MESOPOTAMIA+3

MESOPOTAMIA - CORE #3 Katie McHugh, Gareth Evans, Jack Dalhover, Mackenzie Turner, Mackenzie Hurley, Clay Beekman, Jacob Moore

Mesopotamia Core 3 Paper

Dear Sir,

Mesopotamia is more exceptional than any other, passing with flying colors. Our civilization is located in  the  present day Iraq or also what people call the __Fertile Crescent.__ The <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Fertile Crescent__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ff00; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">is an area where agriculture was first practiced. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Mesopotamia is a land between two rivers and the rivers are <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Tigris and Euphrates__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">It also has two major mountains which are both called the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Zegrosand the Anti-Taurus <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Mountains.The 3 main city-states in Mesopotamia are <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Babylon, Assyria, and Sumer.__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #9900ff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mesopotamia is made up of hills and plains.The snow will melt and flood the rivers. Ziggurats would be placed in the middle of city-states they were basically step pyramids with a couple of shelters on the levels, the top story is the temple. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> Now here are some more details on why we think Mesopotamia is the most unique.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mesopotamia is greater in politics than India, China, and Egypt for many reasons. They were the first civilization to use a monarchy system. It was fair, though, because people still had some say in the government, and mostly the rules were equal. The people were happy, and they still had monarchy.It is important to us today because some places in the world have used and still use monarchy.They learned from our country, and they put it to use. Here, each empire had their own way of governing, they would have their own laws and rights.This idea tells us that in our world, there can be many different forms of government that can get along peacefully. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__The Code of Hammurabi__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">was made by <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__King Hammurabi.__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> It was a set of 282 laws, like the Eye for an Eye rule. They were fair rules, that most people agreed on. They were followed by <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Babylon,__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">then the other city-states in Mesopotamia that <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Babylon__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> conquered. These rules and laws influence us now in the present too sometimes, like our laws for stealing. They have been modernized, but are still the same theory. So overall, the politics in Mesopotamia are better than any other civilization.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mesopotamia is ahead of the other civilizations economically in many ways. They invented banking, which makes them stand out. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">R <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">oyal palaces and temples had rooms that kept grain or other high valued items to keep safe. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Receipts__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> were starting to be used for not only the depositor, but also third-parties.Then, other houses starting banking and the laws about that were included in the <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__Hammurabi Code.__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">This is important to us today, because now keeping money safe is a huge part of the economy. We use it a lot, so thanks Mesopotamia! Mesopotamia used the Tigris and Euphrates rivers to irrigate the crops. They built canals to transport water to land from the rivers. They planted wheat, barely, dates, apples, spices, onions, and vegetables including cucumbers. Mesopotamians also raised sheep, goats, and cows. They were also hunters, for deer, birds, and such other animals. They ate fish, pork, cheese, eggs, roasted duck and more. This helps us today because they need food to survive, and since they thrived with food, Mesopotamia is kept up and had a ton of people so they for them to invent new objects and ideas that help us today. Mesopotamia was also greater than the other civilizations because they had a huge division of labor. They had jobs such as accountants, architects, astrologers, baker,s basket makers, boatmen, bowmen, brewers, brick makers, butchers, carpenters, chariot drivers, cup bearers, farmers, fishermen, goldsmiths, heralds, king, leather dealers, musicians, perfume makers, potter makers, priests, prophets, queen, scribes, Sheppards, slaves, soldiers, stone carvers, tanners, tax collectors, toll collectors, viziers, and weavers. They used many jobs that we use today, and that helps us have better division of labor and helps our society greatly. Those are the reasons, economically, why Mesopotamia is better than India, China, and Egypt.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mesopotamia is socially better than India, China, and Egypt socially, with much to show for it.The schools were attached to the temples, even though you would be punished for not doing a perfect job kids still wanted to go to school to learn how to read and write so they could get a good job. This helps us today, because now every civilization that follows has school and teaches young ones all the information they need. The women would farm while the men would learn, hunt, gather food, and do all the other jobs needed. This lets us know today that each job is important, and one gender isn’t better than another. The slaves were the lowest, they were usually war prisoners, then their was the lower class which were farmers,craftsmen and also the scribes, upper class which were the very wealthy people who wore jewels made of gold and other valuable metals, and the priests were the healers and also the people who connect to the gods.This makes us learn that slaves are not important, but also teaches us about what life was like back then. It lets us appreciate what we have, and not whine about what we don’t. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mesopotamian religion is very interesting unlike many others. They had <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">four main Gods that they worshiped mostly. They believed that those four gave them life and meaning. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> They also had many ways to worship and sacrifice to the gods that gave them what they need to survive. Each <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">unique <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">God had a special power. In the middle of each city-state there is a temple called a <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__ziggurat__ <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> where priests could pray to the gods. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Those are some ideas about how the social aspects of Mesopotamia are better than India, China, and Egypt.

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Mesopotamia is overall great, wonderful, spectactular, and terrific. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">They had an amazing ruler named King Hammurabi, a language made of picture messages and called <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__cuneiform,__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> and also invented the wheel. They also made houses out of <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; vertical-align: baseline;">__mud-brick__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">. <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">The name of our county means <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #ff9900; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> the land between two rivers <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">, so you can tell they picked an amazing spot. Thanks Mesopotamia, for making us learn from you, and now you can see that Mesopotamia is the complete best for this exhibit!

<span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Kindest Regards, <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #00ffff; display: block; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Katie McHugh, Gareth Evans, Jack Dalhover, Mackenzie Turner, Mackenzie Hurley, Clay Beekmin, Jake Moore