Early Civilizations of

Mesopotamia

By Jose Rosario
Page 8
Mesopotamia
Agriculture
Revolution
 A. The City of Samaria

1.Sumerians built the

Mesopotamia’s
Mesopotamia cities in the
southern part of the valley.
2.We called the people who moved in the
valley Sumerians.
Sumerians
3.The cities of Akkad & Babylon were
founded later by people who moved
to the valley they later were know
by the Akkadians&
Akkadians the
Babylonians.
4.On the eastern end of the
Mediterranean Sea Jericho &
Ebla were founded by the same
Samaria
 B. Technology
1.Their houses consisted of mud &
clay, while the buildings
consisted of bricks of dry mud.
2.They irrigate their land so farming
was easy.
3.The temples were boxlike houses
made of mud bricks.
4.It was the center of the city life.
 C. Their religion ruled the life
of the citizen of Samaria.
1.They believed that
if the gods were
pleased, the
people & the
city will enjoy
good times.
2.The temple was
also a work
place for craft’s
persons,
storehouses for
grain, & a place
D. The Sumerians had schools,
but very few children go to
them.
1.They were mostly for children of
priest & government officials.
2.The students spent their time in
learning how to write, read,
mathematics, astronomy,
agriculture & religion.
3.They allowed the teachers to use
corporal punishment.
4.A king ruled the Sumerians City & in
times by priests, & by the military.
Babylon
 D. Akkad & Babylon
1.As the Samaria
Cities began to
decline, Akkad,
a city to the
north rose to
power.
2.These people came
to the valley
from the
surrounding
deserts.
3.They copied the
writing system
 E. A king named Sargon the
Great (2334 BC - 2279 BC)
ruled this city.
1. He was a war leader
and was not
content to rule
only his city.
2. He made war against
other cities and
brought all the
cities of the valley
under his rule.
3. Sargon developed the
world’s first empire
and it lasted for
about two hundred
years.
 F. An Empire is many different
lands brought together under one
government.
1.The
Amoritesinvad
Amorites
ed Mesopotamia
around 2,000 BC
and built the
city of Babylon
on the
Euphrates River.

2.Their greatest
leader was
Hammurabi
G. He is remembered for his code of
law, which Sargonwrote
Sargon in 3,500
lines of cuneiform on a black stone.
1.We know this law
as the Eye for
an Eye Law.
Law
2.The code divided
the people in
three classes:
a.The nobles, the
free
commoners,
and the
slaves.
b.People under this
law were not
 J. The nobles had more rights and
privileges.
• The punishments
were cruel,
• They cut off people’s
body parts or
killed the
wrongdoers
according to the
crime.
• This law was based
on the principle
that people should
be responsible
their actions.