Section+2-1

Abby Regan 9/7/10 Section 2-1 World History CP

Fertile Crescent -The lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain known as Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia - "Land between two rivers" City-State - A city and it's surronding lands functioning as an independent political unit. Dynasty -A series of rulers from a single family Cultural Diffusion - A process in which a new idea or product spreads from one culture to another. Polytheism - The belief in more than one god. Empire - An area with it's own set of rules and beliefs that is ruled by a single ruler. Hammurabi - A ruler in the time of the Babylonian Empire.
 * Key Terms:**

The Sumerians: The first group of people to populate Mesopotamia.
 * Key People:**

__//**Summary:**//__ __**Geography of The Fertile Crescent**__
 * The area between the Persian gulf and the Mediterrianean Sea is a desert climate execpt for the Fertile Crescent.
 * The two "framing" rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates flooded the area at least once a year, which left behind silt, a rich farming soil, resulting in more population.


 * Environmental Challenges:**
 * In 3300 BC, the Sumerians populated the area of Mesopotamia. and although they had good soil, they faced three big disadvantages.
 * The three problems: Unpredictable flooding, along with little or no rain, no natural barriers for protection, and little natural resources (such as wood for building).


 * Solving Problems Through Organization:**
 * Sumerians solved these problems by creating irrigation ditches, building city walls out of mud bricks, and trading with other countries for natural resources.
 * The people needed leaders to supervise and plan digging, and they needed laws to settle disputes over land and water, which eventually led to a government.


 * Sumerians Create City States**
 * There were five characteristics that set the Sumerians apart from other societies: advanced cities, specialized workers, complez institutions, record keeping and improved technology.
 * By 3000 BC, Sumerians built lots of cities, each with it's own government and leaders, but at the same time sharing the culture.


 * Priests and Rulers Share Control:**
 * Priest were in control of the irrigation systems, since they were the go-betweens with the gods, while a tough man leed the city into war, and sometimes military leaders became permanet rulers.


 * The Spread of Cities:**
 * The Sumerian citites became rich from the products from their farms, and they created a cultural diffusion with neighboring countries.


 * Sumerian Culture:**
 * Belief systems, social structures, technology, and arts = Culture


 * A Religion of Many Gods:**
 * Sumerians believed in many different gods that controled different parts of nature.
 * They believed that although the gods did many of the things that humans do, humans were nothing but servants to them, and they had to work to get protection from them.


 * Life in the Sumerian Society:**
 * With more civilization, social classes came to be with kings, landholders, and some priest and the top of the social pyramid and slaves at the bottom.
 * Sumerian women had more rights and could do more than women in later eras.


 * Sumerian Science and Technology**
 * Many new ideas came from the needs of the Sumerians: arithmetic and geometry (in which the developed a number system based on 60), architecural innovations (arches, columns, ramps etc.), and cuneform (a system of writing).


 * The First Empire Builders**
 * From 3000-2000 BC, the city-states of Sumer were almost always at war, and because the city states were weakened by this, rulers had to change basic ideas of the culture to meet the people's current needs.

In 2350 BC, Sargon defeated the city-states of Sumer, and by taking control of both Northern and Southern Mesopotamia, he created the world's first empire.
 * Sargon of Akkad:**
 * His empire only lasted 200 years due to fighting, invasions, and a famine.


 * Babylonian Empire:**
 * In about 2000 BC, Amorite warriors invaded Mesopotamia, and established the capital city, Babylon, on the Euphrates River.
 * The empire was at it's most powerful during the rule of Hammurabi from 1792-1750 BC.


 * Hammurabi's Code:**
 * Seeing the need for a single set of rules, Hammurabi established the Code of Hammurabi, which combined existing rules, judgements, and laws.
 * There were 282 laws on it which protected children, settled disputes over land, and other important things.
 * It set different punishments depending on whether you were rich or poor, or man or woman.