Section+2-1+City+States+in+Mesopotamia

=Section 2-1 City-States in Mesopotamia:=

Key Terms:

 * __Fertile Crescent__: A curved piece of land that is farmable. Located in Southwest Asia.
 * __Mesopotamia__: Land facing Mediterranean Sea. Greek meaning-land between rivers.
 * __City-States__: Cities with their own governments controlling surrounding land.
 * __Dynasty__: A series of rulers coming from the same line of heritage.
 * __Cultural Diffusion__: The process of an idea/product spreading throughout multiple cultures.
 * __Polytheism__: Believing in more then one God.
 * __Empire__: Lots of land and cultures ruled under one ruler.

Key People:

 * __Sumerians__: Arrived in Mesopotamia in 3300 B.C.
 * __Sargon__: He and his army invaded and took over Sumerians and Mesopotamia and created the new kingdom Babylon.
 * __Hammurabi__: A babylon leader who put together a code of laws to help unite his kingdom more.

Key Ideas:

 * Geography of Fertile Crescent:**
 * The Fertile Crescent is a strip of land that has good farming soil and is located in the middle of desert landscapes.
 * In Mesopotamia is two rivers: Tigris and Euphrates that leaves good farming silt after flooding the surrounding land.


 * Environmental Challenges:**
 * People began to settle down in Mesopotamia before 4500 B.C., with few downsides, including unpredictable raining, flooding, and droughts.


 * Solving Problems Through Organization:**
 * Soon, Sumerians were able to find answers to these problems which needed leadership, people working together, and cooperation.
 * These leaders began to invent governments and laws.


 * Sumerians Create City-States:**
 * Sumerians-first people to start civilization. (Records, advanced cities, and better technology.)
 * 3000 B.C., Sumerians built cities surrounding farming areas called city-states.
 * City-states function in similar way as modern countries.


 * Priests and Rulers Share Control:**
 * Sumerian's early governments: temple priests, and Sumerians believed all good would come from the Gods if pleased by their worshippers. Priests acted as a voice for the Gods.
 * When at war, the toughest man would lead the city and army into battle, but after 3000 B.C. these leaders became more permanent.
 * Starting around 2500 B.C., military men became the cities rulers and would pass the power down to their heirs.


 * The Spread of Cities:**
 * City-states grew financially through surpluses from farmers and trading.
 * Multiple cities grew all over the Fertile Crescent by 2500 B.C. which helped trading.


 * Sumerian Culture:**
 * Sumerian's culture reflected their environment.


 * A Religion of Many Gods:**
 * Sumerians, plus many other cultures, believed in multiple gods.
 * They believed gods fell in love, had children, and other human-like things, but they were also very powerful and immortal, and that humans were supposed to keep them happy through sacrifices and building ziggurats.
 * They also believed gods would help them after death, away from the gloomy afterlife place.
 * Many Mesopotamian myths come from the poem //Epic of Gilgamesh//.


 * Life in Sumerian Society:**
 * Social classes began forming, highest level: king, lowest level: slaves.
 * Women could become merchents, and priests, and artists in the beginning of the social classes, but later could not.


 * Sumerian Science and Technology:**
 * It is believed that Sumerians invented the wheel, sail, and plow, they also used arithmetic, needed to know architecture, and they began writing.


 * The First Empire Builders:**
 * For about 1000 years the city-states were at constant war, but their civilization never died.


 * Sargon of Akkad:**
 * Sargon defeated the city-states in 2350 B.C. and spread the culture farther.
 * Sargon created the world's first empire, he brought multiple cultures together under one ruler, and this empire lasted 200 years.


 * Babylonian Empire:**
 * Amorites warriors took over Sumerians around 2000 B.C. and created Babylon.


 * Hammurabi's Code:**
 * He saw that one code of laws would unify an empire more, so he created the Code of Hammurabi and set it in stone.
 * 282 laws devoted to just community, family, crimes, and business. Protected women and children, and set up rules for property issues.
 * Punished crimes differently depending on gender, age, and social status.
 * Government had responsibility for what happened in their community now because of the code.
 * Babylon was defeated by Kassites 200 years after Hammurabi's death, and other groups of people that ruled the Fertile Crescent afterwords includes Assyrians, Hebrews, and Phoenicians.