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Sumerians started farming southern Mesopotamia despite its environmental challenges. Eventually, they come up with solutions for the challenges, such as building irrigation ditches and walls and trading for materials.
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Sumer's early government was run by priests and some military leaders
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Sumerians farmed land in southern Mesopotamia and then later built a civilization with cities around themselves. Sumer had advanced cities, specialized workers, complex institutions, record keepers, and advanced technology along with social classes.
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Invented wheels, sails, and plows. developed arches, and ramps. Studied astronomy, chemistry, and medicine. And made advances in arithmetic and geometry.
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Sumerians believed in many gods who are thought to be like humans except humans are the servants and they believed that the afterlife was bleak.
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Had a population of 30,000 and had a popular social class such as priests, priestesses, rulers, artisans, etc. Food surpluses helped lead the economy. The city was filled with small houses squeezed together and had an important ziggurat for rituals. People bartered instead of paying for goods and services with money, the scribes kept records of transactions.
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Sumerians built cities surrounded by fields. Some of the cities of Sumer were Uruk, Lagash, Umma, Ur, etc.
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They were at war with eachother
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More cities were forming in the fertile crescent and Sumerians and the new cities shared ideas and products
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From now on dynasties rule the government
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Sargon from Akkad beats Sumer's city-states and begins his dynasty.
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Sargon was from Akkad, a Sumerian city-state. He overpowered all the other city-states and his dynasty ruled for 200 years until it ended due to fighting, famine, and invasions.
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Founded by the Akkadians and became a huge empire until Hammurabi died and then Babylonia became a small kingdom for a while
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Babylonian is at the Euphrates River
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Amorites invaded Mesopotamia and made their capital Babylonian which is on the Euphrates river.
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During Hammurabi's rule, the Babylonian Empire was at its peak.
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He made 282 laws for the empire to follow and the punishments if not followed were different based on gender and social class. The goal of the laws was for the government to take responsibility and provide justice.
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The Elamites and Amorites conquered Sumer's last city, Ur. This was the end of Sumerian culture.
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This rose under the control of Assur-uballit.
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Iron weapons
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The Assyrian leader wanted to control all of Mesopotamia and so he seized Babylon and continued to expand over time through modern Palestine and Syria
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Their previous capital was Assur. The new capital was Nimrud
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This was again, a short empire but it was a strong one. They built beautiful buildings and kept statues and art from the old Babylonian Empire.
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Babylon was conquered by a Persian king and he took control which marked the end of the Babylonian Empire.