An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

The Worlds First Civilization

Greek translated to “Land between the rivers”

 Define CIVILIZATION
Civilizations are complex societies
10 elements of civilization

• Architecture. Buildings.
• Trade/economics. Exchanging goods.
• Writing/record keeping. Written language.
• Government/laws. Government and rules.
• Agriculture. Farming and herding animals.
• Religion. Culture.
• Technology/creativity. Some sort of inventions.
• Specialized jobs. Different people do different things.
 Early Civilizations arose on the Banks of Rivers

• Rivers were attractive locations for the first civilizations

because they provided a steady supply of drinking water
and hunting, made the land fertile for growing crops, and
allowed for easy transportation
• Early river civilizations were all water powered empires
that maintained power and control through exclusive
control over access to water
• This system of government arose through the need for
flood control and irrigation, which requires central
coordination and a specialized bureaucracy and
permanent institution of impersonal government
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Location and Geography

Mesopotamia is the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river

system, corresponding to modern-day Iraq, the
northeastern section of Syria and to a lesser extent
southeastern Turkey and smaller parts of
southwestern Iran
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
The area is also known as Fertile Crescent
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
The Economy

Besides the great agricultural potential of this

area ,the strategic location in the region added
the wide possibilities for the growth of trade and
commerce

Agricultural and Trade potential combined

determined the high rate of economic growth
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia has been the longtime

crucible of civilization ruled by
4 different Empires
from
5000 BCE to 600 BCE
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

The Chronology

Sumerian 3,500 BC – 2,300 BC

Akkadian 2,300 BC – 1,900 BC

{Akkad conquered Sumer}

Babylonian 1,900 BC – 1,300 BC

{Sumer revolted against Akkadians and formed The Babylonian Empire}
Assyrian 1,300 BC – 612 BC
{ In 700 B.C. the Assyrians captured Babylon, looted it, and destroyed it}
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

The Government and Socio Political System

One Monarch one City States

Mesopotamia was ruled by kings. The kings only ruled a single city-state
though, rather than the entire civilization

City States
city-states were considered as the basic units of the Sumerian/Mespotamian
civilization consisting of independent economy, government, leader and
political identity, at least a temple known as Zigurat, marker places, trade
and commerce activity sufficient agricultural lands and number of villages
outside the city walled area,
Where Kings had both civic and religious responsibilities
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Some important city states in Mesopotamia

• Uruk.
• Ur.
• Adab.
• Akshak.
• Babylon
• Eridu.
• Kish.
• Lagash.
• Ninveh
• …
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Social Hierarchy
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Sumerian Conventions lasted

long in Mesopotamian Culture through different empires and
kingdoms
for
3000 years

Sumer being foremost played pivotal role in setting up Socio cultural

conventions which in turn propagated all over the region of
MESOPOTAMIA and played basic role in development of that we know
as Mesopotamian civilization that lasted for more than 3000 years
through different dynasties and empires.
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Religion
Religious Culture
Polytheistic in nature
Every object had it’s own god, from the plow to the brick

Priest communicated on behalf of gods

Every god had to be fed by it’s devotees
Ziggurats : Worship place
Priests controlled a massive portion of the wealth
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Religion
Temples, The Ziggurats

The temple was the center of the city and housed all
the craftsmen and industry of the city.
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Cuneiform Script
• Sumerians invented the earliest
known form of writing called
cuneiform using a reed pen to
make wedge-shaped marks on
clay tablets.
• Cuneiform is from the Latin
word for wedge.
• Sumerian scribes went
through years of difficult
schooling to acquire their
skills.
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamian Architecture

• Architecture was difficult in this era because the geographic location

provided few usable materials, meaning that there was very little
stone but abundant clay there. For this reason, the Mesopotamians
opted to use brick and adobe in their architectural foundations.

• Although the use of lintels (using wooden beams), vaults, and arches,
was more common in Egyptian art, these three elements can also be
seen in Mesopotamian art, and feature prominently in their
architecture. The most notable difference between Egyptian art and
this style of art was the little significance they placed on funerary
buildings, only developing and focusing on two types of buildings:
temples and palaces
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamian Inventions and Technologies

Wheel
Chariot
Sailboat
Plow
Time Keeping
Astronomy
Astrology
The inventions of Map
Mathematics

https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/mesopotamia-history/top-11-inventions-and-discoveries-of-mesopotam
ia/
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamian Job Specialization

The Professions
Priests
Teachers and Scribers
Mathematicians and Map Makers
Architects
Astrologers and Astronomers
Warriors
Sailors
Potters
Weavers
Farmers
Laborers
https://www.ancienthistorylists.com/mesopotamia-history/top-11-inventions-and-discoveries-of-mesopotamia/
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamian Literature

For Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian

literature written in the Sumerian language and for
Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian literature written
in the Akkadian language
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Cuneiform Script was deciphered in
second half of 19th century

Between 500000 to 2000000 cuneiform tablets are estimated

to have been excavated in modern times, of which only
approximately 30,000[–100,000 have been read or published

Deciphering Cuneiform: Helping Scholars to Get a Handle on

Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Cuneiform Script was deciphered in
second half of 19th century
All kind of subject are found written on those tablets from religious and
mythological text to personal letters, business transactions to govt.
record and documentation…
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
The most famous is
the Epic of Gilgamesh

An epic is a long poem

that tells the story of a
hero. The hero Gilgamesh
is a king who travels
around the world with a
friend and performs great
deeds. When his friend
dies, Gilgamesh searches
for a way to live forever.
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Gilgamesh and his Friend
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Literature in Cuneiform Script and Sculptural
artifacts provides great insight in
Mesopotamian Mythology and Religion

Polytheistic Religion
Mythology presents many gods and goddesses of
different ranking and even a negative character as
demon or devil

Most of theme have been Anthropomorphically

personified
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Some of Sumerian/Mesopotamian gods, goddesses

• An, lord of heavens

• Enlil, god of air and storms
• Enki, god of water and wisdom
• Inanna/ Ishtar, goddess of love
• Utu/Shamsh  god of Sun

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Mesopotamian_deities
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Some gods and goddesses in Low relief
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
god of underworld Nergal and Babylonian Demon Pazuzu
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Code of Hammurabi
One of the most important works of this First Dynasty of
Babylon was the compilation in about 1754 BCE of a code of
laws, called the Code of Hammurabi
Hummurabi’s Code was designed to protect the powerless,
consisting of…

• Criminal laws dealt with offenses against others. Hammurabi’s

Code limited personal vengeance and encouraged social order

• Civil Law dealt with private rights and matters, such as business
contracts, marriage, taxes, and divorce
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia

Code of Hammurabi
Hammurabi
Stone, depicts
“Hammurabi
as receiving his
authority from
god Shamash”.
282 laws
inscribed on a
stone pillar
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Some of the important Artifacts
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Different forms of Art in Mesopotamia
most of the have their Sumerian origins

Votive Statues, from the Temple of Abu, Tell Asmarc.2500 BC, limestone, shell, and gypsum
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Different forms of Art in Mesopotamia
most of the have their Sumerian origins

Statue of Gudea of Lagash, 2141-2122 B.C. Portrait of an Akadian King Sargon

 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Different forms of Art in Mesopotamia
most of the have their Sumerian origins

A real Babylonian Cylinder seal and impression: a man kills a

math problem on a dragon (Louvre, Paris)
clay tablet
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Examples Mesopotamian Pottery
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Examples Mesopotamian Jewelry
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Examples Mesopotamian Textiles
 An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Invention of Wheel evident in Chariots
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Lunar Calendar
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Astronomy

Theories of the Motions of the Sun and the Moon

An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Sailboats
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Warfare

Theories of the Motions of the Sun and the Moon

An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Warfare

Theories of the Motions of the Sun and the Moon

An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamian Warfare
Assyrians the fierce fighters of all Mesopotamians ever…
An overview of ancient Mesopotamia
Fall of Mesopotamian Civilization

Historians have the opine that de-fertilization of agricultural lands

and wars were an important cause for the collapse

Hittites with strong army with chariots and fine war skills
ultimately invaded Mesopotamia in 1595 BCE to disrupt the
passage of evolution of this civilization…

Theories of the Motions of the Sun and the Moon