Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia (5000-2000 B.C.)

Mesopotamia is known as "the land between two rivers". Mesopotamia's birth of civilization was approximately 5000 B.C. The sumerians were the first civilization in history. They settled it what is now known as modern day Iraq. Ur was the key city-state. Ur was also the birthplace of Abraham. The Royal Tombs of Ur was where a bunch of people would drink poison. This would make it possible for them all to be buried at once.The Sumerians invented writing in about 3100 B.C. The Sumerians had an epic poem called Gilgamesh which was written in about 1800 B.C. Some other things that Sumerians invented were schools, the wheel, the plow, arches, bricks, a number system based on 60 seconds, 60 minutes in an hour, and 360 degrees in a circle.

Babylonia came to be in about 2000 B.C. Babylon was known as the larges city-state in the ancient world with a population of 200,000 people. The Code of Hammurabi was the first code of laws. The Code of Hammurabi included 282 laws. Nebuchadnezzar was the leader of the Chaldeans who defeated the Assyrians and rebuilt Babylon. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were considered one of the seven wonders of the world. Babylonia captured Jerusalem and enslaved Jews from about 586 B.C.-538 B.C. The Ishtar Gate was the entrance into Babylon.

The Hittites were another group from this era. They were warriors from Asia Minor (modern Turkey) who conquered Babylon. They were the first people to use iron weapons. They started the Iron Age (1500 BC-600 BC). The Assyrians, also known as the "Romans of Asia", were the world's first military power. The Assyrian Empire was in the fertile crecscent and Egypt. They destroyed Babylon in 700 BC.







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 * __5 Key__ __Terms__ :**
 * Ziggurat:** temple of a city god that is 6-7 stories high
 * Scribes:** public writers
 * Stylus:** stick used to write
 * Eddubas:** schools to learn cuneiform
 * Cuneiform**: form of writing used by the Sumerians


 * __5 Important People:__**
 * 1.Sargon**: 1 ruled the Mesopotamia area for approximately 50 years.
 * 2.Hammurabi:** provided uniformity among the city-states by enacting a code of law. The code was like an "eye for an eye".
 * 3.Gilgamesh:** was one of the most heroic priest-kings of Uruk.
 * 4.Sargon the Great:** became the cup bearer to the king of Kish and eventually overthrew the king and placed himself on the throne, taking for himself the name "Sargon."
 * 5.Sir Leonard Woolley:** excavated the site of Ur. He found many of the discoveries made about Ur.

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