The Stone Age is divided into

three separate periods, namely the Paleolithic (Old Stone Age), Mesolithic( Middle Stone
Age) and Neolithic(New Stone Age) later followed by Bronze , Iron and Copper age.

Paleolithic

The Early Stone Age began with the most basic stone implements made by early humans which
included hammerstones, stone cores, and sharp stone flakes.
Early humans created four types of tools during the Stone Age: pebble tools; bifacial tools, or
hand-axes; flake tools; and blade tools.

1-Paleolithic Age
Their diets included meat from wild animals and birds, leaves, roots and fruit from plants, and
fish/ shellfish. Diets would have varied according to what was available locally.

2-Mesolithic (Middle Stone Age)

Backed blade, core, point, triangle, lunate and trapeze are the main Mesolithic tools. However,
some tools used earlier, like scraper, burin and choppers.Scrapers were used for cleaning
animal skins in the process of making leather. Burins were used for carving or engraving wood
and bone, like a chisel. Blades were used as knives.
Mesolithic Age: The stone tools of this period also known as microliths, were smaller, sharper
and more efficient than those of the earlier period. Stone, animal bones and horns were used in
this age. The most important discovery of the Mesolithic age was the microlith. It was a small
pointed stone used for arrowheads, knives and spears. It represented a technological
advancement in terms of major departure from the crude tools of the Paleolithic age.

Neolithic (New Stone Age).

Size of stone tools became smaller, more compact and neater.The tools of this age were
sharper than those of the Middle Age.- Mesolithic age.
Stone tools became sharp and fine by Neolithic age.
Neolithic communities made tools by grinding and polishing harder stones, rather than chipping.
Using these new methods, they improved upon older designs and invented completely new
ones.
They were made up of fish bones, wood,stones,animal bones and horns.
The Neolithic ("New Stone Age") era, which saw the Agricultural Revolution begin in the Middle
East around 10,000 BCE. During this period, humans began the systematic husbandry of plants
and animals. As agriculture advanced, most humans transformed from a nomadic to a settled
lifestyle as farmers in permanent settlements with advancement in transportation.

By the end of the Stone Age,the metal age began. People had learnt how to farm. They built
more permanent settlements because they did not need to move around to find food anymore.
They also developed their skills in pottery and weaving.
The ‘Age of metal’ is sub-divided into two principal ages—Copper Age and the Iron Age. The
Bronze Age appeared between these two. Towards the end of the New Stone Age (Neolithic)
man acquired greater knowledge about the environment and its resources.

Cradle of civilization
A cradle of civilization is a location and a culture where civilization was created by humankind
independent of other civilizations in other locations.
Scholars generally acknowledge six cradles of civilization. Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Ancient
India, and Ancient China are believed to be the earliest in the Old World.
where civilizations first emerged—in modern-day Iraq, Egypt, India, China, Peru and Mexico.
The term "cradle of civilization" is often used to refer to historic civilizations, most notably
Greece which has been called the "cradle of Western civilization".

Mesopotamia
The oldest recorded civilization in the world is the Mesopotamia civilization. Overall, the 5 oldest
civilizations of the world are Mesopotamia Civilization, Egyptian Civilization, Indus Valley
Civilization, and Chinese Civilization and Greek- Roman civilization.

The word “mesopotamia” is formed from the ancient words “meso,” meaning between or in the
middle of, and “potamos,” meaning river. Situated in the fertile valleys between the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers.
Today, Mesopotamia occupies modern Iraq. In the broader sense, the historical region included
present-day Iraq and Kuwait and parts of present-day Iran, Syria and Turkey.

Especially in ancient times, the silt left in the area from flooding left the soil rich in the nutrients
needed to sustain agriculture.
For thousands of years before the rise of the Sumer, people’s main concern was survival. One
result of man’s slow shift from existing in traveling bands of hunter-gatherers to settled cultures
that relied on agriculture and the domestication of animals for food was that for the first time not
all members of society were required to grow or provide food. People became government
officials, craftsmen, and artists, experts among other things.

Sumer is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia.

Artists in those times-

As civilizations developed, artists (often at the direction of the rulers and priests above them)
began to portray the world around them, their ideas about the afterlife and the realms of the
gods, and glorify their leaders.

The civilization is majorly known for is its prosperity, city life and its rich and voluminous
literature, mathematics and astronomy and art.
3000 B.C., Mesopotamia was firmly under the control of the Sumerian people. Sumer contained
several decentralized city-states—Eridu, Nippur, Lagash, Uruk, Kish and Ur. The first king of a
united Sumer is recorded as Etana of Kish.

Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer. It is one of the oldest attested languages, dating
back to at least 3000 BC. It is accepted to be a local language isolate and to have been spoken
in ancient Mesopotamia, in the area that is modern-day Iraq.
 Cuneiform was originally
developed to write the Sumerian language of southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). Cuneiform
is the earliest known writing system.
Cuneiform is one of the oldest forms of writing known. It means "wedge-shaped," because
people wrote it using a reed stylus cut to make a wedge-shaped mark on a clay tablet.

Akkadian, a Semitic language, gradually replaced Sumerian as a spoken language,Akkadian is

named after the city of Akkad in Mesopotamia.

Ancient Babylonia left behind some wonderful artifacts. The Babylonians used the innovations
of the Sumerians, added to them, and built an empire that gave the world, among other things,
codified laws, a tower that soared above the earth, and one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
Babylon is the most famous city from ancient Mesopotamia whose ruins lie in modern-day Iraq
59 miles (94 km) southwest of Baghdad. The name which in Akkadian meant "Gate of God" (or
"Gate of the Gods"), given as Babylon in Greek.

Mesopotamians were polytheistic. This means that they worshiped lots of different gods. In fact,
there may have been more than 3000 Mesopotamian gods and goddesses! Each god
represented something different and worshiped a large pantheon of gods and goddesses.

5 features of civilization in Mesopotamia-

The cultures of Mesopotamia are considered civilizations because their people:
1)-Had writing, 2)-Had settled communities in the form of villages, 3)-Planted their own food,
4)-Had domesticated animals, and 5)-Had different orders of workers.

Mesopotamian sculptures were predominantly created for religious and political purposes.
Common materials included clay, metal, and stone fashioned into reliefs and sculptures in the
round. The Uruk period marked a development of rich narrative imagery and increasing
lifelikeness of human figures.
 Fine pottery, gold and silver
jewelry, carved ivory figurines, finely woven textiles and carved semi-precious gemstones were
all goods traded throughout the cities of Mesopotamia and the greater world.
Providing these goods were the work of a city.

Interesting Facts About Mesopotamia

-The Babylonian law created by King Hammurabi, the Code of Hammurabi, may be the oldest
written law in the world.
Crowned king of Babylon around 1792 B.C., was both an avid warrior and a shrewd
administrator who honored the traditions of Sumer, Akkad, and other lands he brought under his
authority. He could be merciless to enemies, destroying cities that defied him.

The Code of Hammurabi

-The Sumerians are often credited with inventing the wheel.
-At the center of each major city was a temple to the city's god called a ziggurat.

The Ishtar Gate is considered by many to be the finest example of Mesopotamian art.

A Kneeling bull holding a spouted vessel, one of the earliest examples of metalwork in art from
Mesopotamia.
Hanging Garden- It was said to have been built in the ancient city of Babylon, near
present-day Hillah, Babil province, in Iraq.

https://joyofmuseums.com/most-popular/tour-of-mesopotamian-art/

सम ु ेरियन संस्कृति
सभ्यतेचा पाळणा, मेसोपोटामिया, टायग्रिस आणि यफ्र ु े टिस नद्यांच्या दरम्यान (सप ु ीक चंद्रकोर), जगातील सर्वांत
प्राचीन प्रगत संस्कृती. ती प्राचीन मेसोपोटे मियाच्या दक्षिणेकडील प्रदे शात (विद्यमान इराक) नांदत होती. या
संस्कृतीचा विकास टायग्रिस व यफ्र ु े टीस या नद्यांच्या दआ ु बात इ. स. प.ू ३५००—१९०० दरम्यान झाला. दक्षिणेकडे
इराणचे आखात व अरबस्तानचे वाळवंट, पश्चिमेस यफ्र ु े टीस नदी, उत्तरे स समाराच्या जवळ अरबस्तानाचे वाळवंट
व पर्वेू ला टायग्रिस या सम
ु ेरच्या प्राचीन सीमा होत. सम ु ेर येथे पहिली वस्ती इ. स. प.ू ४५००—४००० दरम्यान
 ु े टीअन किंवा उबेडियननामक लोकांनी केली होती. त्यांनी दलदलीच्या प्रदे शातील पाणी हटवन
प्रोटो-यफ्र ू शेतीस
उपयक् ु त जमीन तयार केली. शेती व पशस ु व
ं र्धनाबरोबरच त्यांनी व्यापार व अन्य उद्योगधंदे सरु
ु केले. विणकाम,
गवंडीकाम, भांडी बनविणे हे त्यांपक
ै ी काही होत.

रं गीत नक्षीची खापरे , पातळ कौलासारख्या विटांची घरे व मंदिरे , नदीतील लव्हाळ्याच्या मोळ्यापासन ू उभारलेल्या
कुडाच्या झोपड्या, गारगोट्यांची पाती बसविलेले खापरी विळे , दगडी कुऱ्हाडी, खापरी गोफणगड ंु े व क्वचितच कोठे
आढळणारी तांब्याची कुऱ्हाड ही उबेडियन संस्कृतीची वैशिष्ट्ये होत. उबेडियनांच्या मेसोपोटे मियातील
अन्तःप्रवसनानंतर विविध सेमिटिक लोकांनी तिथे प्रवेश केला आणि उबेडियनांच्या सांस्कृतिक विशेषांत आपली
वैशिष्ट्ये घातली. त्यानंतर या प्रदे शात सम
ु ेरियन स्थिरावले.

या काळातील सर्वांत महत्त्वाची गोष्ट म्हणजे सम ु ेरियन समाजाचे नियमित संघटन होय. त्यांनी अर, ऊरुक
(ईरे क), अमा, इरिडू, लॅ गॅश, निप्परु , सिपेअर, कीश, अश्काक, लराक, अदाब, लार्सा, बाद-तिबिरा, अक्कड वगैरे
नगरराज्ये स्थापन केली. या नगरांमधन ू समु ेरियनांनी सरु े ख व भव्य प्रासाद आणि मंदिरे बांधली. शिवाय
नगराभोवती संरक्षणासाठी भक्कम तटबंदी बांधली. त्यांतन ू परिपक्व नागर संस्कृती नांद ू लागली.

सरु
ु वातीस राजकीय सत्ता मलू तः नगरातील नागरिकांच्या हाती होती; परं तु विविध नगरराज्यांमध्ये वैर निर्माण
झाल्यावर तिथे राजेशाही आली. अर्थात हा राजा म्हणजे सर्वोच्च धर्मगरु ु (पटे सी) होय. त्यामळ ु े या धर्मगरु
ु सत्ताक
राज्यपद्घतीत (थिऑक्रटिक) प्रत्येक राज्य हे स्थानिक दे वतेची संपत्ती मानण्यात येऊन सर्वोच्च धर्मगरु ु कडे
शासकीय व धार्मिक प्राधिकार असत. या नगरराज्यांत परस्परांत एकमेकांत यद् ु घे होत. त्यांपक
ै ी जे बलवत्तर
असेल, त्याने शेजारची नगरराज्ये जिंकून राज्यविस्तार केला. साहजिकच त्यांना लहान साम्राज्याचा दर्जा प्राप्त
झाला. अर, ऊरुक ही त्यांपक
ै ी महत्त्वाची राज्ये होत.
———————————————————
Complied by Neeta Chaudhary