-Sumerians are the first known civilization in the Middle East.
-Sumerians settled in Mesopotamia, which is present-day Iraq
-Mesopotamia means "lands between two rivers" (Tigris & Euphrates)
-Mesopotamia lies in the East End of "Fertile Crescent"(rich fertile land extending from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
-It was a hot and dry climate between the rivers, but it had fertile land.
- The lands of the middle east were more easily conquered than Egypt; Egypt had natural barriers (deserts), unlike the middle east, which did not.
-Egypt wasn't under constant attack, so it left plenty of time for advancements in technology.
-Mesopotamia was split into 12 city-states
-Each city-state had their own government and supervised their own canals and dikes.
-City-states constructed city walls, and storage areas for food in case of attack.
-As city-states grew, they began to fight and have wars with each other.
-War became more important and war-time leaders began to control and people began to care less about the priests.
-Rich soil was abundant; stone and timber were not abundant
-All City-states had a ziggurat: Large, brick temple; home for Gods; largest building in town; center of all social life.
*Transportation & Trade
-Sometime between 3200 b.c. & 1600 b.c, the sail and wheel were revolutionized.
-Sumerians were the first known to use the wheel (invented or borrowed?)
-Sumerians used bronze(silver and copper alloy) tools and weapons
-Period in Sumer around 2800 b.c. was the Bronze Age.
-Any time earlier than the Bronze Age was the Stone Age.
-Sumerians learned to have written record using tools to carve on wet clay (Cuneiform)
-Cuneiform(wedge-shaped writing) started as picto-graphs
-Later, cuneiform was simplified into using symbols as sounds.
-Writing spread across the fertile crescent through conquerors.
-Scribes-artisans that were trained to keep records
-Girls were not scribes unless they were tutored or went to private schools.
*Religion & Law*
-Sumerians were polytheistic(belief in many gods)
-Each city-state felt property of one god
-Sumerians feared the Gods and worked to keep them content
-Laws were very strict
-Code Of Hammurabi-stated an eye for an eye.
-Sumerians did not believe in a happy afterlife.
-Sumerians believed that if you died, the Gods were angry with you and you sink into a deep, huge underworld.
-The underworld was simply a large, dark pit full of dust and silence.
*Sumerian Social Classes*
-Nobles(kings & priests) made up 25% of the people and were 1st class.
-Commoners(wealthy merchants) made up 50% of the people and were 2nd class.
-Slaves(merchants, farmers, workers) made up 25% of the people were 3rd class.
-Slaves in Sumer were: foreigners captured as "war loot"; Sumerian children who had been sold into slavery as children to pay debts of their parents.
*Downfall of Sumerians*
-Constant warfare began to weaken the city-states
-They were so weaken by war that they couldn't ward off attacks
*Sumerian Advances in Math*
-Sumerians developed math based on a base of 60, which led to present-day measurements
-Sumerians developed a 12 month calendar
-Sumerians developed 60 sec.=min./60 min.=hour/ 360 degrees=circles
*Ancient Middle Eastern Civilizations(other than Sumer)
-Around 2000 b.c., many other groups moved into Mesopotamia
-Sumerian culture didn't die, other civilizations adopted it and added their own touches.
-Hitites developed iron tools and weapons
-Hitites created the Iron Age(1500-1200 b.c.)
-Hitites tried to keep iron secret from the bronze users
-Hitites invaded Babylon and all of Mesopotamia
-Hitites challenged Egypt
-Phoenicians were great ship builders and sailors
-Phoenicians developed 1st...