Mesopotamia“The Cradle of Civilization”

Significance of Mesopotamia• Earliest of civilizations – permanent settlements• “Mesopotamia” is Greek for “between the rivers”• Tigris River and Euphrates River

• Lasted for approximately 3,000 years• Its peoples were the first to…• Irrigate fields• Devise writing system• Develop mathematics• Invent the wheel• Work with metal• Devise a written law code

Geographic Conditions• Little rainfall• Hot and dry climate• Wind and rain storms in

winter• Muddy river valleys

• Catastrophic flooding in spring

• Arid soil containing few minerals

• No stone or timber resources

Why live in Mesopotamia??Natural Levees! (embankments produced by build-up of sediment from years of flooding)• Create a high and safe flood plain• Make irrigation and canal construction easy• Provide protection• Surrounding swamps full of fish and waterfowl• Reeds provide food for livestock (sheep, goats)• Reeds used for building materials

Religion• Polytheistic• Over 3600 gods and demigods

• Shows diversity of religion from different regions• BUT all of Mesopotamia shared the same religion and same

prominent gods

Enki – water, life, mediation

Enlil – supreme god of air

Shamash – sun, law giver

Ishtar – fertility, war, sex

Religion, cont’d• Kingship created by gods• Therefore, the king’s power was divinely ordained

• Gods lived on the distant mountaintops• Each city was ruled by a different god• Kings and priests were interpreters• Told the people what the god wanted them to do• Message from liver or lungs of a slain sheep

Ziggurats• Temples dedicated to the god of

the city• Made of layers of mud bricks in

the shape of a pyramid• On platforms due to constant

flooding• Temple on top was god’s home• Beautifully decorated• Room for offerings of food and

goods• Temples evolved into ziggurats• Stack of 1-7 platforms decreasing

in size from bottom to top• Famous ziggurat was the Tower

of Babel

Government• Political structure: early form

of democracy• Frequent wars led to the

emergence of warriors as leaders

• Eventual rise of monarchy• Followed leadership of god of

the city• Interpreted by a council of

leading citizens or priests or leader of the city (king)

Sumerians ~ 3500-2000 BCE• Sumer, Southern Mesopotamia• Irrigated fields and produced 3 main crops• Barley, dates, sesame seeds• Built canals, dikes, dams, drainage systems

• Abundance of food = population increase• First city of the world - Sumer

Sumerians• Developed cuneiform writing• Invented the wheel• Developed trade system with

bartering• Mainly barley but also wool and cloth

for stone, metals, timber, copper, pearls, ivory

• Individuals could rent land from priests• Controlled land on behalf of the gods• Most of the profits of trade went to

the temple• Established social, economic, political

basis of Mesopotamia but were unsuccessful in uniting lower Mesopotamia

Akkadians ~ 2340-2180 BCE• Akkad, Northern Mesopotamia• Leader: Sargon the Great• Unified lower Mesopotamia after

conquering Sumerians in 2331 BCE• Established capital at Akkad• Spread Mesopotamian culture• Dynasty was short lived when they were

conquered by invading barbarians by 2200 BCE

Babylonians ~ 1830-1500 BCE• Reunited Mesopotamia in 1830 BCE• Central location dominated trade and secured control• BUT… Mesopotamia not unified for long

Babylonians, cont’d• Economy based on agriculture and wool• Individuals could own land• Artisans and merchants could keep profits and formed guilds• Grain used as the medium of exchange (shekel – mina)• Emergence of currency

• Shekel = 180 grains of barley• Mina = 60 shekels

• Mina was eventually represented by metals – one of the first uses of money

King Hammurabi• Conqured Akkad and Assyria• Built• Walls to protect city• Canals and dikes to improve crops

• Legacy: Law Code

Code of Hammurabi - 1800 BCE• To enforce his rule, collected all the laws

of Babylon in a code that would apply everywhere

• First and most extensive law code from the ancient world

• 282 laws inscribed on a stone pillar placed in the public hall for all to see

• Set of divinely inspired laws and also societal laws

• Punishments designed to fit the crimes• Origin of “an eye for an eye”• Consequence for crimes depended on

social rank• Poor = hand cut off; Nobles = pay a fine

Assyrians ~ 1100-612 BCE• City of Assur became important trade and political centre• Iron changed lifestyles• replaced wooden wheels, applied to chariots

• Resulted in superior weapons

• After Hammurabi’s death, Babylon fell apart and kings of Assur controlled more of surrounding area and came to dominate

Assyrians• Made conquered land pay taxes• Food, animals, metal, timber

• Rule by fear• States began to revolt and Assyrian Empire collapsed by late

7th century

The Persian Invasion• By 539 BCE, Mesopotamia was part of the Persian Empire• Led by Cyrus the Great, Persian Empire dominated for 800

years until Alexander the Great and the Greeks took over

Mesopotamia’s Legacies

Development of Writing• Pictograms: picture to show meaning• Ideograms: signs to represent words/ideas• Phonetics: signs to represent sounds

Writing – 3500 BCE• Allowed for• Transmission of knowledge• Codification of laws• Records to facilitate trade and farming

• CUNEIFORM meaning “wedge shaped”• Wet clay tablets engraved with the

point of a reed• Dried in the sun to make a tablet

• Scribes were only literate folks• Priests, record keepers, accountants

• Spread to Persia and Egypt• Vehicle for growth and spread of

exchange of ideas among cultures

Gilgamesh – the first epic poem• Over 4000 years old, written on 12 clay

tablets• Epic battle between Enkidu (wild man

with a good heart) and Gilgamesh (controlling king)

• The two became friends and went on adventures

• This made the gods angry so they killed Enkidu causing Gilgamesh to wander the underworld in grief

• Why is this important?• Earliest known author: Sin-leqi-unninni• Mentions a great flood similar to Noah’s

flood in Genesis

Mathematics & Science• Mesopotamia, specifically Babylon, used a mathematical

system based on 60• Some parts of the “base-sixty” system still remain:• 360 degrees in a circle• 60 seconds in a minute; 60 minutes in an hour

• Calendar based on cycles of the moon• Number of days between the appearance of two new moons was set as a month• 12 cycles made up a year

Royal Tombs of Ur• Home of Abraham (Israelite patriarch)• Excavated from 1922 to 1934• Extravagant jewelry of gold, cups of gold and

silver, bowls of alabaster, extraordinary objects of art and culture• Revealed full glory of ancient Sumerian culture

• Great Death Pit• Mass grave containing bodies of 6 guards and

68 servants• Drank poison to accompany the kings and

queens in the afterlife

Legacies of Mesopotamia• Codified laws• Concept of kingship and city-state government

• Ziggurats – places of worship• Cuneiform writing• Oldest written records of a creation story

• Irrigation• Metal working – tools• Trade networks• Transportation – the wheel• Mathematics and calendar• Prosperous living based on large scale agriculture• First civilization to do so

Sources• www.mrvanduyne.com• www.wwnorton.com• www.tumblr.com• www.bbc.co.uk• www.wikipedia.org• www.ancient.eu.com• www.ancienthistory.about.com• www.bible.ca• www.worldhistoria.ca• www.westcler.org• www.britannica.com• www.funsci.com• www.whatafy.com• www.arthistoryworlds.org