MESAPOTAMIA

COMES FROM THE GREEK, MEANING “BETWEEN TWO RIVERS”.

 LOCATION OF MESAPOTAMIA

 Was an ancient region located in the

eastern Mediterranean bounded in the
northeast by the Zagros Mountains and in
the southeast by the Arabian Plateau,
corresponding to today’s Iraq, mostly, but
also parts of modern-day
Iran, Syria and Turkey.
GREAT CITIES OF
MEASPOTAMIA
URUK

 Uruk was one of the first major cities in the history of the world.
It reached its peak around 2900 BC when it had an estimated
population of nearly 80,000 people making it the largest city in
the world.
 Uruk was located in southern Mesopotamia along the banks of
the Euphrates River. It was the center of the Sumerian
civilization. It was able to grow so large because of advanced
farming and irrigation techniques. The abundance of food made
the city rich.
AKKAD

 The city of Akkad was the center of the world's first empire, the
Akkadian Empire. The people of Akkad, under the leadership of
Sargon the Great, conquered many of the Sumerian city-states
and took control of Mesopotamia. The Akkadian language took
the place of Sumerian and continued to be the primary
language of the region into the Babylonian and Assyrian
Empires.
ASSUR

 Located in northern Mesopotamia on the western bank of the

river Tigris, Assur became the first capital city of the Assyrian
Empire. Although other cities would later take over as capital of
the Assyrian Empire, Assur was always recognized as the
religious center of the empire.
BABYLON

 Babylon was the capital city and center of the Babylonian

Empire. During its peak, Babylon was the largest city in the
world with populations exceeding 200,000 people.
 Babylon is located in central Mesopotamia along the banks of
the Euphrates River. Today the ruins of the city can be found
around 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq. Babylon is mentioned
several times in the Bible.
NIMRUD

 Nimrud became the capital city of the Assyrian Empire in the

13th Century BC. Although the city later fell into ruins, the great
King Ashurnasirpal II rebuilt the city and made it the Assyrian
capital once again in 880 BC.
 Nimrud was home to some of the most magnificent palaces
built in ancient history. The palace of Shalmaneser III covered
over 12 acres and had more than 200 rooms.
NINEVEH

 The greatest city of the Assyrian Empire was Nineveh. It

became the largest city in the world at the height of the
Assyrian Empire. The city was largely built under the rule of
King Sennacherib around 700 BC. The great walls of Nineveh
enclosed an area of 7 square kilometers and had 15 gates.
There were 18 canals that brought water to different areas of
the city.
PERSEPOLIS

 Persepolis was the capital of the Persian Empire. The

name is actually Greek for "Persian city". The city
was originally built by Cyrus the Great around 515
BC.
SUMERIANS

 The Sumerians were the people of southern Mesopotamia

 whose civilization flourished between c. 4100-1750 BCE. Their
name comes from the region which is frequently and incorrectly
referred to as a “country”. 
 Sumer was the southern counterpart to the northern region of 
Akkad whose people gave Sumer its name, meaning “land of
the civilized kings”.
 The Sumerians were responsible for many of the most
important innovations, inventions, and concepts taken for
granted in the present day. 
 They essentially “invited” time.
CRADLE OF CIVILIAZATION

 Mesopotamia was a collection of varied cultures whose

only real bonds were their script, their Gods, and their
attitude toward women.
 Mesopotamia is known as the “cradle of civilization”
primarily because of two developments that occurred
there, in the region of summer, in the 4th millennium
BCE:
• The rise of the city as we recognize that entity today.
• The invention of writing (although writing is also known to
have developed in Egypt, in the Indus Valley, in China,
and to have taken form independently in Mesoamerica).
 The invention of the wheel is also credited to the
Mesopotamians and, in 1922 CE, the archaeologist Sir
Leonard Woolley discovered “the remains of two four-
wheeled wagons, the oldest wheeled vehicles in history
ever found, along with their leather tires”. 
LIFE IN MESAPOTAMIA

 Mesopotamia was known in antiquity  Men and women both worked, and
as a seat of learning, and it is believed “because ancient Mesopotamia was
that Thales of Miletus (c. 585 BCE, fundamentally an agrarian society,
known as the “first philosopher”) the principal occupations were
studied there. growing crops and raising livestock”
 Intellectual pursuits were highly valued
across Mesopotamia, and the schools
were said to be as numerous as
temples and taught reading, writing,
religion, law, medicine, and astrology.
 The beginning of the world, they
believed, was a victory by the gods
over the forces of chaos but, even
though the gods had won, this did not
mean chaos could not come again.
POTTERY NEOLITHIC AGE

 In this period there was a widespread

use of tools and clay pots and a specific
culture begins to emerge in the Fertile
Crescent
 the Neolithic economy was primarily
based on food production through
farming and animal husbandry
 Architectural advancements naturally
followed in the wake of permanent
settlements as did developments in the
manufacture of ceramics and stone
tools.
COPPER AGE (CALCHOLITIC PERIOD)

 Owing to the transition from stone tools and weapons to ones made of copper.
 The first temples in Mesopotamia were built and un- walled villages developed
from sporadic settlements of single dwellings.
 These villages then gave rise to the urbanization process during the Uruk Period (4100-2900
BCE) when cities rose, most notably in the region of Sumer, including Eridu, Uruk, Ur, Kish,
Nuzi, Lagash, Nippur, and Ngirsu, and in Elam with its city of Susa.
 This period saw the invention of the wheel (c. 3500 BCE) and writing (c. 3000
BCE), both by the Sumerians, the establishment of kingships to replace
priestly rule, and the first war in the world recorded between the kingdoms of
Sumer and Elam (2700 BCE) with Sumer as the victor.
EARLY BRONZE AGE

 Bronze supplanted copper as the material

from which tools and weapons were made.
 The rise of the city-state laid the foundation
for economic and political stability which would
eventually lead to the rise of the Akkadian
Empire (2334-2218 BCE) and the rapid growth
of the cities of Akkad and Mari, two of the
most prosperous urban centers of the time.
 The cultural stability necessary for the creation
of art in the region resulted in more intricate
designs in architecture and sculpture.
STRUCTURES IN MESAPOTAMIA

 The temple, at the center of every city

(often on a raised platform), symbolized
the importance of the city’s patron deity
who would also be worshipped by
whatever communities that city
presided over. 
 The gods were thought to be present in
the planning and execution of any
building project and very specific
prayers, recited in a set order to the
proper deity, were considered of utmost
importance in the success of the project
and the prosperity of the occupants of
the home.
URBAN PLANNING

 The Sumerians were the first society to construct the city itself as a built and
advanced form. They were proud of this achievement as attested in the 
Epic of Gilgamesh, which opens with a description of Uruk its walls, streets,
markets, temples, and gardens. Uruk itself is significant as the center of an
urban culture which both colonized and urbanized western Asia.
 The growth of the city was partly planned and partly organic. Planning is evident
in the walls, high temple district, main canal with harbor, and main street. The
finer structure of residential and commercial spaces is the reaction of economic
forces to the spatial limits imposed by the planned areas resulting in an irregular
design with regular features. 
URBAN PLANNING

 The typical city divided space into residential, mixed use,

commercial, and civic spaces. The residential areas were grouped
by profession. At the core of the city was a high temple complex
always sited slightly off of the geographical center.
 The city always included a belt of irrigated agricultural land including small
hamlets. A network of roads and canals connected the city to this land. The
transportation network was organized in three tiers: wide processional
streets, public through streets, and private blind alleys. The public streets
that defined a block varied little over time while the blind-alleys were much
more fluid. The current estimate is 10% of the city area was streets and
90% buildings. The canals; however, were more important than roads for
good transportation.