Mesopotamia:

The Cradle of Civilization

Earliest Civilization: the Fertile Crescent

earliest of all civilizations

permanent settlements

Mesopotamia Greek for between the rivers

Tigris River and Euphrates River present day Iraq

Lasted for approximately 3000 years

Its peoples were the first to
irrigate fields devise a system of writing 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
muddy river valleys in winter

catastrophic flooding in spring Arid soil containing little minerals No stone or timber resources

Then why live in Mesopotamia?

NATURAL LEVEES: embankments produced by build-up of sediment over thousands of years of flooding

Natural Levee

create a high and safe flood plain make irrigation and canal construction easy provide protection the surrounding swamps were full of fish & waterfowl reeds provided food for sheep / goats

reeds also were used as building resources

Sumerian Civilization
The first Sumerian cities emerged in southern Mesopotamia around 3200 B.C. Nomadic herders settled in the Southern part of Mesopotamia and gradually changed the farming way of life They built dams and dikes to keep the rivers from flooding their fields. The farming villages emerged along the river and grew into 12 city-states

GOVERNMENT
City-states with hereditary rulers.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE
Each state had distinct social hierarchy, or system of ranks. Most people were peasant farmers. Women had legal rights; some engaged in trade and owned property.

RELIGION
Worshiped many gods. Believed gods controlled every aspect of life. Saw afterlife as a grim place. Everybody would go into darkness and eat dust. To keep the gods happy, each city built a ziggurat, or pyramid temple.

Ruler led army in war and enforced laws.

Complex government with scribes to collect taxes and keep records.

Mesopotamian Trade

The Cuneiform World

Mesopotamian Trade System

The two rivers provided a way to ship goods The wheel and the sail improved transportation system Marketplace were present in Mesopotamian cities

Religion

Enlil supreme god of air

Polytheistic
over 3600 gods and demigods

Kingship created by gods

kings power was divinely ordained

Gods lived on the distant mountaintops Each city was ruled by a different god Kings and priests acted as interpreters

Enki, god of water, life, mediation

they told the people what the god wanted them to do by examining the liver or Shamash sun god and lungs of a slain sheep giver of law

Ishtar, goddess of fertility, war, sex

Sumerian Religion - Polytheistic

Anthropomorphic Gods
Enki - the god of rain Marduk - principal god of Babylon Ashur - god of the Assyrian empire Gula (in Sumerian) or Shamash (in Akkadian) - sun god and god of justice Ishtar - goddess of war Ereshkigal- goddess of the underworld Nabu- god of writing Ninurta- Sumerian god of war and god of heroes Ikur- god of storms Pazuzu - an evil god who brought diseases which had no known cure

Enki Innana

Ziggurats

Temples dedicated to the god of the city

Made of layers of mud bricks in the shape of a pyramid

Ziggurat of Ur -2000BCE

On platforms due to constant flooding

Temple on top gods home

Temples evolved to ziggurats

a stack of 1-7 platforms decreasing in size from bottom to top

beautifully decorated a room for offerings of food and goods

Famous ziggurat was Tower of Babel

over 100m above ground and 91m base

Ziggurat at Ur
Temple
Mountain of the Gods

The Royal Standard of Ur

Mesopotamian Harp

Board Game From Ur

Sophisticated Metallurgy Skills at Ur

Government

Political structure - early form of democracy Frequent wars led to the emergence of warriors as leaders Eventually 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

Southern Mesopotamia 3500-2000 BCE

Sumerians

Ruins of Babylon in present day Baghdad

Irrigated fields and produced 3 main crops

developed cuneiform writing invented the wheel Abundance of food = increase of population First city of the world Developed a trade system with bartering Individuals could only rent land from priests
controlled land on behalf of gods most of profits of trade went to temple

barley, dates and sesame seeds built canals, dikes, dams and drainage systems

mainly barley but also wool and cloth for stone, metals, timber, copper, pearls and ivory

The Sumerians were not successful in uniting lower Mesopotamia

Sumerian city of Lagash

Sargon of Akkad:
The Worlds First Empire [Akkadians]

Akkad- northern Mesopotamia 2340 2180 BCE

Akkadians

Leader Sargon the Great

unified lower Mesopotamia after conquering Sumerians in 2331 BCE

Established capital at Akkad Spread Mesopotamian culture Akkadians conquered by invading barbarians by 2200 BCE

Bronze head of Sargon

The Babylonian Empires

Babylonians
1830-1500 BCE

KING HAMMURABI Conquered Akkad and Assyria Built

Babylonians reunited Mesopotamia in 1830 BCE central location dominated trade and secured control YET AGAIN, Mesopotamia was not unified for long

Economy based on agriculture and wool Individuals could own land Artisans and merchants could keep most profits and even formed guilds Grain used as the medium of exchange emergence of currency: shekel = 180 grains of barley; mina = 60 shekels Mina was eventually represented by metals - one of first uses of money still based on grain Hammurabis Legacy law code

walls to protect the city canals and dikes to improve crops

Code of Hammurabi
1800 BCE

To enforce his rule, Hammurabi collected all the laws of Babylon in a code that would apply everywhere First and most extensive law code from the ancient world Code of 282 laws inscribed on a stone pillar placed in the public hall for all to see Set of divinely inspired laws; as well as societal laws Punishments were designed to fit the crimes as people must be responsible for own actions Origin of eye for an eye
If a son struck his father, sons hand would be cut off

Consequences for crimes depended on rank in society

Poor = hand off, nobles = pay a fine Hammurabi receiving law code from sun god Shamash

Hammurabis Code

Hammurabi, the Judge

Assyrians
1100 -612 BCE

City of Assur- became important trading and political centre After Hammurabis death, Babylon fell apart and kings of Assur controlled more of surrounding area and came to dominate Made conquered lands pay taxes
food, animals, metals or timber

Iron changed lifestyles in Mesopotamia replaced wooden wheels and applied to horse drawn chariots Superior weapons

States began to revolt Assyrian Empire collapsed by late 7th century BCE By 539 BCE, Mesopotamia was part of the vast Persian Empire Led by Cyrus the Great Persian Empire dominated for 800 years until Alexander the Great

Rule by fear
first to have a permanent army made up of professional soldiers estimated 200 000 men

Development Of
WRITING

Development of Writing

Click here to see the development of writing from pictograms to cuneiform

Pictograms: picture to show meaning Ideograms: signs to represent words / ideas Phonetics: signs to represent sounds

*Phonetics are the basis of most writing systems

Writing - 3500 BCE

Allowed
transmission of knowledge the codification of laws records to facilitate trade/farming

CUNEIFORM meaning wedge shaped

Wet clay tablets with the point of a reed dried in the sun to make a tablet

Scribes only could read and write

served as priests record keepers accountants

Spread to Persia and Egypt

vehicle for the growth and spread and exchange of ideas among cultures

Cuneiform Writing

Deciphering Cuneiform

Schools were established:

Only few people (particularly the boys) were trained to write cuneiform They were sons of upper-class professionals (priest, temple and palce officials, army officers, sea captains and other scribes) The students who learned the art could work as scribes for the temple, the royal court or wealthy merchants

Sumerian Scribes

Tablet House

Gilgamesh - The First Epic Poem

Over 4000 thousand years old, written on 12 clay tablets Epic battle between Enkidu -wild man, good heart and Gilgamesh controlling king The two became friends and had adventures Made the gods angry so they killed Enkidu Gilgamesh wanders the underworld in grief

Why important? Earliest known author Sin-leqi-unninni Mentions great flood similar to story of Noahs Ark

Royal Tombs of Ur

Excavated from 1922 to 1934 Extravagant jewelry of gold, cups of gold and silver, bowls of alabaster, and extraordinary objects of art and culture

Jewellery from Royal Tombs of Ur 3000 BC

Great Death Pit mass grave containing the bodies of 6 guards and 68 servants drank poison to accompany the kings and queens in the afterlife

Mathematics and Science

Mesopotamia, specifically Babylon used a mathematical system based on sixty Some parts of the base-sixty system still remain today

360 degrees in a circle 60 seconds in a minute 60 minutes in 1 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

Babylonian Math
They drew up multiplication and division tables and making calculations using geometry

Babylonian Numbers

Legacies of Mesopotamia

Codified laws Ziggurats places of worship Cuneiform writing Irrigation Metal working, tools

Trade networks Transportation the wheel Mathematics and calendar Prosperous living based on large scale agriculture