MESOPOTAMIA

JANA HAYTHAM
 GEOGRAPHY
• Mesopotamia is a Greek word meaning 'between the rivers'. The
rivers are the Tigris and Euphrates which flow through modern
Iraq.
• It was called the fertile crescent.
• The fertile crescent is a crescent-shaped area of fertile land in the
Middle East extending from the eastern Mediterranean coast
through the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to the
Persian Gulf.
 City states being created
• Sumer’s history began long before humans invented writing to record historical
events. Much of what we know of prehistoric Sumer was found in archeological
ruins, which told of a people who gradually switched from a hunting and
gathering society to a settled, agriculture-based culture. In 4000 B.C. came the
first villages and the beginning of towns. By 3500 B.C., the Sumerian city-states
began forming, all centered around temples to the gods. By this time, Sumerian
people had invented writing, the wheel, irrigation and water control and
sailboats. One of the names for Mesopotamia is the “cradle of civilization,” as
the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers was the birthplace of
civilization as we know it.
 The Sumerian culture
• The Sumerians were one of the earliest civilizations. Their growth and expansion were
dependent on rich river valley farmlands.
• From 5000 to 3000 BCE, the agricultural communities of Sumer gradually coalesced into city-
states along the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The peak of this city-state culture
lasted from 2900 to 2400 BCE. The city-states of the river valley were relatively rich from food
production, manufacturing, and their position along important trade routes.
• The Sumerians grew wheat, barley, peas, onions, turnips, and dates. They raised cattle and
sheep, fished, and hunted wildfowl along the river. Food was generally abundant, and
populations grew accordingly.
• They traded food, cloth, and manufactured items for raw materials, such as timber, copper, and
stone. Their merchants traveled up the Tigris and Euphrates to trade with the people of
Anatolia and the Mediterranean coast. They also traded in the Persian Gulf for items from
India and further east.
• The Sumerians worshipped hundreds of gods, with each city having its own
patron deity. The principal gods were too busy to bother with the plight of
individuals. For that reason, each Sumerian worshipped a minor god or goddess
who was expected to interact with the major gods. The Sumerians did not believe
in a heavenly afterlife and were realistic about the limits of human goodness.
• The Sumerians are most noted for the invention of the wheel and writing (both
circa 4000 BCE). The wheel was important for transport and for pottery making
(the potter’s wheel). Sumerian writing, called cuneiform, consisted of groups of
stylus wedge impressions pushed into clay to form stylized pictograms
representing words. This writing grew out of record keeping and seals used for
business transactions. The Sumerians were among the first to use boats, including
round boats made of hide stretched over a wooden framework. These coracles
were especially popular among the reeds and waterways of the river delta.
 Akkadian Empire
• A group of Semitic people called the Akkadians settled north of Sumer along the
Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The Akkadians adopted very quickly the culture,
religion, and writing of the more advanced Sumerians who had preceded them. In
2371 BCE, Sargon I seized the throne of Kish and gradually conquered all the city-
states of Akkad. He turned south and conquered the city-states of Sumer, which
were unable to unite in defense. Sargon established the first empire in history
during his reign from 2371 to 2316 BCE, extending his control along the Fertile
Crescent from Elam, to the east of Sumer, to the Mediterranean coast. Sargon’s
empire collapsed after his death but was restored briefly by his grandson. Around
2230 BCE, the Akkadian empire was destroyed by an invasion of Gutians—hill
people from the Zagros Mountains. New cities and towns soon grew up along the
river valleys, but the Sumerians were gone as a distinct and independent culture.