Mesopotamia

The two rivers of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia(Ancient Greek:Μεσοποταμία - "land between rivers" ) is a historical region in the Middle East. It included most of today’sIraq,and parts of modern-dayIran,SyriaandTurkey.The 'two rivers' of the name referred to theTigrisand theEuphratesrivers.

The land was calledAl-Jazirah( "the island" ) by the Arabs, and Egyptologist J.H. Breasted later included it in theFertile Crescent.The region is bounded in the northeast by theZagros Mountainsand in the southeast by the Arabian Plateau.

The area is often called the cradle ofcivilization.The ancientwritingcalledcuneiformwas first used around 3000 BC by theSumerians.Historically important cities in Mesopotamia includedUruk,Ur,Nippur,Nineveh,andBabylon.

Major territorial states were theAkkadiankingdom, the Third Dynasty ofUr,and theAssyrianEmpire. Some of the important historical Mesopotamian leaders wereUr-Nammu(king of Ur),Sargon of Akkad(the founder of the Akkadian kingdom),Hammurabi(who established the Old Babylonian state), andTiglath-Pileser I(who started the Assyrian Empire).

Many advances in technology were made by the ancient Sumerians, such asirrigation,trade byriver,andfloodcontrol. Sumerians hadagricultureanddomesticated animals,orlivestock,from the earliest records. Babylon is likely the first city built by settled people. Mesopotamia was also the place where thewheelwas first used. First it was apotter's wheelthat was used to makeclaypots, then Sumerians adapted it fortransport.

Geography

Mesopotamia is made up of different regions. Northern Mesopotamia is made up of hills and plains. The land is quite fertile due toseasonalrains, and the rivers and streams that come from themountains.Early settlers farmed the land and usedtimber,metals,andstone.Southern Mesopotamia is made up ofmarshyareas and wide, flat,plains.Cities developed along theEuphratesandTigrisrivers which flow through the region. Early settlers had toirrigatethe land along the banks of the rivers in order for theircropsto grow.

People of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia has been conquered many times by many different people. It was the heartland of theSumerian,Akkadian,BabylonianandAssyrianempires. As each new group moved into the region they adopted some of the culture, traditions, and beliefs of the people who had come before. It was conquered byAlexander the Great(332 BC), theParthians(150 BC), theRomans,thePersian Empire,and theArabs(7th century). It is still one of the most fertile (and therefore valuable) parts of theMiddle East.

Ancient Mesopotamia begins in the late 6th millennium BC, and ends with either the rise of theAchaemenid Persiansin the 6th century BC or theMuslim conquestof Mesopotamia in the 7th century CE. This long period may be divided as follows:

• Pre-PotteryNeolithic:
  • Jarmo(~7000BC– ~6000BC)
• Pottery Neolithic:
  • Hassuna(~6000BC–?BC),Samarra(~5700BC–4900BC) andHalaf(~6000BC–5300BC) cultures
• Chalcolithic orCopper Age:
  • Ubaidperiod (~5900BC–4400BC)
  • Urukperiod (~4400BC–3200BC)
  • Jemdet Nasrperiod (~3100BC–2900BC)
• EarlyBronze Age
  • Early DynasticSumeriancity-states (~2900BC–2350BC)
  • Elam2700 (BC–570BC).
  • AkkadianEmpire (~2350 BC–2193BC).
  • Third Dynasty ofUr('Sumerian Renaissance' or 'Neo-Sumerian Period') (~2119BC–2004BC)
• Middle Bronze Age
  • EarlyBabylonia(20th–18th centuryBC)
  • Early Assyrian kingdom(20th–18th centuryBC)
  • First Babylonian Dynasty (18th–17th centuryBC)
• Late Bronze Age
  • Kassite dynasty(16th–12th centuryBC)
  • Bronze Age collapse(12th–11th centuryBC)
• Iron Age
  • Neo-Hittiteor Syro-Hittite regional states (11th to 7th centuryBC)
  • Neo-Assyrian Empire(10th–7th centuryBC)
  • Chaldea,Neo-Babylonian Empire(7th–6th centuryBC)
• Classical Antiquity
  • Persian Babylonia,Achaemenid Empire(6th–4th centuryBC)
  • SeleucidMesopotamia (4th–3rd centuryBC)
  • Parthia,thenAsuristan(3rd centuryBC–3rd centuryAD)
  • Osroene(2nd centuryBC–3rd centuryAD)
  • Adiabene(1st–2nd centuryAD)
  • RomanMesopotamia, Roman Assyria (2nd centuryAD)
• Late Antiquity
  • SassanidAsuristan (3rd–7th centuryAD)
  • Arabconquest of Mesopotamia (7th centuryAD)

Epic of Gilgamesh

TheEpic of Gilgameshis an ancient story about a relationship betweenGilgameshand his close companion, Enkidu. Enkidu is a wild man created by the gods as Gilgamesh's equal to distract him from oppressing the citizens ofUruk.Together they undertake dangerous quests that incur the displeasure of the gods. Firstly, they journey to the Cedar Mountain to defeat Humbaba, its monstrous guardian. Later they kill the Bull of Heaven that the goddess Ishtar has sent to punishGilgameshfor turning down her advances.

The second part of the epic is about Gilgamesh's distressed reaction to Enkidu's death, which takes the form of a quest for immortality. Gilgamesh attempts to learn the secret of eternal life by undertaking a long and perilous journey to meet the immortal flood hero, Utnapishtim. The words addressed to Gilgamesh in the midst of his quest foreshadow the result:

"The life that you are seeking you will never find. When the gods created man they allotted to him death, but life they retained in their own keeping".

Related pages

• Fertile crescent
• Sumerian Empire
• Akkadian Empire

Other websites

• Mesopotamia—introduction to Mesopotamia from theBritish Museum
• Mesopotamia