I.  Geography
   A. meaning of Mesopotamia  -- The Land Between the Rivers
        the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers -- yearly floods enriched soil
   B. fertility caused by yearly floods spread the Agricultural Revolution -  by ca. 3100 B.C. Sumerians lived in cities

   C. agriculture improved using irrigation, plows
   D. trade expanded using carts and boats

   E. technological developments: wheel, potter's wheel, copper tools
   F. constant warfare between city-states over land, resources
   G. general pessimistic attitude of Mesopotamians
II.  The Sumerians
   A. location of Sumer
   B. Early City States:
       i. Ur
       ii. Uruk
       iii. Lagash

   C. importance of religion -- Sumerians and Their Gods
       i.  the ziggurat
       ii. government -- priests - kings -- theocracy eventually replaced by kings
       iii.  market place
  D. General cultural characteristics
        i. specialization of labor: priests, soldiers, craftsmen, scribes
        ii. writing: cuneiform -- pictographs on clay tablets
       
    
        iii. schools for scribes - provided historians with records of business transactions, laws, religious beliefs
        iv. mythology
III.  Empires
    a. The Akkadians
       i. Sargon   -- empire from Persian Gulf to Mediterranean Sea
       ii. the Akkadian Language
     b.   The Amorites   (Babylon) conquered Mesopotamia
        i.  cultural achievements: influenced by Sumerians
           a. mathematics - advances in algebra and geometry
           b. astronomy
           c. architecture -- ziggurat at Babylon/observatory
        

           e.  The Code of Hammurabi influenced all aspects of life
               i. punishment based on an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth
               ii. inequalities between classes
               iii. slaves and women under the code

           f. mythology:
               i. creation legend
               ii. The Epic of Gilgamesh
                 a. the story
                 b. what it reveals about Mesopotamian Kingship and the city state
                 c. the outlook on life and the afterlife:
                     i.  The serpent and the plant
                     ii. Gilgamesh and immortality