Unit 2: Chapter 3 -The Fertile Crescent

Section 1 – The Civilization of Sumer

The Fertile Crescent is a region of the Middle East that stretches in a large, crescent-shape curve from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.

- Within this area is Mesopotamia –a wide flat plain in present day Iraq that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. o Here is where Sumer (the world’s first civilization) began to form. . This was a good place for civilization to develop.  This was because of its location near rivers which provided a number of things: water for soil to grow crops, a way of transportation for trade and travel. Agriculture in Mesopotamia o Rich fertile soil to be able to grow many grains and vegetables. o Sheep, goats and cattle were raised - Southern Mesopotamia is hot, dry, desert-like region with little rainfall. o Even so, the soils are rich with nutrients due to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.  These rivers have carried fine, fertile soil called silt down from the mountains.  Each spring the rivers flood their banks spreading the rich soil/silt across the plain making perfect conditions for growing crops.  But these floods can pose challenges as well –Floods could was away crops and villages while Sumer can be extremely hot with little or no rain. o Technology was used to resolve these issues.  Irrigattion- the supply of water to their crops. Digging irrigation canals for many miles to their fields to supple water for their crops.  New method for planting seeds – developed a seed funnel that would automatically have seeds dropped as the plow moved forward. This made planting faster and easier.

City-States of Sumer - Better agricultural techniques produced more food, leading to a growing population of villages grew and cities began to form. o Uruk – first city of Mesopotamia. Population – 40,000 + . Other cities were Ur, Lagash and Nippur . These cities grew large and formed city-states—an independent state that includes a city and surrounding territory.  Each Sumerian city-state had its own government, laws and main god.

- Each city-state was a center of trade. o Most trade was done by barter –a trading system in which people exchange goods directly without using money. o Often goods were transported on the river by loading goods onto barges –large rafts. . New technology to make trade easier –wheels on their carts and sails on their boats o Goods transported out were barley, wheat, dates and cloth. o Goods brought back were lumber, metals and precious stones.

- Sumerians developed social order through three classes, each of which had distinct (different) roles within the society. . Upper class – ruler, his top officials, powerful priests, wealthy merchants, and owners of large plots of land. . Middle class – farmers and skilled workers. . Lower class – mostly slaves.