigation techniques




Chapter 2 Assessment: 

Fertile Crescent- the birth place of many technological innovations, including writing, the wheel, agriculture and use of irrigation

Mesopotamia- hosted the beginnings of human civilization

city-state- serves a the center of a civilization

dynasty- a sequence of rulers from the same family

cultural diffusion- mixes the worlds religions together

polytheism- the belief in many gods

empire- the domination of one state by another

Hammurabi- the ruler of Babylon

Main Ideas: 
2. The most difficult solution would be the environmental challenges because of the inability to change the unpredictable weather.

3. Unpredictable flooding combined with little rain, no natural barriers for protection, and the limited natural resources.

4. They thought that the gods were the only thing protecting them in the world.

5. The code affected family relations, business conduct and crime.







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