Name: Syrone Rex U.

Condez
Course/Yr: BSIT 3rd yr

Mesopotamia
In ancient times, the Greeks later called the area of the world's first civilization
"Mesopotamia" which means "the land between the rivers" or "the land between two rivers."
This name was appropriate because ancient Mesopotamia was located between the Tigris and
Euphrates Rivers in the present-day Middle Eastern country of Iraq. The Twin Rivers actually
begin in eastern Turkey, flow southeast, converge in southeast Iraq, and empty into the Persian
Gulf. Although the hot dry climate mixed with seasonal flooding was difficult and challenging,
the farmers of the area learned to control the flooding rivers and used the resulting fertility to
produce crops such as barley, wheat, flax, and sesame. The fertile ground also supported many
different kinds of fruit and vegetable crops.
The Sumerian City-State
The people who established the world's first civilization around 3500 B.C. in southern
Mesopotamia were known as the Sumerians.
The Sumerians learned to control the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers by constructing levees
and irrigation canals. As a result, a stable food supply existed, and the Sumerian villages evolved
into self-governing city-states.
At the center of each city-state was a temple surrounded by courts and public buildings.
Radiating from the all-important city center were the two-story houses of the priests and
merchants, or the upper class; the one-story homes of government officials, shopkeepers, and
craftspeople; and the lower class homes of farmers, unskilled workers, and fishermen. The city-
state also included the fertile farming land outside the city wall.
Since there wasn't any building stone and very little timber in Sumer, the people
constructed their homes, public buildings, and city walls out of sun-dried mud brick.
The Sumerians took great pride in their city-states. Many times city-states would war
with each other because boundary disputes existed. Sometimes a city-state would attack a
neighboring city-state just to prove its strength.

Ziggurat
Originally the temples at the center of each city-state were built on a platform. As time
passed, these platform temples evolved into temple-towers called ziggurats. The ziggurat was the
first major building structure of the Sumerians. Constructed of sun-baked mud bricks, the
ziggurats were usually colorfully decorated with glazed fired bricks.
The ziggurat housed each city-state's patron god or goddess. Only priests were permitted
inside the ziggurat; as a result, they were very powerful members of Sumerian society.

Ziggurat
Cuneiforms

As the Sumerian city-states' wealth increased, government officials realized that an

efficient method of keeping records had to be developed. Evolved from simple pictographic
writing, Sumerian cuneiform emerged as the world's first writing system. The term cuneiform
means "wedge-shaped." It was made up of hundreds of word signs that were "wedge-shaped"
due to the shape of the reed pen, or stylus that was used. The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets
that would either be dried in the sun or fired in kilns to make the writing permanent.
Cuneiform was learned in Sumerian schools called edubbas, or tablet houses. Only a
select group of boys were able to attend Sumerian schools. The boys were usually sons of the
very wealthy.
Students worked very hard at Sumerian schools, and the school day lasted from early
morning until evening. Students were taught reading, writing, and arithmetic. The teachers
severely disciplined the students. For example, a mistake on a clay tablet could merit a beating.
All the sacrifice and schooling was worth it. Once a student successfully completed
twelve years of schooling, he was an official scribe, or writer. This was a prestigious position in
Sumerian society. Scribes were very valuable in order to maintain and improve the record
keeping that the Sumerians deemed so very necessary.
The Sumerians also used cylinder seals. Cylinder seals were carved out of stone, and they
were used as identification. For example, in order to identify himself, a Sumerian would roll his
cylinder seal across a wet clay tablet. This would make an imprint on the tablet that would
become permanent by sun-baking or kiln-firing. Cylinder seals were used as signatures are used
today.

Cuneiform

Gilgamesh
As stated before, in early Sumerian history, priests were also the kings of the city-states.
Gilgamesh was one of the most heroic priest-kings of this time. He was the priest-king of Uruk
which was located on the Euphrates River approximately fifty miles northwest of Ur.
The oldest written story in the world delineates Gilgamesh's legendary deeds. In the
story, Gilgamesh is characterized as being both human and divine. Gilgamesh and his companion
Enkidu travel the world performing heroic acts.

Gilgamesh
Sargon I
As stated in the vocabulary section, “Sargon I” was from Akkad located in the northern
reaches of Mesopotamia. When the power of the Sumerian city-states began to collapse due to
their constant battling, “Sargon I” capitalized upon the opportunity and attacked the southern
region of Mesopotamia with his armies.
After conquering all the Sumerian city-states, Sargon I united them with Akkad, and
created the world's first empire. His empire included all of Mesopotamia. Akkadian was the
official language, but they used Sumerian cuneiform to write their language.

Hammurabi of Babylon
Sargon I ruled the Mesopotamia region for approximately fifty years. When he died, the
empire crumbled. The individual city-states again rose to power.
About 1800 B.C., the Amorites migrated to Mesopotamia and constructed their own city-
states. One of the city-states built was named Babylon, and it was ruled by a king named
Hammurabi. As Hammurabi rose to power, he began conquering the city-states of Mesopotamia.
He, too, began uniting the city-states, but he was much more successful than Sargon I
because he made many new reforms that improved society. For example, he improved the
irrigation system, tax system, and government housing system. He also united the people under
one religion, but the reform for which Hammurabi became renowned was his code of law.
Hammurabi provided uniformity among the city-states by enacting a code of law. The
code of law provided consistent justice and covered many aspects of daily life.
Hammurabi of Babylon was a great ruler; the time he reigned is often referred to as the
"Golden Age of Babylon" due to the many accomplishments and reforms.

Contributions
The contributions affecting the modern world from our ancient ancestors in Mesopotamia
are numerous. The ancient Sumerians created the world's first civilization where people settled
together in one area known as the city-state. For this accomplishment, ancient Mesopotamia is
often referred to as the "cradle of civilization."
Another contribution vastly affecting the modern era was the Sumerians' creation of a
writing system. Although we do not use the same writing system today, it spawned the many
different writing models that led to today's writing.
Other inventions include the water clock, the twelve-month calendar based on lunar
cycles, the wheel, the plow, and the sailboat. All these inventions improved the daily life of the
Sumerians.