What the word "Mesopotamia" means - The land between two rivers, 2 important rivers where Mesopotamia developed - The Tigris and Euphrates, The Fertile Crescent - The river often flooded leaving behind rich soil for farming called silt, Mesopotamian Irrigation Systems - Farmers learned to build leeves and cannals to control seasonal floods, Surplus - Allowed Mesopotamians to have job specializations and everyone had enough to eat, Sumer - The first major civilization in Mesopotamia, City-states - Every Sumerian cities became one of these. Each city had its own government, Religion - Sumerians worshipped many gods and goddesses; polytheism , Ziggurat - A pyramid shaped building that Sumerians created to honor their king, Social Classes - 4 major classes; Top - Kings and some priests, Upper - Priests, warriors, government officials, and scribes; MIddle - Artisians, merchants, farmers, and fisherman; Lower - Slaves, Men  - Considered the head of the family, boys went to school to be trained for a specific job, Women - Women ran the home and cared for the children, Inventions - Wheel; plow; sailboat; number system based on 60; geometry; 12 month calendar, Hammurabi - The Babylonian king that wrote the Code of Law and he was the first to post it for all to read. The code said, "an eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth.:, The Code of Hammurabi - This code punished kidnapping, robbery, and assault. It protected all the people was created to represent Hammurabi's power, Writing System - Pictographs to cuneiform; written on clay tablets; scribes kept track of laws and trades, Government and Laws - Each city-state had its own government that built roads and other buildings, Achievements - Irrigation systems, the ziggurat, mud bricks, leeves canals and dams to control water,

Mesopotamia

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