Will you tell me about Ancient Mesopotamia?

Answer 1

Scientists think that human agriculture started in an area called the Fertile Crescent. This area of what is now Northern Africa and the Middle East had fertile soil, gentle rains, and long springs and summers, all of which made it an ideal spot for farming.

• Mesopotamia
• • the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flow through a region called Mesopotamia

• flat
• small scrubby plant
• was easier to travel by boats
• was easy to carry heavy loads
• rivers currents helped to go down
• the name means "land between the rivers"
• Located near Iraq, Turkey, and Iran
• rain and melting snow in mountains
• caused rivers to swell almost every year

• rivers currents helped to go down

fertile soil

• rain and melting snow in the mountains caused the river to swell
• silt
• • soil deposits filled the area where the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers emptied into the Persian Gulf

• Mud like soil that collects near floodplain

• fertile = good for growing crops
• • people didn't have to search for food were able to settle in villages
  • these cities formed the world's first civilization in Sumer, a region in Mesopotamia.

• Controlling Water by irrigation
• • The work of a farmer is difficult
  • • crops need the right amount of water to thrive
  • Farmers in Mesopotamia often had either too much water or too little
  • • Because of the flood and the arid climate
  • Irrigation
  • • Early 6000 B.C, Mesopotamian farmers began to take steps to control the water supply
    • They build earthen walls along the river bands
    • • to hold back excess water during floods
    • They also built canals to carry water from the river to their fields. → called Irrigation
• arid Climate
• • Less than inches of rain fell each year
  • • 10 inches of rain every year
  • in southern Mesopotamia
  • summers were very hot
  • • Although the region was dary, ancient people could still grow crops because of the rivers and the fertile soil (around the fertile crescent)
    • Farming villages were widespread across southern Mesopotamia by 3500 B.C

• Floodplain
• • Flat muddy plain surrounded by rivers overflows

• Floods and Droughts
• • No one knew when the flood will happen
  • They might be on April or even June
  • Heavy rain and melting snow brought violent flood that washed everything away
  • Too little rain and melting snow meant that there would be no flood
  • Drought
  • • In an arid region such as Mesopotamia, drought is a constant danger
    • During a drought, the level of the Tigris and Euphrates would drop
    • Making it hard for farmer to water their crops
    • If crops failed, the people of Mesopotamia starved

• Few resources
• • Mesopotamia had no forest to provide food
  • Had little stone and lacked minerals, such as metals

• Tools
• • saws
  • chisel
  • hammers
• Weapons
• • axes
  • arrowheads
  • knives
  • lance points
  • swords
  • daggers
  • clubs
  • armor
• Technology
• • number system
  • writing system
  • first wheeled vehicles
  • irrigation systems
  • boats
  • calendar

• Building Houses
• • So they had few conventional building materials
  • They could not build with wood or stone
  • So instead they used reeds and mud
  • They also mixed mud and straw together to make bricks
  • They hardened the bricks by drying them in the sun
  • Building constructed with these bricks were much sturdier than reed and mus house
  • Even so both types of buildings crumbled easily in bad weather and had to be repaired often
• Brick Walls
• • Lack of reacoused in Mesopotamia cause other problems for people
  • The region was easy to invade
  • • because it was not surrounded by mountain or other natural barrier
    • As a result people from other areas often came came to steal from the Mesopotamians or conquer them
    • They wanted to protect themselves
  • To protect/guard/keep secure
  • • they lacked the trees or stone needed to build strong defensive barriers
    • they built brick walls around their town and villages
    • around the bigger towns, the walls sometimes were as much as 25 feet thick
    • the walls had guard towers at regular intervals along their length
    • in addition the walls often were surrounded by a wake open ditch or water-filled moat
    • this provided a formidable defence against invading armies
• Trading for Resources
• • Mesopotamians obtained
  • • stone
    • wood
    • copper
    • tin
  • through trade with people throughout Southwest Asia
  • they also traded for luxuries
  • • gold
    • ivory
    • ebony
    • precious stones
  • in exchanges for these good, Mesopotamians merchants
  • • grain
    • dates
    • farm products
  • this was possible because they grew a surplus of crops
  • jobs such as trading, digging canals, building walls and farming had to be done over and over
  • community leaders began to organize groups of people to do the work at the right time efficiently
• they also thought about some play and invented some ways to have fun.

Board Games

• Early Humans played games similar to chess. The game comes from a tomb at Ur. Scholars
• The goal was to move your pieces from one end to another while an opponent is blocked the narrow bridge

Pottery

• Artisans can make pots with even more streamlined
• The process is much faster, so artisans can produce more pots than before