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AP World History 3.2 Technological and Environmental Transformations, to c. 600 B.C.E. Which of the following best describes the social structure of Mesopotamian civilization?
Transcript
- 00:04
And here's your shmoop du jour brought to you by the Sumerian god
- 00:07
Enki who's pretty bummed no one remembers him anymore...Alright which of [Boy points to Enki]
- 00:14
the following best describes the social structure of Mesopotamian civilization
- 00:18
and here are the potential answers.... alright well the civilizations of ancient
- 00:24
Mesopotamia including the Sumerians and Babylonians were meticulous record [Sumer and Babylon on a map]
Full Transcript
- 00:29
keepers they wrote down a lot of stuff which gives us a very good idea of how
- 00:33
their societies were structured anyway let's take a look at each potential
- 00:37
answer did Mesopotamian civilization have a no social hierarchy this would [People stacked in a pyramid formation]
- 00:43
mean everyone was completely equal and no one could order anyone else around
- 00:47
which was the case for example a king was most certainly higher on the social
- 00:51
ladder than his briefs or subjects, so cross off A) by order of the king does C)
- 00:57
have it right and even though their economy was agriculturally based the [Farmer wearing king crown]
- 01:02
agricultural workers were just part of the society and didn't have as much [workers picking berries in a field]
- 01:05
power as say the Queen so the answer is not C).. D) women had few opportunities and
- 01:12
rights in Mesopotamian civilization hmmm wrong-go completely the opposite for
- 01:17
example women in Babylon could own land and own their own businesses we now know [Woman appears from a hut]
- 01:22
that the Mesopotamians were way ahead of their time when it came to women's right
- 01:25
B) mesopotamias social structure was highly stratified well records tell us
- 01:31
their civilization was made of distinct classes each occupying a higher or lower [A wooden ladder]
- 01:35
rung on the social ladder there were nobles, landowners, priests, merchant,
- 01:40
farmers, craftsmen and finally slaves so yeah B) is the one even to this day we [Man pouring out laxative into a cup]
- 01:46
owe much to the Mesopotamian civilization and culture how much well
- 01:50
just imagine how much the patent on the invention of writing would be worth [Man's eyes turn to dollar signs]
- 01:53
today...
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