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Mesopotamia

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

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Mesopotamia

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  1. Mesopotamia “The Cradle of Civilization”

  2. 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

  3. 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

  4. 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

  5. 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 Shamash – sun, law giver Enlil – supreme god of air Ishtar – fertility, war, sex

  6. 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

  7. 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

  8. 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)

  9. 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

  10. 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

  11. 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

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

  13. 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

  14. King Hammurabi • Conqured Akkad and Assyria • Built • Walls to protect city • Canals and dikes to improve crops • Legacy: Law Code

  15. 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

  16. 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

  17. 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

  18. 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

  19. Mesopotamia’s Legacies

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

  21. 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

  22. 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 Enkiducausing 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

  23. 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

  24. 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

  25. 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

  26. 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

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