Chapter 1

2.Sumerians

A member of the indigenous non-Semitic people of ancient Babylonia

What is Egypt's history?

A unified kingdom was founded 3150 BC by King Menes, leading to a series of dynasties that ruled Egypt for the next three millennia. Egyptian culture flourished during this long period and remained distinctively Egyptian in its religion, arts, language and customs.

The Fertile Crescent

An area of fertile land in the Middle East, extending around the Rivers Tigris and Euphrates in a semicircle from Israel to the Persian Gulf, where the Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Phoenician, and Hebrew civilizations flourished.

Mesopotamia

Ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern Iraq), from Greek mesopotamia (khora), literally "a country between two rivers," from fem. of mesopotamos, from mesos "middle" (see medial (adj.)) + potamos "river" (see potamo-).

Hammurabi (and Code of Hammurabi)

Code of Hammurabi. The Code of Hammurabi is a well-preserved Babylonian code of law of ancient Mesopotamia, dated back to about 1754 BC (Middle Chronology). It is one of the oldest deciphered writings of significant length in the world. The sixth Babylonian king, Hammurabi, enacted the code.

Cuneiform

Denoting or relating to the wedge-shaped characters used in the ancient writing systems of Mesopotamia, Persia, and Ugarit, surviving mainly impressed on clay tablets.

Egypt

Egypt is the site of one of man's earliest civilizations, which flourished from about 3100 b.c. to 30 b.c., when it became part of the Roman Empire. Many ancient works of art and architecture survive, including the pyramids and the Sphinx.

Why is the Epic of Gilgamesh important to history?

Epic of Gilgamesh is the first literary work in history that has been written down and has been discovered. It reflects the myths and stories that were told in ancient Sumeria, that by itself was a new political structure that would evolve into an empire.

Why did the Sumerians fall?

Fall of Sumer - The biggest factor in the fall of Sumer, established around the 4th millennium BC was the extreme drought at about 2200 BC, that lasted between two and three hundred years. ... A heavy blow to Sumer was the neighboring Akkadian empire, which had a army and a thirst for conquest.

What is Mesopotamia famous for?

Famous Rulers of Mesopotamia. Gilgamesh (c. 2650 BC) - Gilgamesh was the fifth king of the Sumerian city of Uruk. He became known as a demigod with superhuman strength in later legends and tales such as the Epic of Gilgamesh.

Who was Hammurabi and what did he do?

Hammurabi ( c. 1810 BC - c. 1750 BC) was the sixth king of the First Babylonian Dynasty, reigning from 1792 BC to 1750 BC (according to the Middle Chronology). His father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health, preceded him.

How does the Epic of Gilgamesh end?

He realizes that his destiny is to be great on earth, not in a life of immortality, and he appreciates what he can do as a mortal king. Gilgamesh learns in the end that death is the fate of all humans, this life is transitory and what passes for immortality is what one leaves behind.

What is Hammurabi most famous for?

In approximately 1771, BCE, Hammurabi, king of the Babylonian Empire, decreed a set of laws to every city-state in order to better govern his bourgeoning empire. Known today as the Code of Hammurabi, the 282 laws are one of the earliest and more complete written legal codes from ancient times.

Lugal

Lugal is the Sumerian term for "king, ruler". Literally, the term means "big man." ... In the Sumerian language, lugal is used to mean an owner (e.g. of a boat or a field) or a head (of a unit such as a family).

What is Mesopotamia history?

Mesopotamia (from the Greek, meaning 'between two rivers') was an ancient region located in the eastern Mediterranean bounded in the northeast by the Zagros Mountains and in the southeast by the Arabian Plateau, corresponding to today's Iraq, mostly, but also parts of modern-day Iran, Syria and Turkey.

How was Mesopotamia created?

Mesopotamia, the land between the rivers, derives its name and existence from the rivers Tigris and Euphrates. These two rivers created the Fertile Crescent in the midst of surrounding inhospitable territory.

What is cuneiform used for?

Over time, the need for writing changed and the signs developed into a script we call cuneiform. Over thousands of years, Mesopotamian scribes recorded daily events, trade, astronomy, and literature on clay tablets. Cuneiform was used by people throughout the ancient Near East to write several different languages.

Why are the Sumerians important?

Religion was very important to the Sumerians. They, like most cultures from ancient history, were polytheistic, believing in and worshipping several gods at once. They believed that the gods controlled everything, and that keeping them happy was outmost importance.

Why is cuneiform significant?

Sumerian cuneiform is the earliest known writing system. Its origins can be traced back to about 8,000 BC and it developed from the pictographs and other symbols used to represent trade goods and livestock on clay tablets. Originally the Sumerians made small tokens out of clay to represent the items.

What does Fertile Crescent mean?

The Fertile Crescent (also known as the "cradle of civilization") is a crescent-shaped region where agriculture and early human civilizations like the Sumer and Ancient Egypt flourished due to inundations from the surrounding Nile, Euphrates, and Tigris rivers. The Fertile Crescent is a crescent-shaped region in the Middle East incorporating the Levant, Ancient Mesopotamia, and Ancient Egypt, known as the "Cradle of Civilization." ... The region was named the "Fertile Crescent" because of its rich soil and half-moon shape.

When did the Sumer civilization begin and end?

The Sumerian civilization emerged upon the flood plain of the lower reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers about 4000 B.C. The social structure of the Sumerians was decidedly different from other societies of that and later times.

What is the Epic of Gilgamesh about?

The first half of the story discusses Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, and Enkidu, a wild man created by the gods to stop Gilgamesh from oppressing the people of Uruk. ... In the second half of the epic, distress about Enkidu's death causes Gilgamesh to undertake a long and perilous journey to discover the secret of eternal life.

The Epic of Gilgamesh

The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Bilgamesh (Sumerian for "Gilgamesh"), king of Uruk, dating from the Third Dynasty of Ur ( c. 2100 BC). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic.

What is the theme of the epic of Gilgamesh?

The main theme in The Epic of Gilgamesh is that wisdom and kindness are superior attainments to immortality, and immortality may symbolize all self-centered attainments such as strength and power....

What did the Sumerians invent?

The wheel, plow, and writing (a system which we call cuneiform) are examples of their achievements. The farmers in Sumer created levees to hold back the floods from their fields and cut canals to channel river water to the fields. The use of levees and canals is called irrigation, another Sumerian invention. The Sumerians traded by land with the eastern Mediterranean and by sea as far as India. The invention of the wheel, 3000 years ago, improved transportation by land. The Sumerians were well known for their metalwork, a craft at which they excelled.

What time period was Mesopotamia?

Timeline of Ancient Mesopotamian civilization: c. 5000-3500 BCE: The first city-states gradually develop in southern Mesopotamia. This is the achievement of the Sumerian people. c. 3500: Writing begins to be developed.

What was the government in Mesopotamia?

Type of Government: Mesopotamia was ruled by kings. The kings only ruled a single city though, rather than the entire civilization. For example, the city of Babylonwas ruled by King Hammurabi.

1.Catalhoyuk

Was a very large Neolithic and Chalcolithic proto-city settlement in southern Anatolia, which existed from approximately 7500 BC to 5700 BC, and flourished around 7000 BC.

Who was the Epic of Gilgamesh written for?

What, When and Where: An epic poem concerning or (very) loosely based on the historical King Gilgamesh, who ruled Sumerian Uruk (modern day Iraq) in 2700 BC. This is the oldest written story, period, anywhere, known to exist. The oldest existing versions of this poem date to c 2000 BC, in Sumerian cuneiform.