World History 1

TABLE OF CONTENTS
CONTENTS PAGE

GEOGRAPHY OF MESOPOTAMIA …………………………………………… 2

SIGNIFICANT EVENTS IN MESOPOTAMIA…………………………………. 3
Cities, Agriculture, Irrigation, and the Plow (5000 BC)............................. 3
The Code of Hammurabi (1754 BC)........................................................... 3
Cuneiform (3600 BC)..................................................................................4
The Wheel (3200 BC) …………………………………………………….4
Mathematics (3000 BC) …………………………………………………..4
Gilgamesh (2700 BC) ……………………………………………………..4
The Akkadian Empire and Sargon I (2334 BC) …………………………..5
The Assyrian Empire (2500 BC) ………………………………………… 5
Epic of Gilgamesh (2150 BC) …………………………………………… 5
Maps (2300 BC) …………………………………………….,................... 6
The Calendar (2000–1000 BC) ………………………………………….. 6
The Sailboat (1300 BC) …………………………………………………. 6
The Library of Nineveh (668–627 BC) …………………………………. 7
The Achaemenid Persian Empire (539 BC) ……………………………. 7
The Fertile Crescent ………………………………………………………7
Trade Routes ……………………………………………………………. 7
Tigris and Euphrates ……………………………………………………. 8
FAMOUS LEADERS AND ITS ACCOMPLISHMENT IN MESOPOTAMIA …8
CULTURE OF MESOPOTAMIAN ………………………………………………11
GOVERNMENT IN MESOPOTAMIA …………………………………………. 13
ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIAN …………………………………….. 15
ECONOMY OF MESOPOTAMIA …………………………………………….. 17
SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS OF MESOPOTAMIA …………………… 20
REFERENCES………………………………………………………………… 25

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Geography of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia refers to the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of which flow
down from the Taurus Mountains. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert in
the north which gives way to a 5,800 sq mile region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, and reed
banks in the south. In the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into
the Persian Gulf.
In ancient times, the annual flooding of the rivers was unpredictable and could destroy crops
or lead to a drought that would dry them all out. By 6,000 BCE, irrigation canals brought
water from rivers to fields where workers unclogged canals and built dams to hold back flood
water.
This irrigation is aided by melting snow from the high peaks of the northern Zagros
Mountains and from the Armenian Highlands. The usefulness of irrigation depends upon the
ability to mobilize sufficient labor for the construction and maintenance of canals, and this,
from the earliest period, has assisted the development of urban settlements and centralized
systems of political authority.
The arid climate means that there are not large areas of wooded forests or jungle. This means
wooded structures could not be built. In place of wood, buildings were made of clay and
rock. Long-distance trade from outlying areas has also helped to provide resources that were
not available.
Agriculture throughout the region has been supplemented by nomadic pastoralism, where
tent-dwelling nomads herded sheep and goats from the river pastures in the dry summer
months, out into seasonal grazing lands on the desert fringe in the wet winter season.. In the
marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since
prehistoric times, and has added to the cultural mix.
Mesopotamia has also been called the Fertile Crescent and the "cradle of civilization"
because it is where settled farming first emerged as people started the process of clearance
and modification of natural vegetation in order to grow newly domesticated plants as crops.
Early human civilizations such as Sumer in Mesopotamia flourished as a result.
Technological advances in the region include the development of agriculture and the use of
irrigation, of writing, the wheel, and glass, most emerging first in Mesopotamia.
Climate - While developing models to describe the early development of settled agriculture
in the Near East, reconstructions of climate and vegetation are a subject of consideration.
During the glacial period, it is thought that lower temperatures or higher aridity resulted in
sparse or non-existent forest cover similar to steppe type terrain in the area of the Zagros
Mountains and varying forest cover in the territories of modern-day Turkey and Syria.
Northwest Syria, dominated in ancient times by deciduous oak, is thought to have been less
arid between 10,000 BCE and 7000 BCE than it is today. Scholars believe that wild cereal
grasses probably spread with the forest cover, out from the glacial refugia westward into the
Zagros.

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Significant Events in Mesopotamia

● Cities, Agriculture, Irrigation, and the Plow (5000 BC)

The earliest-known civilization was Sumer in southern Mesopotamia. Before this, the most
important cities were Eridu, Bad-tibira, Larsa, Sippar, and Shuruppak. Each Mesopotamian
city was built around a temple and was governed by a priest. They were independent city-
states and had distinct boundaries such as canals. By 4000 BC, the Sumerians had started to
build large ziggurat temples in their cities.Known as the land of rivers, Mesopotamia did not
lend itself to farming. It was only possible by way of proper irrigation and drainage. But
the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were a blessing in disguise. The land near them was fertile
and prone to yearly flooding, but the land further away was inhospitable and needed
irrigation.

The Mesopotamians learned how to harness the flow of water. During the main growing
season, farmers were allocated a certain amount of water, and this water was diverted from
canals into irrigation ditches. The Mesopotamians realized that the water supply from rivers
was unreliable, so they dug a maze of waterways and ditches from the rivers to their fields.
This created a reliable water source for farming. The crops fed the population, and farmers
were able to trade the excess produce such as onions, garlic, apples, figs, grapes, and
pomegranates.With these new irrigational practices, agriculture in Mesopotamia flourished
like never before. With lucrative trade overseas, the Mesopotamians soon became a powerful
empire, and farmers looked to develop their techniques even further. The plow came about
when, sometime during the sixth millennium, a farmer decided to attach his ox to his digging
stick. The ard plow was made up of twisted tree branches which were readily available in the
local area. The plow was heavy, and dirt would stick to it and have to be removed manually.
Furthermore, it did not work on densely grassed areas. Iron versions had replaced the wooden
plow by 2300 BC, and by 1500 BC, the Mesopotamian seeder plow came into existence.

● The Code of Hammurabi (1754 BC)

In 1792 BC, Babylon came to power and the rule of Hammurabi began. Hammurabi enacted
a code of law written on a 7.5-foot stone stele and various clay tablets. The system consisted
of 282 laws and their punishments based on the system of “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a
tooth.” Sentences were handed out depending on social status, and whether the accused was a
slave or a free man. Most of the laws were laws of contract, like providing wages to laborers
and fulfilling responsibilities.
The Code of Hammurabi is the longest-surviving text from the Old Babylonian era. It was
based on previous laws introduced by the king of Ur (2050 BC), the Laws of Eshnunna (1930
BC), the Codes of Lipit-Ishtar of Isin (1870 BC), and the Code of Ur-Nammu. Later ones
include the Assyrian laws, the Hittite laws, and the Law of Moses.

● Cuneiform (3600 BC)

Initially, tokens were used to count goods, but with the increase in trade, things became more
complex. Clay tablets with symbols were introduced as a way of keeping records. From 3100

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BC, the state required every person to register their name along with details of their
possessions. It was difficult to represent everything using only one symbol, and soon a
system of phonetic writing developed which gradually evolved into cuneiform. Pictographs
were hard to remember, so a system of straight lines with an absence of originality were used
instead. Numbers were written in the form of strokes. As their writing developed, the
Mesopotamians were able to record transactions, stories, and myths. There were a total of
600 symbols in this writing style, and cuneiform, created by the Sumerians, was used by the
Assyrians, the Hittites, the Elamites, the Akkadians, and the Babylonians for about 3,000
years.
● The Wheel (3200 BC)
The wheel was invented to be used in pottery making, but the Mesopotamians soon
developed it further into a means of transportation in the form of the chariot around 2400 BC.
The invention of the wheel cannot be understated, and in ancient times, it revolutionized
trade, ceramics, irrigation, and warfare. The oldest-known wheel is the Ljubljana Marshes
Wheel which was discovered in Ljubljana in 2002, dating back 5,150 years.

● Mathematics (3000 BC)

The Mesopotamians were great mathematicians. They were the first to develop the place
value system based on a number’s position in a sequence. The Babylonians based their math
on the number 60, and this concept is known as the sexagesimal system. It led to the creation
of the 360-degree circle and the 12-month year.
Evidence of Babylonian mathematics is widespread, and at least 400 mathematical clay
tablets have been unearthed since the 1850s. These clay tablets date back to around 1800 or
1600 BC and cover fractions, algebra, the Pythagorean theorem, and quadratic and cubic
equations. There is some debate over whether Babylonian math could have dated back to the
fifth or third millennium. The Sumerians had developed a complex system of metrology by
3000 BC, and from 2600 BC onwards, they inscribed multiplication tables on clay tablets and
dealt with geometric and division problems. The idea of zero came from the Babylonians and
they were able to articulate the concept of nothing. Over time, the concept of zero was
introduced by many other civilizations; some claim it even began in ancient India.

● Gilgamesh (2700 BC)

The hero of Uruk, Gilgamesh, was such an important figure that many myths and stories exist
about him. The city walls of Uruk and tablets found there document his deeds and his quest
for the meaning of life. In the great literary work, the Epic of Gilgamesh, he is portrayed as
half god and half man. This idea comes from his parents as his mother was thought to be the
goddess Ninsun and his father was Lugalbanda, the god-king of Uruk. Gilgamesh ruled the
city for around 126 years.

● The Akkadian Empire and Sargon I (2334 BC)

The Akkadian Empire united the Sumerian and the Akkadian-speaking people to create a
Semitic-speaking empire. Sargon, the powerful king of Akkad, defeated Lugal-zage-si in the

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Battle of Uruk and conquered Mesopotamia to establish the world’s very first multinational
kingdom or empire.
The Akkadian Empire was a political and social entity and ruled through administration,
bureaucracy, and the military. Sargon’s contributions were so great that he was regarded as
the greatest man alive at the time. After seizing the Sumerian states, Uruk continued to
expand for some 200 years. Oman, the Mediterranean, Syria, and Elam all became part of this
huge empire. Sargon was the first to come up with the idea of making the king’s son his legal
heir and his daughters priestesses.Another powerful Akkadian king was Naram-Sin, Sargon’s
grandson, who ruled for 50 years. His reign brought great prosperity to the kingdom. In 2100
BC, the Sumerian city-state of Ur rose to power and conquered the Akkadian Empire. Once
again, the Sumerians were in power but only for a short period as, sometime around 2000
BC, the Amorites took over. Within 180 years, the Akkadian Empire had fallen; this may also
have been due to a deadly drought.

● The Assyrian Empire (2500 BC)

The Assyrian Empire was the most prominent ruling empire of Mesopotamia, starting in the
early Bronze Age and lasting until the Iron Age. The empire rose and fell many times. At its
height, the Assyrian Empire stretched from Cyprus to Libya, covering the eastern
Mediterranean, Armenia, Iran, the Arabian peninsula, and Egypt.
Assyria gets its name from the ancient city of Assur which dates back to 2600 BC. Assyrian
rule can be divided into four phases: the Old Assyrian Empire, the Early Assyrian Empire,
the Middle Assyrian Empire, and the New Assyrian Empire. The strongest ruler to rule the
empire was Shamshi-Adad under whose reign the empire expanded northwards and became
very rich. After his death in 1781 BC, the empire weakened and fell to the Babylonians. It
rose again between 1360 BC and 1074 BC, and under Tiglath-Pileser I’s rule it expanded to
the Middle East, Cyprus, Egypt, Babylonia, and Israel. Its final rise to power was in 744 BC.
Famous rulers of this period were Sargon II, Tiglath-Pileser III, Ashurbanipal and
Sennacherib. Finally, the Assyrian Empire fell in 612 BC when the Babylonians conquered
the Assyrians for good.

● Epic of Gilgamesh (2150 BC)

This epic poem about Gilgamesh was found in 1853 by Hormuzd Rassam. The epic was
discovered on 12 incomplete tablets in the library at Ninevah. There were gaps in the story
which were filled with parts found elsewhere in Anatolia and Mesopotamia.
The first half of the epic tells the story of how Gilgamesh and Enkidu became friends. Enkidu
was a wild man whom the gods had created to put a stop to the oppression faced by the
people who lived under the rule of Gilgamesh. Enkidu challenged the king to take a test of
strength which Gilgamesh passed, and finally the two become friends. They set out on a six-
day journey to the cedar forest which they planned cut down to make a gate for the city of
Nippur, and to slaughter Humbaba, its guardian. They then went on to kill the mythical Bull
of Heaven, which had been sent by the goddess Ishtar to punish Gilgamesh for rejecting her
advances. The gods sentenced Enkidu to death for helping Gilgamesh.

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In the second half, Enkidu’s death had a traumatic effect on Gilgamesh and he decided to
undertake a journey to discover the secret of life. On this journey, he learned that “life, which
you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share,
and life withheld in their own hands.” (Source) Gilgamesh finally succumbed to death but
due to his magnificent progress, and thanks to the mythical character Utnapishtim, he attained
immortality.
Gilgamesh earned a lot more fame after his death than during his life. This epic poem has
been translated into many different languages in many different formats.

● Maps (2300 BC)

Mesopotamia was indeed a place of significant technical and cultural innovation, and also the
first civilization to bring us the map. The earliest map was discovered in Babylonia in 2300
BC in mud-tablet form. The map was of the Akkadian area of Mesopotamia in present-day
Iraq. These ancient maps showed cities, hunting grounds, trading routes, and military areas.

● The Calendar (2000–1000 BC)

The Mesopotamians were fond of astronomy, and knew that the earth revolving on its axis
meant it was revolving around the sun. The calendar they made was divided into two seasons:
summer and winter. The second half of May included the barley harvest, and after two
months of cutting grain, they began their financial year. In most areas, the new year was said
to start with the first visible lunar crescent as the calendar was primarily based on the moon.
However, a royal new year was also celebrated during which the king offered the first harvest
to the gods. Months had different names depending on the city.
The Assyrians kept an economic calendar which had 360 days. Celebrations during the year
depended upon the seasons, which made them solar, therefore an intercalary month was
added every sixth year. The Assyrians used to have either a five-day week or a ten-day week.
By 1000 BC they were following the Babylonian calendar. A month according to the
Babylonian calendar was divided into seven-day intervals. The Mesopotamian calendar
gained widespread acceptance during the second millennium BC.

● The Sailboat (1300 BC)

The Sumerians realized that traveling on water was faster than going via land, so they came
up with the idea of the sailboat. The sailboat was essential in helping people to trade further
afield, although initially, the Mesopotamians used it on the Tigris River for fishing and
exploration purposes. The sailboat was primitive in design. It was square, and the sail was
made of cloth. It could only travel in the same direction as the wind.

● The Library of Nineveh (668–627 BC)

The Assyrian king, Ashurbanipal, decided to create a record of the history, myths, and stories
from Sumer, Babylon, and Assyria and collate them all in one library. Where other kings are
remembered for their success on the battlefield, Ashurbanipal is famous for recording his
reign. The library was discovered in 1850 when archaeologists found more than 30,000 clay
tablets inscribed with cuneiform. These writings were not only administrative and legal texts

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and letters, but also recorded thousands of magical, divinatory, medical, literary, and lexical
information.

● The Achaemenid Persian Empire (539 BC)

After the fall of the Babylonian Empire came the Persian Empire. This empire is believed to
be the largest that the ancient world has ever seen. In 539 BC, Persian forces conquered the
Babylonian army at the Battle of Opis. The Neo Assyrian Empire and the Neo Babylonian
Empire eventually merged to form the Persian Empire under Cyrus the Great. The empire
grew until it reached Turkey, which made it the greatest empire in existence. Under the rule
of Cyrus, the people were allowed to follow their own culture, and there were no restrictions
on religious beliefs. As long as the people continued to pay their taxes they were allowed to
live in peace.
Each area had a satrap, or governor, and there were some 20 to 30 of them who were
responsible for enforcing the law of the land. The whole empire was connected by a
comprehensive postal and road system, the Royal Road being the most prominent of all. The
Royal Road was built by Darius the Great. It was 1,700 miles long and connected Sardis in
Turkey to Suza in Elam. In 490 BC, Darius failed to conquer Athens during the Battle of
Marathon. Following further defeats at the hands of the Spartans and the Greeks, the Persian
Empire fell, and Alexander the Great came to power in 334 BC.

● The Fertile Crescent

Mesopotamia's soil was uniquely fertile, which gave humans reason to settle in the region and
begin farming. As early as 5,800 B.C.E., people were living in the area known as the "Fertile
Crescent" to take advantage of the rich soil. The soil's richness came from runoff from nearby
mountains, which regularly deposited nutritious silt onto the river floodplain. This region
stretched from modern-day Kuwait and Iraq northward to Turkey. Before the settlement of
Mesopotamia, neolithic humans were largely hunters and gatherers who did sporadic
farming. Mesopotamia's unique fertility allowed humans to settle in one place to farm.

● Trade Routes
Mesopotamia's rivers and location in central Asia supported extensive trade routes. In the
time of Mesopotamia, smaller civilizations existed to the west in Europe and North Africa
and to the east in India. For these regions to trade, they needed to traverse Mesopotamia's
territory between them. This allowed Mesopotamia to access resources not native to its
region, like timber and precious metals. In turn, Mesopotamia developed key aspects of
civilization, like a token system to keep trading records.

● Tigris and Euphrates

While Mesopotamia's soil was fertile, the region's semiarid climate didn't have much rainfall,
with less than ten inches annually. This initially made farming difficult. Two major rivers in
the region -- the Tigris and Euphrates -- provided a source of water that enabled wide-scale

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farming. Irrigation provided Mesopotamian civilization with the ability to stretch the river's
waters into farm lands. This led to engineering advances like the construction of canals,
dams, reservoirs, drains and aqueducts. One of the prime duties of the king was to maintain
these essential waterways.

By the time Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire in 331 B.C., most of the great
cities of Mesopotamia no longer existed and the culture had been long overtaken. Eventually,
the region was taken by the Romans in 116 A.D. and finally Arabic Muslims in 651 A.D.

Famous Leaders and its accomplishments

● Sargon of Akkad -Sargon sent Akkadian governors to rule Sumerian cities and tear
down defensive walls. He left the Sumerian religion in place but made Akkadian the
official language of all Mesopotamia. By lowering physical and linguistic barriers and
unifying his realm, he promoted commerce both within Mesopotamia and well
beyond. A thriving trade with India brought pearls, ivory, and other treasures to
Mesopotamia in exchange for goods such as wool and olive oil. Precious metals
including copper and silver served as currency for the traders. Societies had not yet
devised coinage; instead, the metal was weighed on a scale to determine its value.
Sargon used taxes he collected from the merchants to pay his soldiers and support
royal artists and scribes, who glorified his deeds in sculptures and inscriptions.
● Nebuchadnezzar II-Nebuchadnezzar’s main activity, other than as military
commander, was the rebuilding of Babylon. He completed and extended fortifications
begun by his father, built a great moat and a new outer defense wall, paved the
ceremonial Processional Way with limestone, rebuilt and embellished the principal
temples, and cut canals…(Henry W.F. Saggs)
● Gilgamesh - is the semi-mythic King of Uruk in Mesopotamia best known from The
Epic of Gilgamesh (written c. 2150 - 1400 BCE) the great Sumerian/Babylonian
poetic work which pre-dates Homer's writing by 1500 years and, therefore, stands as
the oldest piece of epic world literature. The motif of the quest for the meaning of life
is first fully explored in Gilgamesh as the hero-king leaves his kingdom following the
death of his best friend, Enkidu, to find the mystical figure Utnapishtim and gain
eternal life. Gilgamesh's fear of death is actually a fear of meaninglessness and,
although he fails to win immortality, the quest itself gives his life meaning. This
theme has been explored by writers and philosophers from antiquity up to the present
day.
● Hammurabi- Hammurabi conquered southern Babylonia, transformed a small city-
state into a large territorial state, and shifted the balance of power in Mesopotamia
from the south to the north, where it remained for more than 1,000 years. However, he

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failed to set up an effective bureaucracy, and his son lost much of the territory
Hammurabi had conquered.(Johannes M. Renger)
● Ashurbanipal-Ashurbanipal’s outstanding contribution resulted from his academic
interests. He assembled in Nineveh the first systematically collected and cataloged
library in the ancient Middle East (of which approximately 20,720 Assyrian tablets
and fragments have been preserved in the British Museum). At royal command,
scribes searched out and collected or copied texts of every genre from temple
libraries. These were added to the basic collection of tablets culled from Ashur, Calah,
and Nineveh itself. The major group includes omen texts based on observations of
events; on the behaviour and features of men, animals, and plants; and on the motions
of the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars. Lexicographical texts list in dictionary form
Sumerian, Akkadian, and other words, all essential to the scribal educational system.
Ashurbanipal also collected many incantations, prayers, rituals, fables, proverbs, and
other “canonical” and “extracanonical” texts. The traditional Mesopotamian epics—
such as the stories of Creation, Gilgamesh, Irra, Etana, and Anzu—have survived
mainly due to their preservation in his library.
● Sargon II - He brought the Assyrian Empire to its greatest height politically and
militarily. Sargon II took the throne, abolished the taxation and labor policies, and
ended the sieges his brother's administration had prolonged. He conquered Samaria
and destroyed the kingdom of Israel.
● Cyrus the great - establish one of the largest empires in the world. He conquered
vast territories, from modern Turkey (Anatolia) to modern Oman. Cyrus freed the
Jewish people from the Babylonian Kingdom, ending the era of Babylonian Captivity,
or the exile of the Jews.
● Nabopolassar- Assyrian power, a native governor, Nabopolassar, was able, in 625, to
become king of Babylon by popular consent and to inaugurate a Chaldean dynasty
that lasted until the Persian invasion of 539 bc.
● Nebuchadnezzar II-Nebuchadnezzar’s main activity, other than as military
commander, was the rebuilding of Babylon. He completed and extended fortifications
begun by his father, built a great moat and a new outer defense wall, paved the
ceremonial Processional Way with limestone, rebuilt and embellished the principal
temples, and cut canals…(Henry W.F. Saggs)
● Tiglath-pileser I -defeated 20,000 Mushki in the Assyrian province of Kummukh
(Commagene). He also defeated the Nairi, who lived west of Lake Van, extending
Assyrian control farther into Asia Minor than any of his predecessors had done.
● Tiglath-pileser III - (flourished 8th century bc), king of Assyria (745–727 bc) who
inaugurated the last and greatest phase of Assyrian expansion. He subjected Syria and
Palestine to his rule, and later (729 or 728) he merged the kingdoms of Assyria and
Babylonia.
● Shamsi- Adad - In 814 BC, he won the Battle of Dur-Papsukkal against the
Babylonian king Marduk-balassu-iqbi, and a few Aramean tribes settled in Babylonia.
The extent of Shamshi-Adad's victory was such that he obtained the submission of the

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Babylonian king and, after obtaining booty from several Babylonian cities, he
returned to Assyria with palace treasures and gods.
● Ur-Nammu - His main achievement was state-building, and Ur-Nammu is chiefly
remembered today for his legal code, the Code of Ur-Nammu, the oldest known
surviving example in the world. He held the titles of "King of Ur, and King of Sumer
and Akkad".
● Darius I -organized the empire by dividing it into administrative provinces that were
governed by satraps. He organized Achaemenid coinage as a new uniform monetary
system, and made Aramaic a co-official language of the empire alongside Persian.
● Xerxes I - best known for his massive invasion of Greece from across the Hellespont
(480 bce), a campaign marked by the battles of Thermopylae, Salamis, and Plataea.
His ultimate defeat spelled the beginning of the decline of the Achaemenian Empire.
● Ishbi -Erra - Ishbi-Erra went on to win decisive victories against the Amorites in his
8th year and the Elamites in his 16th year. Some years later, Ishbi-Erra ousted the
Elamite garrison from Ur, thereby asserting suzerainty over Sumer and Akkad,
celebrated in one of his later 27th year-name, although this specific epithet was not
used by this dynasty until the reign of Iddin-Dagan.] He readily adopted the regal
privileges of the former regime, commissioning royal praise poetry and hymns to
deities, of which seven are extant, and proclaiming himself Dingir-kalam-ma-na, “a
god in his own country.”
● Lipit-Ishtar - Sumerian law is the so-called Code of Lipit–Ishtar (c. 1934–24 bc),
which contains the typical prologue, articles, and epilogue and deals with such matters
as the rights of persons, marriages, successions, penalties, and property and contracts.
● Naram-Sin of Akkad-His "Victory Stele" depicts his triumph over Satuni, chief of
Lullubi in the Zagros Mountains. The king list gives the length of his reign as 56
years, and at least 20 of his year-names are known, referring to military actions
against various places such as Uruk and Subartu. One unknown year was recorded as
"the Year when Naram-Sin was victorious against Simurrum in Kirasheniwe and took
prisoner Baba the governor of Simurrum, and Dubul the ensi of Arame". Other year
names refer to his construction work on temples in Akkad, Nippur, and Zabala. He
also built administrative centers at Nagar and Nineveh. At one point in his reign much
of the empire, led by Iphur-Kis from the city of Kish rose in rebellion and was put
down strongly.
● Sennacherib - known for his building projects, especially in the city of Nineveh,
which he made the capital city of his empire. He went to great lengths to beautify the
city, building new roads and laying out a more efficient infrastructure.
● Ashur-uballit I- (reigned c. 1365–30 bc), king of Assyria during Mesopotamia's
feudal age, who created the first Assyrian empire and initiated the Middle Assyrian
period (14th to 12th century bc).
● Shalmaneser III- (flourished 9th century bc), king of Assyria (reigned 858–824 bc)
who pursued a vigorous policy of military expansion. Although he conducted
campaigns on the southern and eastern frontiers, Shalmaneser's main military effort
was devoted to the conquest of North Syria.

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CULTURE OF MESOPOTAMIAN

Sumerian Standing Male Worshiper - The “Standing Male Worshiper” carved from gypsum
alabaster is shown with clasped hands and a wide-eyed gaze. It was placed in a temple and
dedicated to a Sumerian god, to pray perpetually on behalf of the person it represented. This
statue is one of twelve figures known collectively as the “Tell Asmar Hoard” with artifacts
dating back to 2900–2550 BC. The hoard was discovered in 1933 at Eshnunna in eastern
Iraq. It is historically unique because it is one of a few definitive examples of the abstract
style of Early Dynastic temple sculpture.
This figure derived from the Sumerian culture and was created to worship an early
Mesopotamia god. The Sumerians believed that gods were physically present in nature and
experiences of daily life. Enlil was considered the most potent Mesopotamian god when this
statue was created. Enlil, later known as Elil, was the ancient Mesopotamian god of wind, air,
earth, and storms. He was the chief deity of the Sumerian pantheon and was later worshipped
by the Akkadians, Babylonians, and Assyrians.

The queens gold lyre from the royal cemetery at Ur. - Queen's Lyre; reconstruction; wooden
parts, pegs and string are modern; lapis lazuli, shell and red limestone mosaic decoration, set
in bitumen and the head (but not the horns) of the bull are ancient; the bull's head in front of
the sound box is covered with gold; the eyes are lapis lazuli and shell and the hair and beard
are lapis lazuli; the significance of the beard is not known; panel on front depicts lion-headed
eagle between gazelles, bulls with plants on hills, a bull-man between leopards and a lion
attacking a bull; edges of the sound-box decorated with inlay bands; eleven gold-headed pegs
for the strings.

Royal game of UR -Ancient Mesopotamian board game -The Royal Game of Ur was a board
game played for over three thousand years, starting from around 3000 BC in Mesopotamia.

The Babylonian marriage Market by the 19th-century painter- The Babylonian Marriage
Market is an 1875 painting by the British painter Edwin Long. It depicts a scene from
Herodotus' Histories of young women being auctioned into marriage in the area then known
Babylon or Assyria. It received attention for its provocative depiction of women. Long's use
of historical detail to make the painting engaging yet relatable has been highly regarded[1].
The work is currently owned by the Royal Holloway College.

● The cultures of Mesopotamia are considered civilizations because their people: had
writing, had settled communities in the form of villages, planted their own food, had
domesticated animals, and had different orders of workers.

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● Compared with the lives of most people at that time, civilization in Mesopotamia was
sophisticated and unusual. The shift from hunting and gathering to civilization
allowed Mesopotamians to diversify.
● Farmers in Mesopotamia grew more than their personal needs. Their surplus food
allowed others to specialize in new duties. Some made tools. Some built homes or
cooked food. Some became priests or leaders. Still more people worked for the
leaders, keeping written records of laws, labor, and goods for trade.
● The use of law in Mesopotamia is important, as it set an example for civilizations to
come. Hammurabi, a Babylonian king who lived in Mesopotamia 38 centuries ago, is
still famous today for his laws. The contributions of Babylonian mathematicians and
astronomers also live on.

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GOVERNMENT OF MESOPOTAMIA

Bowing to the king in Assyria - In Ancient history, bowing before kings and queens was a
common gesture that was often required upon entering the presence of royalty. In certain
countries and regions, you might even find this gesture still being practiced today! It is a
symbol of respect, honor, and reverence! The descent of the body from an upright position to
a bowed position demonstrates the individual's acknowledgement of the King's royalty and
authority! Conversely, refusing to bow, whether to the king or even the god of the king, was
perceived as flippant and disrespectful (just ask Meshach, Shadrach, and Abed-nego when
they refused to kneel down and worship King Nebuchadnezzar's golden image in Daniel 3).

Babylonian tablet with administrative text - Of the many legacies left by the ancient
civilizations of southern Mesopotamia, the invention of writing is paramount. At the end of
the fourth millennium B.C., written language developed in the region, first as pictographs and
then evolving into abstract forms called cuneiform. The pictographs, like the ones on this
tablet, are called proto-cuneiform and were drawn in the clay with a pointed implement.
Circular impressions alongside the pictographs represented numerical symbols. Cuneiform
(meaning wedge-shaped) script was written by pressing a reed pen or stylus with a wedge-
shaped tip into a clay tablet. Clay, when dried to a somewhat hardened state, made a fine
surface for writing, and when fired the records written on it became permanent.

● The Mesopotamians arguably invented the centralized state and the developed
kingship. Cities were political focal points as well as urban center and leadership was
passed down by kingly dynasties. As Mesopotamian culture developed it city-states
coalesced into kingdoms.
● There were also many civil servants. One of the highest positions was the scribe, who
worked closely with the king and the bureaucracy, recording events and tallying up
commodities. Temples provided welfare service and protected widows and orphans.
The earliest reforms protecting the poor, widows and orphans was found in Ur and
date to around 2000 B.C.
● Mesopotamians are said to have developed imperialism. The late second millennium
B.C. has been called “the first international age.” It was a time when there was
increased interaction between kingdoms. The Assyrians created a kingdom that
embraced many smaller kingdoms made up a variety of different ethnic groups.
● Sumer was a theocracy with slaves. Each citystate worshiped its own god and was
ruled by a leader who was said to have acted as an intermediary between the local god
and the people in the city state. The leaders led the people into wars and controlled the
complex water systems. Rich rulers built palaces and were buried with precious
objects for a trip to the afterlife. A council of citizens may have selected the leaders.
● Some scholars have described the Mesopotamian system of government as a
"theocratic socialism." The center of the government was the temple, where projects
like the building of dikes and irrigation canals were overseen, and food was divided

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up after the harvest. Most Sumerian writing recorded administrative information and
kept accounts. Only priests were allowed to write.
● Early Sumerians established a powerful priesthood that served local gods, who were
worshiped in temples that dominated the early cities. Much of political and religious
activity was oriented towards gods who controlled the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and
nature in general. If people respected the gods and the gods acted benevolently the
Sumerians thought the gods would provide ample sunshine and water and prevent
hardships. If the people went against the wishes of the local god and the god was not
so benevolent: droughts, floods, famine and locusts were the result.
● In Uruk kings took part n important religious rituals. One vase from Uruk shows a
king presenting a whole set of gifts to a temple of the city goddess Inana. Kings
supported temples and were expected to turn over some of the booty from wars and
raids to temples.

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ARCHITECTURE OF MESOPOTAMIA

Mosaic panel using stone cones - Mosaics have a long history, starting in Mesopotamia in
the 3rd millennium BC. Pebble mosaics were made in Tiryns in Mycenean Greece; mosaics
with patterns and pictures became widespread in classical times, both in Ancient Greece and
Ancient Rome. Early Christian basilicas from the 4th century onwards were decorated with
wall and ceiling mosaics. Mosaic art flourished in the Byzantine Empire from the 6th to the
15th centuries; that tradition was adopted by the Norman Kingdom of Sicily in the 12th
century, by the eastern-influenced Republic of Venice, and among the Rus. Mosaic fell out of
fashion in the Renaissance, though artists like Raphael continued to practice the old
technique. Roman and Byzantine influence led Jewish artists to decorate 5th and 6th century
synagogues in the Middle East with floor mosaics.

Reconstruction of the Ishtar gate (circa 575 BC) -After the end of the First World War in
1918, the smaller gate was reconstructed in the Pergamon Museum. The gate is 50 feet high,
and the original foundations extended another 45 feet underground. The reconstruction of the
Ishtar Gate in the Pergamon Museum is not a complete replica of the entire gate.

Ziggurats were ancient towering stepped structures built in the ancient Mesopotamian -
pyramidal stepped temple tower that is an architectural and religious structure characteristic
of the major cities of Mesopotamia (now mainly in Iraq) from approximately 2200 until 500
BCE. The ziggurat was always built with a core of mud brick and an exterior covered with
baked brick. It had no internal chambers and was usually square or rectangular, averaging
either 170 feet (50 metres) square or 125 × 170 feet (40 × 50 metres) at the base.
Approximately 25 ziggurats are known, being equally divided among Sumer, Babylonia, and
Assyria.
Hanging Gardens of Babylon - The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were one of the Seven
Wonders of the Ancient World listed by Hellenic culture. They were described as a
remarkable feat of engineering with an ascending series of tiered gardens containing a wide
variety of trees, shrubs, and vines, resembling a large green mountain constructed of mud
bricks. It was said to have been built in the ancient city of Babylon, near present-day Hillah,
Babil province, in Iraq. The Hanging Gardens' name is derived from the Greek word
κρεμαστός (kremastós, lit. 'overhanging'), which has a broader meaning than the modern
English word "hanging" and refers to trees being planted on a raised structure such as a
terrace.
Tower of Babel in biblical literature - Tower of Babel, in biblical literature, structure built
in the land of Shinar (Babylonia) some time after the Deluge. The story of its construction,
given in Genesis 11:1–9, appears to be an attempt to explain the existence of diverse human
languages.
● The architecture of Mesopotamia is ancient architecture of the region of the Tigris–
Euphrates river system (also known as Mesopotamia), encompassing several distinct
cultures and spanning a period from the 10th millennium BC (when the first
permanent structures were built) to the 6th century BC. Among the Mesopotamian

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architectural accomplishments are the development of urban planning, the courtyard

house, and ziggurats. No architectural profession existed in Mesopotamia; however,
scribes drafted and managed construction for the government, nobility, or royalty.The
study of ancient Mesopotamian architecture is based on available archaeological
evidence, pictorial representation of buildings, and texts on building practices.
According to Archibald Sayce, the primitive pictographs of the Uruk period era
suggest that "Stone was scarce, but was already cut into blocks and seals. Brick was
the ordinary building material, and with it cities, forts, temples and houses were
constructed. The city was provided with towers and stood on an artificial platform; the
house also had a tower-like appearance. It was provided with a door which turned on
a hinge, and could be opened with a sort of key; the city gate was on a larger scale,
and seems to have been double. ... Demons were feared who had wings like a bird,
and the foundation stones – or rather bricks – of a house were consecrated by certain
objects that were deposited under them."
● Scholarly literature usually concentrates on the architecture of temples, palaces, city
walls and gates, and other monumental buildings, but occasionally one finds works on
residential architecture as well.[2] Archaeological surface surveys also allowed for the
study of urban form in early Mesopotamian cities.

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ECONOMY OF MESOPOTAMIA

Farming of the mesopotamia - Agriculture is the ratio main economic activity in ancient
Mesopotamia. Operating under harsh constraints, notably the arid climate, the Mesopotamian
farmers developed effective strategies that enabled them to support the development of the
first states, the first cities, and then the first known empires, under the supervision of the
institutions which dominated the economy: the royal and provincial palaces, the temples, and
the domains of the elites. They focused above all on the cultivation of cereals (particularly
barley) and sheep farming, but also farmed legumes, as well as date palms in the south and
grapes in the north.
In reality, there were two types of Mesopotamian agriculture, corresponding to the two main
ecological domains, which largely overlapped with cultural distinctions. The agriculture of
southern or Lower Mesopotamia, the land of Sumer and Akkad, which later became
Babylonia received almost no rain and required large scale irrigation works which were
supervised by temple estates, but could produce high returns. The agriculture of Northern or
Upper Mesopotamia, the land that would eventually become Assyria, had enough rainfall to
allow dry agriculture most of the time so that irrigation and large institutional estates were
less important, but the returns were also usually lower.
Wooden Craft work - Artisans played an important role in the culture of the Mesopotamian
people. They made everyday useful items like dishes, pots, clothing, baskets, boats, and
weapons. They also created works of art meant to glorify the gods and the king.
Potters
● The most common material for Mesopotamian artists was clay. Clay was used for
pottery, monumental buildings, and tablets used to record history and legends.
● The Mesopotamians developed their skills in pottery over thousands of years. At first
they used their hands to make simple pots. Later they learned how to use a potter's
wheel. They also used high temperature ovens to harden the clay. They learned how
to make different shapes, glazes, and patterns. Soon their pottery turned into works of
art.
Jewelers
● Fine jewelry was a status symbol in Ancient Mesopotamia. Both men and women
wore jewelry. Jewelers used fine gemstones, silver, and gold to make intricate
designs. They made all sorts of jewelry including necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.
Metalsmiths
● Around 3000 BC the metal workers of Mesopotamia learned how to make bronze by
mixing tin and copper. They would melt the metal at very high temperatures and then
poor it into moulds to make all sorts of items including tools, weapons, and
sculptures.
Carpenters

● Carpenters were important craftsmen in Ancient Mesopotamia. The most important

items were made with imported wood such as cedar wood from Lebanon. They built

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palaces for the kings using cedar. They also constructed chariots for war and ships to
travel on the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
● Many fine pieces of wooden craftsmanship were decorated with inlays. They would
take small pieces of glass, gems, shells, and metal to make beautiful and shiny
decorations on items like furniture, religious pieces, and musical instruments.
Stone Masons
● Some of the best surviving work of Mesopotamian art and craftsmanship was carved
by stonemasons. They carved everything from large sculptures to small detailed
reliefs. Most of the sculptures had religious or historical significance. They were
usually of the gods or the king. They also carved small detailed cylinder stones that
were used as seals. These seals were quite small because they were used as signatures.
They were also quite detailed so they couldn't be easily copied.

Metalworking of Sumerian - Metals in Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia didn’t have the metals that the metalworkers needed, so they imported from
other regions around the ancient Middle East, and in exchange traded their metal works with
people from as far away as central Europe. Some materials that were common in
Mesopotamia were clay, sand, and water reeds, which can't be used for metal works.
About 3000 BC, Sumerians developed metalworking. Metalworking is the process of
working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large-scale structures. The term
covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate
jewelry. It includes a wide range of skills, processes, and tools.
● The early Mesopotamian city-state was, to a very large extent, a self-sufficient
economic unit. It was viewed as being the household of the patron god – which
meant, in practice, that the temple had an immense degree of control over economic
activity. Craftsmen – metal-smiths, potters, spinners, weavers, carpenters – and
labourers were (what we would call) employees of the temple. So too were traders.
Long-distance trade caravans were organized and supplied by the temple, and the
traders were temple servants.
● As time went by this situation was modified by the rising importance of the secular
ruler, the king. As he grew in power, little by little he arrogated more economic
control to himself. This was achieved through taking land (the primary economic
asset) from the temple, and diverting the work of scribes, overseers, craftsmen and
workmen to his own purposes.
● As more time passed, the situation changed again as the king granted lands and wealth
to his officials and supporters, and so created a private market for goods and services
separate from either king or temple. Traders, craftsmen and labourers increasingly
worked on their own account.Nevertheless, throughout ancient Mesopotamian times,
temples and palaces retained huge economic influence.
Agriculture
● The Mesopotamian economy, like all pre-modern economies, was based primarily on
agriculture.

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● The Mesopotamians grew a variety of crops, including barley, wheat, onions, turnips,
grapes, apples and dates. They kept cattle, sheep and goats; they made beer and wine.
Fish were also plentiful in the rivers and canals.
● The rivers Tigris and Euphrates, and their numerous branches, made farming possible
in Mesopotamia. However, they could be wild rivers, and floods were frequent. At the
same time, the hot, dry climate meant that year-round irrigation was needed to grow
crops.
● The Mesopotamians were the first people to attempt to control water on a large scale
by the use of an integrated system of dykes, reservoirs, canals, drainage channels and
aqueducts. Maintaining, repairing and extending this system was seen as one of the
prime duties of a king. Scribes and overseers managed the projects, and the common
people were dragooned into working on them through the system of forced labour (or
corvee). The water control system was built up generation by generation, covering an
ever wider area and involving an ever denser network of waterways.

● As a result of the large and concentrated population which grew up in Mesopotamia,

farming was carried out by peasants rather than by slaves (mass slavery tends to be a
response to a shortage of labour). In early times these were bound to the land as
temple or royal serfs; later, some became free farmers, owning their land outright, but
many farmed estates owned by kings, temples, high officials and other wealthy
members of the ruling classes. All remained liable to forced labour on irrigation
projects, or on the construction and maintenance of temples, palaces and city walls.
● Until the spread of the use of iron, in the first millennium BCE, farming implements
were made of stone and bone – as they had been during the Stone Age. Metals such as
bronze were far too expensive to use in this way, while copper was too soft for most
uses. Wood was also quite rare, as there is little tree cover in the region. However, the
soil of Mesopotamia, once watered, is easy to work, and agriculture was highly
productive.
Trade
● The plain of Mesopotamia was created in comparatively recent times (from an
geological point of view) by the mud brought down by the rivers. This means that the
region is very short of useful minerals such as stone for building, precious metals and
timber.
● This had the effect of stimulating trade with neighbouring regions, and beyond. Early
in Mesopotamia’s history food surpluses and craft goods were exchanged for mineral
resources. Later, Mesopotamian merchants ventured further afield, with trading
contacts being developed with peoples in Syria and Asia Minor in the west, and in
Iran and the Indus civilization, in the east.
● With the coming of the Bronze Age, in about 3000 BCE, an added incentive to trade
was the desire to acquire the copper and tin needed to make this valuable metal. Once
Mesopotamian states started to equip their soldiers with bronze armour and weapons,
this hunger intensified. However, these minerals are only found in widely scattered
locations, so the search for them involved developing long distance trade routes.

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● Trade caravans (of donkeys – camels were only domesticated after 1000 BCE) were
organized by specialist agents, to whom merchants entrusted their goods. Overland
transport was by oxen. Most bulk goods (such as the timbers brought from as far away
as Lebanon) was transported by river. Sea-going ships were also used, with trading
voyages being made to the ports of northern India.
● Metal coinage would not come into use until much later, but trade was based on a
regulated system of exchange – a given amount of seed would be worth so many
ounces of silver, for example. These relative values were enshrined in the law codes.
Temples acted as banks, with merchants and landowners acting as lenders. Written
drafts (inscribed on clay tablets) were used by merchants to draw “money” from the
temple-banks.
● Temples also made loans on their own account. If the debt was repaid before the due
date, no interest was levied. If it was late, a high interest of 20-30% was charged.

Significant contributions of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamian science and technology developed during the Uruk Period (4100-2900 BCE)
and Early Dynastic Period (2900-1750 BCE) of the Sumerian culture of southern
Mesopotamia. The foundation of future Mesopotamian advances in scientific/technological
progress was laid by the Sumerians who first explored the practice of the scientific
hypothesis, engaged in technological innovation, and created the written word, developed
mathematics, astronomy and astrology, and even fashioned the concept of time itself. Some
of the most important inventions of the Sumerians were:
● The Sail
● The Wheel
● The chariot
● The Plow
● Time and clock
● Astrology and Astronomy
● Map
● Agriculture, Irrigation and farming implements
● Mesopotamian developed urbanization
● Mathematical Astronomy
● Medicine and Physician
● Law code
● Writing
● The Corbeled Arch/True Arch
● Cities

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The Sumerians created these things in an effort to improve their lives but must have arrived at
the need for them through observation of an existing problem and proposing a solution which
was then tested. Some scholars object to the use of the terms 'science' or 'scientific method' in
referring to Sumerian/Mesopotamian inventions and innovations because religion played
such an important role in the people's lives and the will of the gods was considered the final
and only factor in how the universe and life on earth operated…
● The Wheel, the Sail, & Writing
The two Mesopotamian inventions considered most important are writing and the wheel.
Although some scholars contend that the wheel originated in Central Asia (because the oldest
wheel in the world was found there), it is generally accepted that the concept originated in
Sumer because of the production of ceramics. The wheel is thought to have developed from a
need to make better, and more, pottery in less time. The potter's wheel was then adapted for
the creation of carts, and later chariots, for transporting goods and simply moving more
quickly from one place to another…
● The Chariot -
open, two- or four-wheeled vehicle of antiquity, probably first used in royal funeral
processions and later employed in warfare, racing, and hunting. The chariot apparently
originated in Mesopotamia in about 3000 BC; monuments from Ur and Tutub depict battle
parades that include heavy vehicles with solid wheels, their bodywork framed with wood and
covered with skins. On the earliest chariots the wheels rotated on a fixed axle that was linked
by a draft pole to the yoke of a pair of oxen. To the axle was attached a superstructure
consisting of a platform protected by sidescreens and a high dashboard. These Mesopotamian
chariots were mounted by both spearman and charioteer, although it is doubtful that fighting
was conducted from the vehicle itself.
● The Plow
Humans learned to domesticate animals and use them to make daily life easier. In
Mesopotamia, man first harnessed the ox and developed the first plow called the “ard.” The
earliest plow was made of wood and was very heavy. The major problem with the plow was
that the dirt would stick to it and needed to be removed manually. It also did not work in
thick grass. The invention of the plow in Mesopotamia helped the hunter-gatherer groups to
stay in the same place and use agriculture for food rather than hunting.
● Mathematics, Time, & Astronomy/Astrology
Mathematics probably developed from trade as a necessity in bookkeeping but was clearly an
important aspect of architecture in planning and constructing cities and their temples. In the
course of building these great cities and grand structures, the Sumerians seem to have
invented the mathematical paradigm of the Pythagorean Theorem centuries before Pythagoras
lived. This is hardly surprising since Mesopotamian cities were well known as great centers
of learning and culture – most notably Babylon from c. 1792 - c. 600 BCE where the Greek
philosopher Thales of Miletus was said to have studied.
● Agriculture, Irrigation and farming implements
- People on the Tigres and Euphrates learnedhow to domesticate plants and animals about
10,000 years ago. The world's first wheat, oats, barely and lentils evolved from wild plants
found in Iraq. Mesopotamia was ideally suited for agriculture. It was flat and treeless. There

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was lots of sun and no killing frosts and plenty of water from two mighty rivers that flooded
every spring, depositing nutrient-rich silt on the already fertile soil. Major crops included
barley, dates, wheat, lentils, peas, beans, olives, pomegranates, grapes, vegetables. Pistachios
were grown in royal gardens in Babylonia.
-Mesopotamians developed irrigation agriculture. To irrigate the land, the earliest inhabitants
of the region drained the swampy lands and built canals through the dry areas. This had been
done in other places before Mesopotamian times. What made Mesopotamia the home of the
first irrigation culture is that the irrigation system was built according to a plan, and an
organized work force was required to keep the system maintained. Irrigation system began on
a small-scale basis and developed into a large scale operation as the government gained more
power.
Mesopotamia was originally swampy in some areas and dry in others. The climate was too
hot and dry in most places to raise crops without some assistance. Archaeologists have found
3,300-year-old plow furrows with water jars still lying by small feeder canals near Ur in
southern Iraq.
The Sumerians initiated a large scale irrigation program. They built huge embankments along
the Euphrates River, drained the marshes and dug irrigation ditches and canals. It not only
took great amount of organized labor to build the system it also required a great amount of
labor to keep it maintained. Government and laws were created distribute water to make sure
the operation ran smoothly.
● Mesopotamian developed urbanization
The reasons behind the growth of urbanization in Mesopotamia were the following; Growth
of agriculture Flourishing trade, Use of seals, The military strength of the ruler who made
labor compulsory to all.
● Medicine & Physicians
This same model applies to healthcare in that many of the practices associated with Egypt
and Greece originated in Mesopotamia. The Sumerian goddess of health and healing was
Gula (later known in other regions as Ninkarrak and Ninisinna) often depicted in the presence
of her dog as dogs were also associated with healing, health, and protection. Along with her
dog, Gula cared for the people with the assistance of her consort Pabilsag, her daughter
Gunurra, and her two sons Damu and Ninazu.
Ninazu was associated with daily health but also with death and dying in that one who passed
on found life in the next world. Death was not considered an end to life but a transition
although, still, people preferred to put it off as long as possible. Ninazu's symbol was the rod
entwined with serpents – as serpents represented transformation either from sickness to health
or from life to afterlife – and would later evolve into the caduceus in Greece which, today, is
the symbol of the medical profession.
There were two types of doctors in Mesopotamia:
● Asu – a medical practitioner who prescribed various treatments for illness or injury
● Asipu – a holistic healer who relied on magical spells, amulets, and incantations
Both of these professionals were regarded with equal respect and, in some cases, worked
together. Women as well as men could be doctors, although female physicians were rare.

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Mesopotamian medical texts list diagnoses and prescriptions as well as surgical techniques
and methods for setting broken bones. Illness and injury was thought to be the result of sin
which had caused the person to become imbalanced and angered the gods. One of the
responsibilities of the doctor, therefore, was to have the patient confess to any wrong-doing
and promise to do better in the future. The doctor would then prescribe a course of treatment
which would bring the patient back into balance and please the gods who would then
“remove their hand” from the person and bring them back to health.
● Law code
The Code of Hammurabi was one of the earliest and most complete written legal codes and
was proclaimed by the Babylonian king Hammurabi, who reigned from 1792 to 1750 B.C.
Hammurabi expanded the city-state of Babylon along the Euphrates River to unite all of
southern Mesopotamia. The Hammurabi code of laws, a collection of 282 rules, established
standards for commercial interactions and set fines and punishments to meet the requirements
of justice. Hammurabi’s Code was carved onto a massive, finger-shaped black stone stele
(pillar) that was looted by invaders and finally rediscovered in 1901.
● Writing
Cuneiform is a method of Ancient Mesopotamian writing that was used to write different
languages in the Ancient Near East. Writing was invented multiple times in different places
in the world. One of the earliest written scripts is cuneiform, which first developed in ancient
Mesopotamia between 3400 and 3100 BCE.
● The Corbeled Arch
corbel, in architecture, bracket or weight-carrying member, built deeply into the wall so that
the pressure on its embedded portion counteracts any tendency to overturn or fall outward.
The name derives from a French word meaning crow, because of the corbel’s beaklike shape.
Corbels may be individual pieces of stone, separate from each other like brackets, as in the
case of many elaborately carved medieval and Renaissance cornices, or they may be
continuous courses of masonry, such as the corbels under projecting oriel windows.
A corbel arch consists of two opposing sets of overlapping corbels, resembling inverted
staircases, which meet at a peak and create a structure strong enough to support weight from
above. Babylonian architecture made wide use of corbel arches. When such arches are used
in a series, they become a corbel vault, which, as in the Mayan style, can support a roof or
upper story. Corbel vaults and arches were useful in cultures that had not yet developed
curving arches and other ceiling structures.

● Cities
The first cities appeared thousands of years ago in areas where the land was fertile, such as
the cities founded in the historic region known as Mesopotamia around 7500 B.C.E., which
included Eridu, Uruk, and Ur. These cities were among the many communities between the
Euphrates and Tigris rivers (the so-called Fertile Crescent). Cities also formed along the Nile
River in Egypt, the Indus River Valley on the Indian subcontinent, and the Yellow (or
Huang) River in China, as people began to cultivate crops and settle in communities.
Agricultural production in these fertile areas meant that people could give up a nomadic

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lifestyle as hunters and gatherers to take advantage of food surpluses. Settling along
waterways also provided a much-needed transportation system that facilitated trade.

For the next several millennia, cities continued to grow in number, size, and stature. Some of
the world’s largest cities have grown steadily for hundreds of years, while others appear to
blossom overnight. Some of the cities that were once among the most populous in the world,
like the largest cities of Mesopotamia, no longer exist, and others have experienced a decline
in population. For instance, in the first century B.C.E., Rome, Italy, topped one million
people, making it the largest city in Europe; its population declined to just 20,000 during the
Middle Ages. These are exceptions, however; most of the world’s cities continue to grow,
and some are experiencing growth at unprecedented rates. (In fact, the population of Rome
stood at nearly three million in 2017.)

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REFERENCES

Students of History (2022)Geography of Mesopotamia. Retrieved from:

https://www.studentsofhistory.com/geography-of-mesopotamia
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PREPARED BY:
NORMINA NAMIL BUAT

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