By: Juan Alonzo
People of Mesopotamia would see the world as a hazardous place for mankind, because of the unpredictable nature of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers and the weather. One of the civilizations explanations for the origin of the universe is the Babylonian Creation Myth. Babylon was an important city in Southern Mesopotamia in 2 nd and 1 st millennia B.C.E..Right now it s in modern Iran. The Gods were Marduk (Chief god of Babylon)and Tiamai(Female form who personifies the salt sea(ocean). Marduk cuts up Tiamai to make the sky and the celestial bodies and from the blood of Tiamai makes mankind. This provided explanations for the world were living in today.
Civilization developed alongside the Tigris and Euphrates river, which originated in the mountains of Anatolia, eastern and end in the Persian Gulf. To north and east, mountains extend to northern Syria and Southeastern Anatolia to Zagros Mountains. West and south are the Syrian and Arabian deserts. Southeast lies the Persian Gulf. Floods were a danger to the civilization and the rivers were also a danger because they change course, cutting off water and ways of communication for the people. First domestication of plants and animals took place in the Fertile Crescent, 8000 b.c.e. Agriculture came around in 5000 B.c.e. Agriculture depended on 8 in. of rain. They also needed irrigation. The people soon learned to build canals to supply and carry water.
4000 b.c.e., Farmers used plows pulled by cattle to turn the earth, soil. The plow would also drop seeds with a funnel attached to it. Barley was the main cereal crop because it can withstand the hot conditions and the effects of salt drawn from the surface of the soil when the fields were flooded. Date palms provided food, fibers, and wood. Reed plants, grew on river banks and marshy southern plantations, can be woven into mats, baskets, huts, and boats. Fish were important for the peoples diets. Sheep and goats provided wool and mild. Earliest people in Mesopotamia were the Sumerians. In southern Mesopotamia by 5000 b.c.e. They created main framework for civilization in Mesopotamia. The names of individuals recorded in inscriptions from northern cities suggest the presence of Semites, people who spoke Semitic language.
Akkadian was the primary language in Mesopotamia. Sumerian literature was translated, Characteristics and adventures of Semitic gods showed borrowing from Sumerian religion. This shows that the two groups were merging through intermarriage. Kassites, Elamites and Persians from Iran played part in Mesopotamian history. Until the arrival of the Greeks in the Middle East.
Mesopotamia was full of villages and cities. Villages serve human social needs by providing companion ship. Cities evolved from villages. Cities and villages were linked in a relationship of mutual dependence. Cities depended on agriculture. Earliest known cities were in the Middle East, Jericho and çatal Hüyük. Everyone participated In basic tasks. Gathering and growing food is one of them. Cities depended on villagers to produce food. The urban residents did not participate in this, but they did activities such as metallurgy, crafts, administration, and serving the gods. If a city required food and the villages gives it then the city will return rural districts and military protection against bandits and raiders and a market where the villagers can trade with urban specialist.
City-States were to refer to independent urban centers and agricultural territories they controlled. Stretches of open and uncultivated land lay between the territory controlled by communities and served as buffers. To produce adequate food the Mesopotamian civilization opened new land to agriculture by boiling and maintaining an extensive irrigation network. Canals brought water from rivers for the fields, Drainage ditches carried water away from flooded fields, Dikes protected young plants from the floods, Dams raised water level of the river so water can flow into irrigation channels. There is little known political institutions, but there was some type of citizens assembly.
Early Mesopotamian city had one or more temples. Temples had agricultural land and stored gifts that worshipers donated. Leading members of priesthood, who controlled the shrine and managed the deity s wealth, have been he prominent political and economic force. Another leadership emerged which was, originally, called the lugal-big man- but was actually a king. The palace of the king was soon the 1 st important power and the temples would have to look up to the king. In this time period kings had the all the power and authority over everyone. Military had to protect the king and soon the temples would have royal officials would supervise the temple.
The king had responsibility for the building of temples, proper performance of rituals, Maintenance of the city walls, defenses, extensions of the irrigation channels, preservation of property rights, protection of the people, and perversions of justice at home. Political centers became powerful to control city-states. Sargon, ruler of Akkad, was first to unite many cities under control of one king and capital. His title was King of Sumer and Akkad. Razed walls of conquered cities and installed governors backed by garrisons of Akkadian troops. Soldiers were given land for their loyalty. Uniform system of weights and measures and standardized formats for documents facilitated tasks of administration, the assessment and collection of taxes, recruitment of soldiers, and organization of large labor projects.
Akkadaian state fell around 2230 b.c.e. and the resurgence of Sumerian language and culture in the cities of southern plain was seen under the Third Dynasty of Ur. Dynasty composed of 5 kings. Rapidly expanding bureaucracy of administration let to tight government control of activities and obsessive degree of record keeping. Corps of messengers and road stations facilitated communication, official calendar, standardized weights and measures, and uniform writing practices. Built a wall that was 125 miles to protect against nomadic invaders. Hammurabi had aggressive military campaigns and known for its law codes. They provided principles for judges with a case.
Trade was important in this time and sea trade was also involved. Wood was in Lebanon and Syria, silver in Anatolia,, gold in Egypt, copper in Medit. and Oman, tin in Afghanistan, Chlorite in Iranian Plateau. Merchants were important because they exchanged goods with other merchants in other cities.
Social divisions was in Mesopotamia also. Kings and temple leaders controlled large agricultural estates and palace admin. collected taxes. Society was divided into 3 classes: 1)the royalty, ranking officials, warriors, priests, merchants, and some artisans and shoekeepers.2) Farmers and artisans who were legally attached to land that belonged to king, temple, or elite familes.3) slaves. Slaves were people that came from the mountains or captured in war or were sold. They weren t chained up, instead they had to were a distinctive hair style and if free they would have their hair cut. Rural Peasants had houses made of mud brick and reed. Possessed little metal. Women lost social standing and freedom in societies where agriculture superseded hunting and gathering. The women would have to gather food and make the food for the family and take care of the family.
Women had no political role, but could own property, control of their dowry, and engage in trade. Worked outside household by working in textile factories, breweries or prostitutes, tavern keepers, bakers, or fortunetellers. Non-elite women did child care, harvest, plant, cook and bake, clean the house, get water, tend the house, and weave baskets and textiles. Husband more dominant in the household and received more laws relating to marriage and divorce.
The Sumerians gods were Anu god of the sky, Enlil the air, Enki the water, Utu the sun, Nanna the moon and Inanna was sexual attraction and violence. Semitic people had equated the deities as the Sumerians. The people believe that the gods were anthropomorphic- had human forms. Each city build temples to one or more divinities. Nippur was venerated as a religious center for all the people of Sumer. The temple was believed to be the house of the deity. Priests would try to let the god have a daily cycle similar to the peoples life cycle. It was believed that mankind was made to worship and serve the gods.
Priest were paid in food. The amount and individual got depended on his rank. The high priest performed central acts in the rituals, Certain priest made music to please the gods, and others knew the appropriate incantations for exorcising evil spirits. A high wall surrounded the temple and within it was a shrine of the chief deity, open-air plazas, chapels for lesser gods, housing, dining facilities, offices for priests, craft shops, store rooms, and service buildings. Most visible part of temple was the Ziggurat-a brick pyramid shaped tower approached by ramps and stairs.
An important latter type of tech. is writing, first appeared in Mesopotamia before 3300 b.c.e. Tokens were used to increase the amount of accumulated wealth and the volume and complexity of commercial transactions. Tokens were made in shape of commodity and were inserted and sealed in clay envelopes. Pictures of the tokens were incised on the outside of an envelope. The pictures were the first written symbol. The common method of writing was to get a reed and write on a clay tablet. The pictures were stylized into a combination of strokes and wedges that turned into cuneiform writing. It took years to practice this and perfect it. Some students were taught writing and mathematics by a stern headmaster.
Cuneiform is not a language but a system of writing. Originally for the Sumerian lang., later adapted to express Akkadian language of Mesopotamian Semites even other languages of western Asia such as Hittite, Elamite, and Persian. Earliest Mesopotamian doc. were mainly economic. After the development of cuneiform, written documents marked with a seal of the participants became proof of legitimacy. Cuneiform was used for political, literary, religious, and scientific purposes. Construction and maintenance of dams, dikes, and dams. Carts and sledges drawn by cattle were also common in the area. In the south were there's rivers they made boats and barges.
Bronze was used since it was more malleable than stone, poured into molds, and have a shaper edge and less likely to break. Mud bricks were either dried in the sun or baked in an oven. The potters wheel was used for the rapid production of vessels with precise and complex shapes, 4000 b.c.e. In military there were innovative developments in organization, tactics, and weapons and other machinery of warfare. There was first militias which were a group of able-bodied members in a comm. and to be used for a short time. By 3 rd and 2 nd mill. there were armies and soon horses appeared in Asia and soon the horse drawn chariot came into place. They used a base-60 number system. They practiced astronomy, since they were advanced in mathematics and careful observation in the sky.
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