Only a few of us pause for a moment, as we go about our daily routines, to ponder over how far

humankind has come. We take, for example, the luxury of writing we have for granted and give
little to no attention to the group of people to have originated the system of writing. In this essay,
we seek to draw you the reader’s attention to this and other things as we discuss humankind’s
journey via the framework of the Mesopotamian civilization.

One may ask what the term civilization means. According to Philip J. Adler & Lee Pouwels,
civilization is a complex, developed culture usually associated with specific achievements such
as agriculture, urban life, specialized labour and a system of writing.1 Albert M. Craig and others
define the term as “a form of human culture marked by urbanism, technological adaptation,
social complexity, long-distance trade and symbolic communication.2 Stuart Pigott, in his
attempt to explain the term, maintains that: “It is a courageous discontent with the status quo.3

One thing is common in the forgoing definitions: humankind’s dissatisfaction with what he has
and his desire to change things for the better, results in an improvement in previous standards.

We cannot go on with this discussion without touching on the origin of the word Mesopotamia.
When contemporary historians use the term Mesopotamia, they typically mean the region in
southwest Asia that includes modern-day Iraq, as well as portions of Turkey and Iran.4
Originally, however, the Hellenistic Greeks used the name Meso-potamos, the land between two
rivers, to refer specifically to the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.5 Later on in
tyhis essay, we will see how these two rivers contributed to the Mesopotamian civilization.

Mesopotamia was home to not one, but a succession of groups from the Sumerians to the
Babylonians and the Akkadians.7 Stephen Bertman asserts that there were ethnic difference
within south of Mesopotamia and that in the deepest of south lived the Sumerians who created
the world’s first civilization.8

On the origin of the Mesopotamian civilization, Peter Stearns et al. have the following to say:
The Sumerians migrated into the Mesopotamia area from the north in about 4000 B.C., and mixed
with other people.9

As we shall see later in this essay, the Sumerians played an extremely important role in what has
now come to be called the Mesopotamian civilization.

One cannot discuss the Mesopotamian civilization without mentioning the factors which made it
possible in the first place. These are discussed in the paragraphs which follow.

The idea of religion as a powerful social glue, as is true even today, existed in ancient
Mesopotamia. As in most agrarian civilizations, the Sumerians believed in a host of gods
(polytheism) of various ranks. 10 Some of the names of these gods are as follows:

 Anu, the most revered “chairman of the board” of the Mesopotamian pantheon.11
  Asag was a hideous demon who could provide violence and human suffering. 12
 Gula was the Babylonian goddess of healing and the patron deity of physicians. 13

The people built great temple complexes, which they called Ziggurats, in which they
believed the gods would reside.14 Their reverence for their deities inspired the people
to heed to the directives of the priests as they believed they (the priests) were the
mouthpiece of the gods.

Another contributory factor to the Mesopotamian civilization was record-keeping through

writing. The elaborate civilization was only possible because the Sumerians had developed what
is probably the earliest form of writing.15 According to Crawford Harriet, the birth of writing in
Mesopotamia provided a tool of administration for the ancients.16 The basic format of the written
language after about 3500 B.C.E. was a script written in wedge-shaped characters, the
cuneiform, on clay tablets about the size of the hand.17 This system of writing enabled the people
to keep records of their sales and farm produce.

It is an established fact that one cannot go his/her daily activities without food. This was true also
of ancient Mesopotamia. Some crops grown during the time included grains, with farm animals
reared in addition. Farming was made feasible thanks to irrigation made possible by the Tigris
and Euphrates rivers. The food crops cultivated were used of course for food, with the surpluses
traded. It is easy for us to forget just how much time and energy went into the pursuit of
sufficient caloric intake during the time. 18

Philip Adler and Lee Pouwels capture rather beautifully and sadly what led to the decline to the
Mesopotamian civilization as follows:

The valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers ceased to be of central importance after the Persian
conquest. The Persians did not choose to make their capital there, nor did they adopt the ideas and cultural models
of their new province.19

Still on the decline of the Mesopotamian civilization, Stephen Bertman argues that: “Two
centuries of Persian domination contributed to the decline of the economy and civilization of the
Mesopotamian civilization.”20 He goes on to say: “During this time, the Akkadian language was
reduced to a language of the learned few (a fate the Sumerian language suffered).

Also, the cities’ food supply declined as the irrigated farms of the lower plains no longer
provided abundant harvests.21 This was thanks to thousands of years of salt deposits from the
evaporated waters of the canals and ditches, the fields were simply not capable of producing as
much as the population needed.22

In conclusion, slowly Mesopotamia receded into the background of civilized activities.

GROUP MEMBERS

WISDOM KWAME BASSAH

BLANKSON RUTHERFORD

EMMANUEL BOATENG

ADOBEA ANGELA TSORMENA DENNIS

NIMO NKANSAH MICHAEL

GYENING CHRISTIANA

OFOSU SARAH

JENNIFER NYAMEBA BONSU

EVELYN AMPAW

FRIMPONG KINGSFORD

OKRU SADICK