Mesopotamia

Sumer

- Pantheon: A display of the best of things

- They had a pantheon of gods and goddesses which represented nature

- The oldest story every told was called "The Epic of Gilgamesh". It was about a flood and demonstrated what could happen if you upset the gods

- Sumeritans were one of the first to organize time (hour is 60 minutes, minutes are 60 seconds, a calander based on moon cycles) 

- Ziggurat- Semeritan temple

Civilization in Mesopotamia 

- Began domesticating animals 

- King Hammurabi of Babylon created the first big set of laws called "Hammurabi's Code" 

- It included "an eye for and eye" 

- Regulations for marriage and divorce

- Punishments for crimes 

Here are a few laws:

- If a man has accused another of laying a nertu [death spell?] upon him, but has not proved it, he shall be put to death. 

-  If a man has accused another of laying a kispu [spell] upon him, but has not proved it, the accused shall go to the sacred river, he shall plunge into the sacred river, and if the river shall conquer him, he that accused him shall take possession of his house. If the sacred river shall show his innocence and he is saved, his accuser shall be put to death. He that plunged into the sacred river shall appropriate the house of him that accused.   

- If a man's wife be caught lying with another, they shall be strangled and cast into the water. If the wife's husband would save his wife, the king can save his servant.