His 102- Project Report

Title: A brief report on Mesopotamian Civilization

Submitters Name Submitters ID Topic Covered

Md. Tareq Mahmud 1811174042 Introduction
Md. Abu Jubair Dihan 1821320042 Advanced Cities
Turzo Khan Specialized Workers
Monjur Hasan 1821591642 Complex Institutions
Manisha Das 1512414030 Record Keeping
Md Golam Shakir 1620540642 Advanced Technology
Shakil Ahmed 1712081042 Conclusion
 Introduction to Mesopotamian Civilization
The story of writing, astronomy, and law, the story of civilization itself begins in one place. Not Egypt, not
Greece, not Rome but Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia is formed from two ancient Greek words ‘mesos’
meaning between and ‘potamos’ meaning rivers. Mesopotamia refers to the place between the two rivers,
Tigris and Euphrates. Mesopotamia was an exceedingly fertile plain land with stable and predictable climate,
rich soil and steady supply of food and water which is why it is believed Humans first settled in
Mesopotamia in around 14,000 BC. People first started living as small farming community but soon they
invented irrigation system which led to production of crop without any disturbance. About 6,000 years ago
these agricultural settlements blossomed into some of world’s first cities. Mesopotamia was divided in many
city states with varied cultures and rulers. Mesopotamia produced different empires and civilizations rather
than being a single civilization. Some of the most significant civilizations of Mesopotamia are the
Sumerians, Babylonians, Akkadian empire, Assyrians. These city states were constantly in warfare but were
united under the Akkadian empire. Along with Advanced city states, people believed in religion, were
specialized in different class of works and were ruled by a government in Mesopotamian civilization.
Mesopotamians are heavily credited for their advancement in technologies and scientific inventions. But
perhaps the most impactful innovation to come out of Mesopotamia is literacy. Sumerians first invented
writing by started drawing simple pictures onto wet clay to keep track of goods and wealth. This writing
system was called “Cuneiform”. They also developed advanced mathematics, including a base 60 system
that created a 60-second minute, a 60-minute hour and a 360-degree circular angle. We will discuss more
about they’re contributions in the upcoming parts.

Advanced Cities
A developing city which is the center for trade for large area and provided markets for local farmers, traders
which actually help to grow the city. Farmers, Traders, Merchants bring their own goods to city market. City
start to become important because of farmers were searching for a place to store and to trade with other
people to get profit. When cities grew, the people of this area offered other kind of advantage. They built
temples to pray. While cities were providing different type of service so they started to hire people at various
field.

Some examples of great cities of Mesopotamia included Uruk, Akkad, Assur, Babylon, Nimrud etc. Uruk
had good advantage of being develop for their proper farming and irrigation system. Under the leadership of
Sargon great Akkad’s people constructed many city-states. Assur which was known as the religious center
empire. That made the city great and advance.

Temples: In the time of Mesopotamia, people worshiped their God on Ziggurats. It was located in the center
of the city. As Mesopotamian people was more religious, the ziggurat become the heart of the city. Ziggurats
were just a part of temple complex to care of the god and others were for business purpose. Large amount of
people from various sector got a job in temple. The building process of ziggurat was a continuous process.
They rebuild the new on the top of the old. They used the sun-dried mud bricks to build.
Trade: Transformation of merchandise became easier because the transformation system has improved.
Mesopotamian craftsmen created different type of trade goods (jewelry, basketry) to export. Even in that
time they exported the agricultural products such as grains and cooking oils as dates and flax. As the days
goes on they expanded their business. Mesopotamia cities created trade all over the two rivers and they
started to develop.

Palace: It’s the place where king resides. From this place he also took care of his empire’s business. Place
had the very impressive design and color. The structure of palace was very strong. And it was the second
biggest structure in Mesopotamian city.

Great Walls: As city-state began to become develop people were worried about the protection. The great
walls were built to protect the people from the outside enemy. The high walls mostly created by out of stone,
mud and clay bricks. Even they had warriors to protect themselves from the outsider.

Complex Institutions
If there is to be any civilization, it needs to have a certain institution. They are part of a civilization,
in which the religion, government, culture, the economy of that civilization and all of them are complex
institutions. And these are the real parts of civilization because a good plan is needed to build a civilization
which is done by the government and the economic system is needed for the civilization to run. And all of
these are complex institutions.

1) Religion: They believe in many gods is called polytheism. “Poly” means many and “Theism”
means gods. The ancient Mesopotamians believed that the earth was a sphere with a huge gap. They further
believed that there is heaven in heaven and hell under the earth. They also believed that water was all around
the earth. And this universe is born from the sea. More than 3,000 gods have been worshipped by
Mesopotamian people. Each Mesopotamian city had its own god. Mesopotamians were far ahead in terms of
religion. Each shrine, known as Ziggurat, had a separate seating area for the rich, the poor, the peasants, the
laborers, and the merchants. There they worshipped their own gods and offered various things. This shows
how secular this civilization was.

ii) Government: For organizing any civilization it needs a government. In Mesopotamia, It was an
administrative system that led to the rise of the world's first city-state, then the kingdom, and finally the vast
empire. That is why it is being called as the cradle of democracy. The Mesopotamians believed that their
king, Queen came from Issar. And they acted as messengers. Kings call themselves "King of the Universe".
Another common name was "shepherd" because kings had to look after their people. In Sumerian time, each
city-state had their own ruler. In the beginning, powerful priests held political power and all military
Commands come from the priest-king and that pass away to the heirs. This created a new form of
government called a dynasty. When the Persians came, they grew up an empire system, which were divided
into small provinces. Each province had its own city-state and each province had its own governor who
ensured the people paid their taxes properly and in the wartime they provided the soldiers and when building
temple they provided the worker. And the governor also responsible to enforce the law to the general people.

iii) Economy: Their economy was based on the traditional economy. Farmers cultivate their land. Traders
trade with others are like Egypt. A major city-state summer is a center for trade and commerce. They
develop the trading system out of the needs of the people. The people of the hills could give wood,
limestone, gold, silver and copper, and in return, they would get the food they needed. And the people at the
bottom would feed the people at the top in exchange for the necessary items. That’s how they created an
economical system in their Area.

Specialized Workers
The larger populations of a city demand that more found be produced. In general, a society needs food
surpluses before civilization can development. Having food surpluses allowed some people to do other types
of work besides farming. With food surpluses, workers can specialize in jobs that’s require special skills. For
instance, Sumerian workers built houses, sewed clothes, created pottery, and cooperated on building public
projects such as ziggurats and irrigation canals. With so many needs and such a variety of workers, some
people took on the job of organizing society. In early summer, priests did that job. They ran society and
acted as judges.

Some of the example of specialized workers

1.Scribe

2.Pritest

3.potter

4.private tutor

5.House keeper

Scribe:

A scribe was a sought after job in Ancient Mesopotamia. They were hired to write down laws, treaties, and
religious texts. They were also known to record things, such as business deals, property holdings, and
contracts. This prestigious job was only available for the male population, women were not considered
superior enough to hold this respect job. In order to become a scribe training began very young in temple
schools that were run by priests.

Priest:
Someone who possessed the authority to administer religious rights and ceremonies. They usually spread
their religion among spreading religion was basically their job.  This was considered the most respected job
for women available.

Private tutor:

Tutors would only be employed by high-class Sumerian families because of the price of their service. They
were respected because they were viewed as intelligent and dependable individuals.

Farmers:

Were responsible for raising livestock, as well as cultivating the farm land along the Fertile Crescent. Would
then supply their goods to the people of the community, therefore though considered a low class job in
ancient Mesopotamia. farmers were crucial in the survival of large civilizations.

Kings: Thought to be the representatives of gods and goddesses that lived on Earth. They were believed to
be the intermediaries between the people and the gods, therefore received absolute respect and obedience.

House keeper:

Responsible for the cooking and cleaning, as well as taking care of children. They played the role of mother,
wife, and maid. Housekeepers were obligated to wait on the men and children present in the family.

Record Keeping in Mesopotamia

Over five thousand years ago, people living in Mesopotamia developed a form of writing to record
and communicate different types of information. The earliest writing was based on pictograms.
Pictograms were used to share necessary information about crops
and taxes.

The Sumerians first invented the writing in ancient Mesopotamia

before 3,000 BC. It may have been separately developed in Egypt
around 3,000 BC. There are three basic types of writing systems.
The written signs used by the writing system could represent either
a whole word, a syllable, or an individual sound.

During that time, for there to be writing three criteria must be meet:

 the writing must consist of artificial graphical marks on a durable surface

 the purpose of the characters must be to communicate something
 the aim must be achieved due to a conventional relationship between characters and
language
CUNEIFORM

Early forms of record-keeping in Mesopotamia led to the

development of the first known writing system called cuneiform.
Eventually, markings were used on the tickets which led to
pictographic writing. Over time, the need for paper changed
and the signs developed into a script we call cuneiform.

Over thousands of years, Mesopotamian scribes recorded

daily events, trade, astronomy, and literature on clay tablets.
Cuneiform was used by people throughout the ancient Near East
to write several different languages.

HIEROGLYPHICS

Ancient Egyptian writing is known as

HIEROGLYPHICS ('sacred carvings') and developed at
some point before the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150 -2613
BCE). The concept of the written word was first developed in
Mesopotamia and came to Egypt through trade.
Egyptian hieroglyphics are thoroughly Egyptian in origin;
there is no evidence of early writings which describe non-
Egyptian concepts, places, or objects, and early
Egyptian pictographs do not correlate with early
Mesopotamian signs.

Advanced technology
Developments of Ancient Mesopotamia got numerous significant advances within the regions of science and
technology. Maybe the foremost significant development made by the Mesopotamians was the invention of
writing by the Sumerians with the invention of writing. Later Hammurabi's code was inscribed as a law for the
Mesopotamians and literature saw its rise by major work piece of literature like “The epic tale of Gilgamesh”. To
the current day, the archaeologists do not know evidently who invented the wheel, but the oldest wheel
discovered was found in Mesopotamia. It’s undoubtedly the principal utilized for creating pottery and afterward,
they utilized it for building chariots. For time keeping the Mesopotamians invented a number system just like what
we use in modern days, it used base 60 like we use base 10, they divided time into 60s such as 60 seconds for 1
minute and 60 minutes for 1 hour which we still use to the present day. They developed the concept that a circle
covers 360 degrees. They had a vast knowledge of mathematics such as addition, subtraction, multiplication,
division, quadratic equations, cubic equations, fractions, and many more. All of those qualities helped them
evolve into a civilization that was very advance in record keeping and with huge architectural advancements. The
Mesopotamians used complex formulas for measuring the circumference and area for various geometric shapes
like rectangles, circles, and triangles. According to some evidence found it was also suggested that the
Mesopotamians were really close to figuring out the Pythagorean Theorem long before Pythagoras introduced it
to the world. The Mesopotamian astronomers were really advance according to their timeline, they were able to
follow the movements of the stars, planets, and the moon. One of the significant accomplishments was the ability
to predict the movements of nearby planets, this took good knowledge in logical mathematics, and the ability to
use a scientific process by studying the phases of the Moon. This civilization had some of the advanced irrigation
methods to water their crops according to their timeline. They used metals like bronze and iron to make strong
tools and weapons. With the help of looms, they also used to weave cloth from wool. The Mesopotamians was
really an advanced civilization for their significant advancement in science and technology compared to other
civilization in their timeline.

Conclusion
Mesopotamia was one of the three earliest urban civilizations (along with the Indus Valley and the Nile
Valley). The 5 fundamental parts which requires for being a proper civilization, they have flourished in
almost every departments. The Mesopotamian civilizations accomplished many great things in the ancient
world. Mesopotamia produced different civilizations rather than being a single civilization. Some of the most
significant civilizations of Mesopotamia are the Sumerians, Babylonians, Akkadian empire, The
technologies they created throughout these civilization to improve their lives had played a great role to make
their empires successful, and many of their inventions influenced later civilizations. Invention of the ‘Wheel’
is probably the most important mechanical invention of all time. ‘Hanging Gardens’ was built which
considered one of the 7 Wonders of the Ancient World. This shows their building ability. They were the first
civilization who invented writing system which help them keeping important records stored. Although all
Mesopotamians had different gods, the influence of religious beliefs was obvious in every culture and helped
the people find hope and explain the unexplainable. Even such a thriving civilization of ancient world, it
wasn’t entirely heaven. It had some obstacles as well. The geographical position put it in a place where
sometimes it’s people had to endure drought for an entire year, which led them to invent irrigation system
though. They weren’t completely blessed with natural resources, which began the trade system with other
civilizations like Egyptian, Indus Valley. They used to trade stone, wood, metal. Finally, they had unique
methods for ruling but all found a way to keep their empires united and maintain the loyalty of the people.
Which is why the Mesopotamian region is seen as the ‘Birthplace’ of all civilization.
Nothing last forever, the great Mesopotamian civilization had also seen their downfall which began around
2200BC. The massive dust storm, drought, too much salt from sea water because of extreme irrigation ruined
the soil which decline them to grow crops, and aforementioned invasions also played a great role to their
downfall. So in summation we could say political miscalculations, lack of long-term vision and
environmental degradation brought about the end of this great civilization.

References

 (2020). Retrieved 19 September 2020, from https://www.rochelleforrester.ac.nz/writing.html

 Mark, J., & Mark, J. (2020). Ancient Egyptian Writing. Ancient History Encyclopedia.
Retrieved 19 September 2020, from https://www.ancient.eu/Egyptian_Writing/.
 Record Keeping and the Origins of Writing in Mesopotamia . Semiramis-Speaks.com.
(2020). Retrieved 19 September 2020, from http://semiramis-speaks.com/record-keeping-
and-the-origins-of-writing-in-mesopotamia/.
 Writing. Mesopotamia.co.uk. (2020). Retrieved 19 September 2020, from
http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/writing/home_set.html#:~:text=Over%20time%2C%20the
%20need%20for,to%20write%20several%20different%20languages.
 National Geographic (Nov 4,2018). Ancient Mesopotamia. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xVf5kZA0HtQ&t=10s
 Mesopotamia (Nov30,2017) Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-middle-
east/mesopotamia
 Francesca Rochberg (14 Feb, 2014). The History of Science and Ancient Mesopotamia.
Retrieved from https://sites.google.com/site/theancientmesopotamiaproject/economics
So in summation we could say political miscalculations, lack of long-term vision, environmental
degradation, and climate change brought about the end of this great civilization.