2 River Valley

UNIT

Civilizations
Equator
Egyptian wood carving
0° Prime Meridian

W
0°E

0°
0°
0°

60°
60°

18
12

12
18

Blue Nile hippopotamus 

5000 B.C. 3500 B.C. 2600 B.C. 2300 B.C.

Groups of people Sumeria Old Kingdom Sargon I establishes
begin migrating established begins in Egypt world’s first empire

52
 TM

Compare and Contrast Study Foldable Make this foldable to help you
compare and contrast the river valley civilizations that developed in the Middle
East, South Asia, and China.

Step 1 Fold a sheet of paper Step 2 Turn the paper and Reading and
in half from side to side. fold it into thirds. Writing As you read
the unit, write notes
under each
Fold it so the left appropriate tab of your
edge is about 12 foldable. Keep in mind
inch from the that you are trying to
right edge.
compare these
civilizations.
Step 3 Unfold and cut the top layer Step 4 Label as shown.
only along both folds.
This will Eastern
Mesopotamia Egypt River
make three Valleys
tabs. RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

PRIMARY SOURCES
Library

See pages 676–677 for another primary

source reading to accompany Unit 2.

Read “The Epic of Gilgamesh”

from the World History Primary
es
Journal Not
Source Document Library CD-ROM.

re than
hat wa s daily life like mo
W ils
go? Note deta
5,000 years a
u read.
about it as yo

1800 B.C. 1766 B.C. 1600 B.C.

Hammurabi Shang Dynasty New Kingdom
establishes begins in China begins in Egypt
Babylonian Empire
53
CHAPTER
Mesopotamia
3 3500 B.C. –1700 B.C.

Sumerian man
and woman 

Gold Sumerian
warrior’s helmet

3500 B.C. 2300 B.C. 1800 B.C. 1700 B.C.

Sumeria Sargon I creates the Hammurabi conquers Tales of
established world’s first empire Akkad and Sumer Gilgamesh started

54 UNIT 2 RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

 Chapter Focus
Chapter Overview
Read to Discover Visit the Human Heritage Web site
• How religion, family life, and government influenced the at humanheritage.glencoe.com
civilization of Sumer. and click on Chapter 3—Chapter
• Why Hammurabi and his reforms were important. Overviews to preview this chapter.
• How the developments of Mesopotamia contributed to
other civilizations.

Terms to Learn People to Know Places to Locate

city-state Gilgamesh Mesopotamia
artisans Sargon I Sumer
ziggurat Hammurabi Ur
cuneiform Babylon
scribe
priest-kings
empire
culture
reform
reign

Why It’s Important The earliest known civilizations developed

along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which begin in the
mountains of eastern Turkey. The twin rivers each flow more
than 1,000 miles, or 1,600 kilometers, southeast across a great
plain in an area known as the Middle East. Then, the waters
join and empty into the Persian Gulf. Today, the land between
the two rivers is part of the country of Iraq. In ancient times,
the area was called Mesopotamia (mes uh puh tay’ me uh),
“the land between the rivers.”
Around 4000 B.C., groups of people began migrating, or
moving, into Mesopotamia. They developed so many new
ideas that the area has been called the “cradle of civilization.”
The influence of Mesopotamia left a lasting impact on the
ancient world.

SECTION 1 The Rise of Sumer

The people who settled in southern Mesopotamia about
3500 B.C. were a short, stocky, black-haired people called Sumeri-
ans (sū mer’ ē uhnz). Their area of Mesopotamia was known as
Sumer (sū’ mŭhr).

CHAPTER 3 MESOPOTAMIA 55
 Sumerian civilization is the earliest known on Earth. For the
first time, people began to control their physical environment. The
Sumerians knew they had to control the twin rivers. The rivers
Student Web Activity flooded each spring. When the waters went down, natural levees
Visit the Human Heritage Web site at (lev’ ēz), or raised areas of soil, remained behind. The Sumerians
humanheritage.glencoe.com built the levees even higher and used them to keep back the flood-
and click on Chapter 3— waters. During summer when the land became dry, they poked
Student Web Activities to find holes in the levees. The river water that ran through the holes
out more about the Sumerian made channels in the soil. The Sumerians made the channels larg-
civilization. er until they became canals. They used the water in the canals to
irrigate their crops. The chief crop of the Sumerians was barley.
The Sumerians also grew wheat, sesame, flax, fruit trees, date
palms, and many different kinds of vegetables.
A system of irrigation canals took much planning. People
had to learn to work together. In time, they became more orga-
nized. They set up governments to make laws so they would
know what was expected of them. As the population grew, they
began to build cities.
There was no building stone and little timber in Sumer. The
Sumerians had to find other materials to use for their houses and
public buildings. They mixed mud from the river with crushed
reeds to make bricks. They left the bricks out in the sun to bake
and then used them to build their cities. One of the great cities of

Official Seals Around 3500 to 3400 B.C., officials

in Mesopotamia started using cylinder seals
(below) to mark goods and verify documents writ-
ten in cuneiform on clay. Today governments
around the world continue to use seals to mark
documents such as the passports carried by United
States citizens (right). Why do you think govern-
ments stamp important documents with seals?

56 UNIT 2 RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

Sumer was Ur (uhr). The Sumerians were the first city-builders in
this area of the world.

City-States Each Sumerian city was considered a state in

itself, with its own god and government. Each city-state was Reading Check
made up of the city and the farmland around it. Each city was What areas made
surrounded by a wall of sun-dried brick. The wall had bronze up each Sumerian
gates that were opened during the day and closed at night to city-state?
keep out lions and bandits.
Narrow, winding streets led from the gates to the center of
the city. Near the center were the houses of the upper class—
priests and merchants. These houses were two stories high with
wooden balconies. The balconies looked out over courtyards
around which the living quarters were built. The courtyards pro-
vided light and air for rooms. Outside walls were windowless to
keep out heat from the sun and smells of the streets.
Behind the houses of the rich were the houses of the middle
class—government officials, shopkeepers, and artisans (art’ uh Reading Check
zuhnz), or skilled workers. These houses also were built around What are
open courtyards but were only one story high. Farther out were artisans?
the houses of the lower class—farmers, unskilled workers, and
people who made their living by fishing.
The Sumerians were very proud of their cities. Often, one
city-state would go to war with another city-state. They fought
over boundary lines and to prove which city-state was stronger.

Religious and Family Life At the center of each Sumer- Reading Check
ian city was a temple, called a ziggurat (zig’ uh rat). The word What was the
“ziggurat” means “mountain of god” or “hill of heaven.” Each purpose of a
ziggurat was made up of a series of square levels. Each level was ziggurat?
smaller than the one below it. Great stairways led to the top of a
ziggurat, which was believed to be the home of the city’s chief
god. Only priests could enter the home of the god.
Around the ziggurat were courts. The courts and the ziggu-
rat were the center of Sumerian life. Artisans worked there. Chil-
dren went to school there. Farmers, artisans, and traders stored
their goods there. The poor were fed there. All great events were
celebrated in this area.
The Sumerians believed that all the forces of nature, such as
wind, rain, and flood, were alive. Because they could not control
these forces, they viewed them as gods. In all, there were more
than 3,000 Sumerian gods.
The Sumerians believed that at first there were only male
gods. Then female gods appeared. The male gods found they had
to work very hard to please the female gods. The male gods
decided that they needed servants to do their work. So, from the
mud of the rivers, they made humans who would be their ser-
vants. The Sumerians believed that they were on Earth only to

CHAPTER 3 MESOPOTAMIA 57
 SUMERIAN PRAYING STATUES To honor their gods, Sumerians left stat-
ues of themselves within their temple. These statues, standing with their hands
clasped, were meant to offer prayers when the people were not present. In how many
gods did the Sumerians believe?

serve the gods. If the gods were unhappy with them, their crops
would not grow and they would not live happy lives. Therefore,
the goal of each Sumerian was to please the gods.
Only priests, however, could know the will of the gods. This
made Sumerian priests very powerful. For example, all land was
owned by a city’s god. But priests controlled and administered
the land in the god’s name. The priests also ran schools.
Schools were only for the sons of the rich. Poorer boys
worked in the fields or learned a trade. Schools were made up
of rooms off the temple courtyards. They were known as tablet
houses because their main purpose was to teach students how
to write. Students sat in rows on brick benches. They wrote
with sharp-ended reeds on clay tablets about the size of a post-
Reading Check card. Sumerian writing was called cuneiform (kyū n ē’ uh
What was form). It was made up of hundreds of markings shaped like
cuneiform? wedges.
Writing developed because people had to keep track of busi-
ness deals. When people lived in villages, they knew everyone
and could remember what goods they exchanged with whom.
When cities arose, there were too many people and goods to
remember. At first, the Sumerians used pictures to represent
objects. Later, they used pictures to represent ideas. Still later,
they used pictures to represent syllables.
Reading Check When a student graduated from school, he became a scribe,
What were some or writer. He worked for the temple, the palace, the government,
of the places a scribe or the army. Some scribes went to work for a merchant or set up
might work? their own businesses as public writers.

58 UNIT 2 RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

 Although only Sumerian males went to school, women did
have rights. They could buy and sell property. They could run
businesses and own and sell enslaved persons.
Although a woman handled her husband’s affairs when he
was away, the husband was the head of a household. He could Cuneiform Today only
divorce his wife by saying, “You’re not my wife.” If he needed about 250 people know
money, he had the right to sell or rent his wife and children as how to read the more than
1 million cuneiform signs
enslaved persons for up to three years. He also arranged the mar- that make up the written
riages of his children. Sumerian language. To
Children were expected to support their parents when the change this, a team of lan-
parents became old and were also expected to obey older family guage experts at the Uni-
members. All family members were to obey the gods and the versity of Pennsylvania is
working on an 18-volume
priests. Sumerian dictionary. The
team expects the work to
Priests and Kings At first, Sumerian priests were also be done sometime in the
kings of city-states. One of the most famous priest-kings was 2000s.
Gilgamesh (gil’ ga mesh) of Uruk (ū ’ rūk). Tales told about
Gilgamesh made him seem more like a god than a person. One
tale, written about 1700 B.C., is the oldest known story in the Reading Check
world. Who was one of
In the story, Gilgamesh and his friend Enkidu (en’ ki dū) the most famous
travel the world performing great acts of courage. When Enkidu Sumerian priest-
dies, Gilgamesh searches for a way to live forever. He learns that kings?
only the gods can live forever. Part of the Gilgamesh story tells of
a great flood that covered the whole world. The account of the
flood is very much like the biblical story of Noah and the ark.
The Sumerian priest-kings received advice from an assembly
made up of free men. When war broke out with another city-
state, the assembly would choose one of its members to serve as
military leader until the war was over. As time went on, these
leaders stayed in charge even after peace returned. By about 3000
B.C., they took the place of priests as permanent kings. At the
same time, kingship became hereditary (huh red’ uh ter ē ), or
passed down from parent to child.

Section 1 Assessment time of Sumer to the lives of women in

the modern world?
1. Define: city-state, artisans, ziggurat,
cuneiform, scribe, priest-kings. Graphic Organizer Activity
2. How did the Sumerians gain control of 5. Draw a diagram like this one, and use it to
the twin rivers? show accomplishments of the Sumerians.
3. What was the center of Sumerian life?
Critical Thinking
Accomplishments
4. Making Comparisons How would
you compare the lives of women in the

CHAPTER 3 MESOPOTAMIA 59
 Distinguishing Fact
From Opinion
Suppose a • Does this statement give specific
friend says, information about an event?
"Our school’s • Can I check the accuracy of this
basketball statement?
team is awe- • Does this statement express some-
some. That’s one’s feelings, beliefs, or judgment?
a fact." Actually, it is not a fact; it is an • Does it include phrases such as I
opinion. Are you able to tell the believe, superlatives, or judgment
difference? words?

Learning the Skill A fact answers Skill Practice

a specific question such as: What
happened? Who did it? When and Read each numbered statement.
where did it happen? Why did it hap- Then tell whether each is a fact or
pen? Statements of fact can be checked an opinion, and explain how you
for accuracy and proven. If your friend arrived at your answer.
had said, "We have the highest-ranking 1. Sumerian civilization is the earli-
team in the state," that could be a fact. est known on Earth.
We can look up the rankings of state 2. The greatest accomplishment of
teams and determine whether the state- the Sumerians was their system
ment is a fact. of irrigation.
An opinion, on the other hand, 3. A temple called a ziggurat formed
expresses beliefs, feelings, and judg- the center of Sumerian life.
ments. Although it may reflect some-
one’s thoughts, we cannot prove or 4. Women in Sumeria had terrible
disprove it. lives.
An opinion often begins with 5. The priest-kings were better
phrases such as I believe, I think, probably, rulers than the military leaders
it seems to me, or in my opinion. It often who came into power.
contains words such as might, could,
should, and ought, and superlatives such
as best, worst, and greatest. Judgment
words that express approval or disap-
proval—such as good, bad, poor, and sat-
isfactory—also usually indicate an
opinion.
To distinguish between facts and Glencoe’s Skillbuilder
opinions, ask yourself these questions: Interactive Workbook CD-ROM,
Level 1, provides instruction and
practice in key social studies skills.

60
 Reading Check
SECTION 2 Later Mesopotamian Empires How did Sargon
I build his empire?
About 2400 B.C., the power of Sumer started to fade. New From what culture
civilizations began to develop in Mesopotamia as conquerors did the people of
moved in from nearby areas. Babylon borrow?
For what reform is
Sargon I Sargon I (sar’ gon) was a ruler from an area in Hammurabi best
northern Mesopotamia known as Akkad (ak’ ad). About 2300 known?
B.C., he moved his armies south and began to conquer the city-
states of Sumer one by one. He united the conquered city-states
with Akkad and became known as king of Sumer and Akkad.
Thus, Sargon I created the world’s first empire (em’ pı̄r), or
group of states under one ruler. He extended this empire to
include all of Mesopotamia.
Under Sargon I, Akkadian became the language of the peo-
ple. Sumerian was used only for religious purposes. The Akkadi-
ans, however, worshiped the Sumerian gods. They also wrote
their language in Sumerian cuneiform. Sargon I ruled his empire
for more than 50 years. Shortly after his death, the empire fell.

Hammurabi of Babylon Following the death of Sargon I,

the separate city-states again rose to power. Then, about 1800 B.C.,
a new group of people called Amorites (am’ uh rı̄ts) entered the
Tigris-Euphrates valley and built cities of their own. One of these
cities was Babylon (bab’ uh luhn). The king of Babylon, Ham-
murabi (ham uh rob’ ē), conquered Akkad and Sumer and
became ruler of a great new empire.
The people of Babylon took as their own many parts of the
culture, or way of life, of the people they had conquered. For
example, they took over the language of the city-states. They also
worshiped the same Sumerian gods that the Akkadians had wor- Hammurabi
shiped, but they gave those gods Babylonian names. C.1750 B.C.
Hammurabi was a great conqueror. He extended his rule to
the Mediterranean Sea. As ruler, he brought about many changes. Babylonian King
He improved irrigation systems by building and repairing canals. Hammurabi built an
He changed religion by raising the god of Babylon above all empire that stretched
other gods. When the people began to worship this god as well north from the Persian
as their own local god, they became more united. Hammurabi Gulf through the Tigris
also reorganized the tax system and began a government housing and Euphrates valleys
program. and west to the
The reform, or improvement, for which Hammurabi became Mediterranean Sea. He
best known was a code of law. Each city-state had its own code. turned Babylon into
Hammurabi took what he believed were the best laws from each one of the most power-
code. He put these together and then issued one code by which ful capitals of the
everyone in the empire was to live. Hammurabi wanted to make ancient world.
sure that his code was carried out fairly and justly. To do this, he

CHAPTER 3 MESOPOTAMIA 61
 Identifying Physical
Features
Different Maps in this textbook use earth
physical features tone colors to point out land areas.
making up Mountains are shown by shades of
Earth’s surface black. For example, there are mountains
are often shown on maps. They include located where the Euphrates River
landforms, such as mountains, hills, begins but not where the river empties
plateaus, and plains. Physical features into the Persian Gulf.
also include bodies of water, such as Look at the map below, and answer
oceans, seas, lakes, and rivers. the following questions.
Most maps use black boundary
lines and color to point out water and Map Practice
land areas. Blue is generally used to 1. In addition to the Mediterranean,
show the size and shape of large bodies what seas are shown?
of water. For example, notice the
Mediterranean Sea located west of Syria 2. Besides the Nile, what rivers are
on the map below. Rivers, such as the shown?
Nile River in Egypt, are often shown by 3. How can you tell that the Persian
black lines. To distinguish rivers from Gulf coastline has changed over
boundaries, which are also shown by the years?
black lines, rivers are usually labeled.
Mesopotamia

Glencoe’s
Skillbuilder
Interactive
Workbook CD-
ROM, Level 1,
provides instruc-
tion and practice
in key social
studies skills.

62
appointed royal judges. Judges who were not honest and wit-
nesses who did not tell the truth were punished.
Hammurabi’s code covered almost everything in daily life.
A person was believed innocent until proven guilty. Once proven
guilty, a person was punished. Punishments ranged from fines to
death. There were no prison sentences. Members of the upper
class generally were punished more severely than members of
the middle or lower classes.
During Hammurabi’s rule, Babylon became an important
trade center. Babylonians exchanged their surplus, or extra, Sculpture of a Sumerian
products for money or for goods. People from other parts of the Chariot
world came to trade, some from as far away as India and China.
These traders paid gold and silver for the goods made by
Babylonians.
Hammurabi ruled for more than 40 years. His reign (rān), or Reading Check
period of power, is known as the Golden Age of Babylon. After his What did people
death, however, the Babylonian Empire declined, and call the reign of Ham-
Mesopotamia was again divided into a number of small city-states. murabi?

Section 2 Assessment Graphic Organizer Activity

1. Define: empire, culture, reform, reign. 5. Draw a diagram like this one, and use it
2. What happened to Sumer under Sargon to show key events in the life of Ham-
I’s rule? murabi.
3. How did Hammurabi come to power?
Critical Thinking
4. Using Reasoned Judgment What do
you think Hammurabi would say about
the court system in the United States
today?

SECTION 3 Contributions
From the beginnings of Sumer until the death of Hammura-
bi, the influence of Mesopotamia on other civilizations was felt in
many ways. Inventions, customs, and ideas of the Sumerian and
Babylonian cultures were copied and improved upon by other
peoples.
The Sumerians developed the earliest known civilization in
the world. Mesopotamia has been called “the cradle of civiliza-
tion.” The oldest written records known are Sumerian. The
Sumerians were the first people to write down their laws. Sumer-
ian cuneiform became the model for other people’s writing.
The Sumerians also invented many things such as the wheel,
which helped transportation. Another was the plow, which made

CHAPTER 3 MESOPOTAMIA 63
 it possible for farmers to grow more food with less effort. Still
another was the sailboat, which replaced muscle power with
wind power.
The people of Mesopotamia developed a 12-month calendar
based on the cycles of the moon. The calendar marked the times
for religious festivals and planting.
From Mesopotamia also came contributions in the field of
mathematics. The people developed a number system based on
60. From that came the 60-minute hour, 60-second minute, and
360-degree circle. The people of Mesopotamia also used a clock
that was operated by controlled drops of water.

Section 3 Assessment Graphic Organizer Activity

1. Why was Mesopotamia called “the cra- 4. Draw a diagram like this one, and use
dle of civilization”? it to show facts that support this state-
2. What did the people of Mesopotamia ment: Mesopotamia was “the cradle of
contribute to the field of mathematics? civilization.”

Critical Thinking Cradle of

Civilization
3. Determining Cause and Effect
How have inventions by the people of Fact Fact Fact Fact
Mesopotamia helped shape present-
day life?

Chapter Summary & Study Guide

1. Civilization began in an area known 7. Hammurabi unified the Babylonian
as Mesopotamia, located between the Empire by setting up a single code of
Tigris and Euphrates rivers. law and by raising the god of Babylon
2. Sumer was the first known civiliza- above all others.
tion in the world. 8. Major contributions of the Meso-
3. Sumerian civilization consisted of a potamian civilizations include writ-
series of city-states, the most impor- ing, the wheel, the plow, the sailboat,
tant of which was Ur. and a number system based on 60.
4. Each Sumerian city-state had its own
chief god and government.
5. Sargon I of Akkad created the world’s
first empire in 2300 B.C. Self-Check Quiz
6. About 1800 B.C., Hammurabi con- Visit the Human Heritage Web site at humanheritage.
quered Akkad and Sumer and estab- glencoe.com and click on Chapter 3—Self-Check Quiz
lished the Babylonian Empire. to assess your understanding of this chapter.

64 UNIT 2 RIVER VALLEY CIVILIZATIONS

CHAPTER

Using Key Terms

3 Assessment
Graphic Organizer Activity
Imagine that you are a visitor to History Create a chart like this one,
ancient Mesopotamia. Use the following and use it to write newspaper headlines
words in a letter home in which you that tell the importance of each date to the
describe what you have seen and experi- history of Mesopotamia.
enced during your visit.
artisans culture empire
Date Headline
ziggurat priest-kings scribe
reform cuneiform city-state 3500 B.C.
reign 2300 B.C.
1800 B.C.
Understanding Main Ideas 1700 B.C.

1. Why were the twin rivers important to

Sumerian life?
2. Why was the ziggurat important to the Geography in History
Sumerians?
3. Who was Gilgamesh, and why was he Human Systems Babylon became a
important? major trading center. Refer to the map on
4. What did Sargon I accomplish? page 62 and imagine that you are King
5. What trading system did the people of Hammurabi. You must select the location
Babylonia use? for another settlement that you hope will
6. What changes did Hammurabi bring also become a trading center. Where
to Mesopotamia? would you locate this settlement? Explain.
7. What happened to people who broke
Hammurabi’s laws?
8. Why was the sailboat an important
invention?

Critical Thinking
r Jo urnal
You
1. In what ways do you think your Using you m
ay
school is similar to or different from ils
y deta rly
the schools in Sumeria? a r e a n e in ea daily
Comp ed about lif r
2. What do you think would have hap- v e not ta ils of you ing
a e
pened to Sumer if it had suffered ten
h
e ria with d raph explain -
Su m g er
years of drought? How would the rite a para ilar and diff
life. W
re sim plaining
kingdom be affected? s that a x
3. Why do you think religion played th ing
ou were e ved in
ent as
if y
o n e who li
e
such an important part in Sumerian to som
life? them
B.C.
2000
65