Best Answer - Chosen by Voters

Mesopotamian people developed many technologies, among them metalworking, glassmaking,

textile weaving, flood control, water storage, as well as irrigation. They were also one of the first
Bronze age people in the world. Early on they used copper, bronze and gold, and later they used
iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals. Also,
copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords,
daggers, spears, and maces.

Astronomy

The Babylonian astronomers were very interested in studying the stars and sky, and most could
already predict eclipses and solstices. People thought that everything had some purpose in
astronomy. Most of these related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out
a 12 month calendar based on the cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two seasons:
summer and winter. The origins of astrology probably date from this time.

Religion

Mesopotamian religion is the oldest religion recorded. Mesopotamians believed that the world
was a flat disc, surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above that, heaven. They also believed
that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the universe was born from this
enormous sea. Mesopotamian religion was highly polytheistic, that is people believed in many
gods.

Although the beliefs described above were held in common among Mesopotamians, there were
also regional variations. The Sumerian word for universe is an-ki, which refers to the god An and
the goddess Ki. Their son was Enlil, the air god. They believed that Enlil was the most powerful
god. He was the chief god of the Pantheon, as the Greeks had Zeus and the Romans had Jupiter.
The Sumerians also posed philosophical questions, such as: Who are we?, Where are we?, How
did we get here?. They attributed answers to these questions to explanations provided by their
gods.

Primary gods and goddesses

* An was the Sumerian god of the sky. He was married to Ki, but in some other Mesopotamian
religions he has a wife called Uraš. Though he was considered the most important god in the
pantheon, he took a mostly passive role in epics, allowing Enlil to claim the position as most
powerful god.
* Enlil was initially the most powerful god in Mesopotamian religion. His wife was Ninlil, and
his children were Iškur (sometimes), Nanna - Suen, Nergal, Nisaba, Namtar, Ninurta
(sometimes), Pabilsag, Nushu, Enbilulu, Uraš Zababa and Ennugi. His position at the top of the
pantheon was later usurped by Marduk and then by Ashur.
* Enki (Ea) god of Eridu.
* Marduk was the principal god of Babylon. When Babylon rose to power, the mythologies
raised Marduk from his original position as an agricultural god to the principal god in the
pantheon.
* Ashur was god of the Assyrian empire and likewise when the Assyrians rose to power their
myths raised Ashur to a position of importance.
* Gula or Utu (in Sumerian), Shamash (in Akkadian) was the sun god and god of justice.
* Ishtar or Inanna was the goddess of sex and war.
* Ereshkigal was goddess of the Netherworld.
* Nabu was the Mesopotamian god of writing. He was very wise, and was praised for his writing
ability. In some places he was believed to be in control of heaven and earth. His importance was
increased considerably in the later periods.
* Ninurta was the Sumerian god of war. He was also the god of heroes.
* Iškur (or Adad) was the god of storms.
* Erra was probably the god of drought. He is often mentioned in conjunction with Adad and
Nergal in laying waste to the land.
* Nergal was probably a plague god. He was also spouse of Ereshkigal.
* Pazuzu, also known as Zu, was an evil god, who stole the tablets of Enlil’s destiny, and is
killed because of this. He also brought diseases which had no known cure.

Burials

Archeologists found hundreds of graves in some parts of Mesopotamia. These graves tell us
many things about Mesopotamian burial habits. In the city of Ur, most people were buried in
family graves under their houses (as in Catalhoyuk). Children were put in big jars and were taken
to the family chapel. Other people were just buried into common city graveyards. A few people
were wrapped in mats and carpets. In most graves some belongings of the people were with
them, and there were 17 graves with very precious objects in them so it is assumed that these
were royal graves.

Culture

Music and songs

Some songs were written for the gods but many were written to describe important events.
Although music and songs amused kings and rulers, they were also enjoyed by ordinary people
who liked to sing and dance in their homes or in the marketplaces. Songs were sung to children
who passed them on to their children. Thus songs were passed on through many generations until
someone wrote them down. These songs provided a means of passing on through the centuries
highly important information about historical events that were eventually passed on to us.

The Oud (Arabic:‫ )العود‬is a small, stringed musical instrument. The oldest pictorial record of the
Oud dates back to the Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago. It is on a
cylinder seal currently housed at the British Museum and acquired by Dr. Dominique Collon.
The image depicts a female crouching with her instruments upon a boat, playing right-handed.
This instrument appears hundreds of times throughout Mesopotamian history and again in
ancient Egypt from the 18th dynasty onwards in long- and short-neck varieties.

The oud is regarded as a precursor to the European lute. Its name is derived from the Arabic
word ‫ العود‬al-‘ūd 'the wood', which is probably the name of the tree from which the oud was
made. (The Arabic name, with the definite article, is the source of the word 'lute'.)

Games

Hunting was popular among Assyrian kings. Boxing and wrestling feature frequently in art, and
polo was probably popular, although with men sitting on the shoulders of other men rather than
on horses.They also had the