Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of theNeolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history, including the invention of thewheel, the planting of the firstcerealcrops, the development ofcursive script,mathematics,astronomy, andagriculture". It is recognised as the cradle of some of the world's earliest civilizations.[5]
TheSumerians andAkkadians, each originating from different areas, dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning ofrecorded history (c. 3100 BC) to thefall of Babylon in 539 BC. The rise of empires, beginning withSargon of Akkad around 2350 BC, characterized the subsequent 2,000 years of Mesopotamian history, marked by the succession of kingdoms and empires such as theAkkadian Empire. The early second millennium BC saw the polarization of Mesopotamian society intoAssyria in the north andBabylonia in the south. From 900 to 612 BC, theNeo-Assyrian Empire asserted control over much of the ancient Near East. Subsequently, the Babylonians, who had long been overshadowed by Assyria,seized power, dominating the region for a century as the final independent Mesopotamian realm until the modern era.[6] In 539 BC, Mesopotamia was conquered by theAchaemenid Empire underCyrus the Great. The area was next conquered byAlexander the Great in 332 BC. After his death, it was fought over by the variousDiadochi (successors of Alexander), of whom theSeleucids emerged victorious.
Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of theParthian Empire. It became a battleground between theRomans and Parthians, with western parts of the region coming under ephemeral Roman control. In 226 AD, the eastern regions of Mesopotamia fell to theSassanid Persians underArdashir I. The division of the region between the Roman Empire and the Sassanid Empire lasted until the 7th centuryMuslim conquest of theSasanian Empire and theMuslim conquest of the Levant from the Byzantines. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, includingAdiabene,Osroene, andHatra.
TheAkkadian termbiritum/birit narim corresponded to a similar geographical concept.[8] Later, the termMesopotamia was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and theTigris, thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all ofIraq and southeasternTurkey.[9] The neighbouringsteppes to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of theZagros Mountains are also often included under the wider termMesopotamia.[10][11][12]
A further distinction is usually made betweenNorthern orUpper Mesopotamia andSouthern orLower Mesopotamia.[2] Upper Mesopotamia, also known as theJazira, is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down toBaghdad.[10] Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to thePersian Gulf and includes Kuwait and parts of western Iran.[2]
In modern academic usage, the termMesopotamia often also has a chronological connotation. It is usually used to designate the area until theMuslim conquests, with names likeSyria,Jazira, andIraq being used to describe the region after that date.[9][13] It has been argued[by whom?] that these later euphemisms[clarification needed] areEurocentric terms attributed to the region in the midst of various 19th-century Western encroachments.[13][14]
TheTigris river flowing through the region of modernMosul in Upper Mesopotamia.Mesopotamian Marshes at night, southern Iraq. A reed house (Mudhif) and a narrow canoe (Mashoof) are in the water. Mudhif structures have been one of the traditional types of structures, built by theMarsh people of southern Mesopotamia for at least 5,000 years. A carved elevation of a typical mudhif, dating to around 3,300 BC was discovered atUruk.[15]
Mesopotamia encompasses the land between theEuphrates andTigris rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the neighboringArmenian highlands. Both rivers are fed by numerous tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000-square-kilometre (5,800 sq mi) region of marshes, lagoons, mudflats, and reed banks in the south. In the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into thePersian Gulf.
Thearid environment ranges from the northern areas of rain-fed agriculture to the south where irrigation of agriculture is essential.[16] This irrigation is aided by a high water table and by melting snows from the high peaks of the northernZagros Mountains and from the Armenian Highlands, the source of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that give the region its name. The usefulness of irrigation depends upon the ability to mobilize sufficient labor for the construction and maintenance of canals, and this, from the earliest period, has assisted the development of urban settlements and centralized systems of political authority.
Agriculture throughout the region has been supplemented by nomadic pastoralism, where tent-dwelling nomads herded sheep and goats (and later camels) from the river pastures in the dry summer months, out into seasonal grazing lands on the desert fringe in the wet winter season. The area is generally lacking in building stone, precious metals, and timber, and so historically has relied upon long-distance trade of agricultural products to secure these items from outlying areas.[17] In the marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since prehistoric times and has added to the cultural mix.
Periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. The demands for labor has from time to time led to population increases that push the limits of the ecologicalcarrying capacity, and should a period of climatic instability ensue, collapsing central government and declining populations can occur. Alternatively, military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists has led to periods of trade collapse and neglect of irrigation systems. Equally, centripetal tendencies amongst city-states have meant that central authority over the whole region, when imposed, has tended to be ephemeral, and localism has fragmented power into tribal or smaller regional units.[18] These trends have continued to the present day in Iraq.
Scientists analysedDNA from the 8,000-year-old remains of early farmers found at an ancient graveyard inGermany. They compared the genetic signatures to those of modern populations and found similarities with the DNA of people living in today'sTurkey andIraq.[19]
Different varieties of Akkadian were used until the end of theNeo-Babylonian period.Old Aramaic, which had already become common in Mesopotamia, then became the official provincial administration language of first theNeo-Assyrian Empire, and then theAchaemenid Empire: the officiallect is calledImperial Aramaic. Akkadian fell into disuse, but both it and Sumerian were still used in temples for some centuries. The last Akkadian texts date from the late 1st century AD.
Early in Mesopotamia's history, around the mid-4th millennium BC,cuneiform was invented for the Sumerian language. Cuneiform literally means "wedge-shaped", due to the triangular tip of the stylus used for impressing signs on wet clay. The standardized form of each cuneiform sign appears to have been developed frompictograms. The earliest texts, 7 archaic tablets, come from theÉ, a temple dedicated to the goddess Inanna at Uruk, from a building labeled as Temple C by its excavators.
The earlylogographic system of cuneiform script took many years to master. Thus, only a limited number of individuals were hired asscribes to be trained in its use. It was not until the widespread use of asyllabic script was adopted under Sargon's rule[23] that significant portions of the Mesopotamian population became literate. Massive archives of texts were recovered from the archaeological contexts of Old Babylonian scribal schools, through which literacy was disseminated.
Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC. The exact dating is a matter of debate.[24] Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary, and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD.
TheEpic of Gilgamesh, anepic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature.
Libraries were extant in towns and temples during the Babylonian Empire. An old Sumerian proverb averred that "he who would excel in the school of the scribes must rise with the dawn." Women as well as men learned to read and write,[25] and for theSemitic Babylonians, this involved knowledge of the extinct Sumerian language, and a complicated and extensive syllabary.
A considerable amount of Babylonian literature was translated from Sumerian originals, and the language of religion and law long continued to be the old agglutinative language of Sumer. Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear translations were compiled for the use of students, as well as commentaries on the older texts and explanations of obscure words and phrases. The characters of the syllabary were all arranged and named, and elaborate lists were drawn up.
Many Babylonian literary works are still studied today. One of the most famous of these was theEpic of Gilgamesh, in twelve books, translated from the original Sumerian by a certainSîn-lēqi-unninni, and arranged upon an astronomical principle. Each division contains the story of a single adventure in the career ofGilgamesh. The whole story is a composite product, although it is probable that some of the stories are artificially attached to the central figure.
Aclay tablet, mathematical, geometric-algebraic, similar to the Euclidean geometry. FromShaduppum Iraq. 2003–1595 BC.Iraq Museum.
Mesopotamian mathematics and science was based on asexagesimal (base 60)numeral system. This is the source of the 60-minute hour, the 24-hour day, and the 360-degree circle. TheSumerian calendar was lunisolar, with three seven-day weeks of a lunar month. This form of mathematics was instrumental in earlymap-making. The Babylonians also had theorems on how to measure the area of shapes and solids. They measured the circumference of a circle as three times the diameter and the area as one-twelfth the square of the circumference, which would be correct ifπ were fixed at 3.[26]
The volume of a cylinder was taken as the product of the area of the base and the height; however, the volume of thefrustum of a cone or asquare pyramid was incorrectly taken as the product of the height and half the sum of the bases. Also, there was a recent discovery in which a tablet usedπ as 25/8 (3.125 instead of 3.14159~). The Babylonians are also known for the Babylonian mile, which was a measure of distance equal to about seven modern miles (11 km). This measurement for distances eventually was converted to a time-mile used for measuring the travel of the Sun, therefore, representing time.[27]
The roots of algebra can be traced to the ancient Babylonia[28] who developed an advanced arithmetical system with which they were able to do calculations in analgorithmic fashion.
The Babylonians were not interested in exact solutions, but rather approximations, and so they would commonly uselinear interpolation to approximate intermediate values.[30] One of the most famous tablets is thePlimpton 322 tablet, created around 1900–1600 BC, which gives a table ofPythagorean triples and represents some of the most advanced mathematics prior to Greek mathematics.[31]
FromSumerian times, temple priesthoods had attempted to associate current events with certain positions of the planets and stars. This continued to Assyrian times, whenLimmu lists were created as a year by year association of events with planetary positions, which, when they have survived to the present day, allow accurate associations of relative with absolute dating for establishing the history of Mesopotamia.
The Babylonian astronomers were very adept at mathematics and could predicteclipses andsolstices. Scholars thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of these related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12-month calendar based on the cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of astronomy as well as astrology date from this time.
During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Babylonian astronomers developed a new approach to astronomy. They began studying philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the earlyuniverse and began employing an internal logic within their predictive planetary systems. This was an important contribution to astronomy and thephilosophy of science and some scholars have thus referred to this new approach as the first scientific revolution.[32] This new approach to astronomy was adopted and further developed in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy.
InSeleucid andParthian times, the astronomical reports were thoroughly scientific. How much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The Babylonian development of methods for predicting the motions of the planets is considered to be a major episode in thehistory of astronomy.
The only Greek-Babylonian astronomer known to have supported aheliocentric model of planetary motion wasSeleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC).[33][34][35] Seleucus is known from the writings ofPlutarch. He supported Aristarchus of Samos' heliocentric theory where theEarth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around theSun. According toPlutarch, Seleucus even proved the heliocentric system, but it is not known what arguments he used, except that he correctly theorized on tides as a result of the Moon's attraction.
A medical recipe concerning poisoning. Terracotta tablet, fromNippur,Iraq.
The oldest Babylonian texts onmedicine date back to theOld Babylonian period in the first half of the2nd millennium BC. The most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is theDiagnostic Handbook written by theummânū, or chief scholar,Esagil-kin-apli ofBorsippa,[37] during the reign of the Babylonian kingAdad-apla-iddina (1069–1046 BC).[38]
The symptoms and diseases of a patient were treated through therapeutic means such asbandages,creams andpills. If a patient could not be cured physically, the Babylonian physicians often relied onexorcism to cleanse the patient from anycurses. Esagil-kin-apli'sDiagnostic Handbook was based on a logical set ofaxioms and assumptions, including the modern view that through the examination andinspection of the symptoms of a patient, it is possible to determine the patient'sdisease, its aetiology, its future development, and the chances of the patient's recovery.[37]
Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety ofillnesses and diseases and described their symptoms in hisDiagnostic Handbook. These include the symptoms for many varieties ofepilepsy and relatedailments along with their diagnosis and prognosis.[41] Some treatments used were likely based off the known characteristics of the ingredients used. The others were based on the symbolic qualities.[42]
Technology
Mesopotamian people invented many technologies including metal and copper-working, glass and lamp making, textile weaving,flood control, water storage, and irrigation. They were also one of the firstBronze Age societies in the world. They developed from copper, bronze, and gold on to iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals. Also, copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, andmaces.
According to a recent hypothesis, theArchimedes' screw may have been used by Sennacherib, King of Assyria, for the water systems at theHanging Gardens of Babylon andNineveh in the 7th century BC, although mainstream scholarship holds it to be aGreek invention of later times.[43] Later, during the Parthian or Sasanian periods, theBaghdad Battery, which may have been the world's first battery, was created in Mesopotamia.[44]
TheAncient Mesopotamian religion was the first recorded. Mesopotamians believed that the world was a flat disc,[45] surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above that,heaven. They believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that theuniverse was born from this enormous sea. Mesopotamian religion waspolytheistic. Although thebeliefs described above were held in common among Mesopotamians, there were regional variations. The Sumerian word for universe isan-ki, which refers to the godAn and the goddessKi.[46] Their son was Enlil, the air god. They believed that Enlil was the most powerful god. He was the chief god of thepantheon.
KingMeli-shipak I (1186–1172 BC) presents his daughter to the goddessNannaya. The crescent moon represents the godSin, the sun theShamash and the star the goddessIshtar.[51][52]
Festivals
Ancient Mesopotamians had ceremonies each month. The theme of the rituals and festivals for each month was determined by at least six important factors:
TheLunar phase (a waxing moon meant abundance and growth, while a waning moon was associated with decline, conservation, and festivals of the Underworld)
Some songs were written for the gods but many were written to describe important events. Although music and songs amusedkings, they were also enjoyed by ordinary people who liked to sing and dance in their homes or in themarketplaces.
Songs were sung to children who passed them on to their children. Thus songs were passed on through manygenerations as an oral tradition until writing was more universal. These songs provided a means of passing on through thecenturies highly important information about historical events.
Games
Jemdet Nasr Cylinder presenting a hunting scene, with two lions and an antelope.c. 3100 to 2900 BC.
Hunting was popular among Assyrian kings.Boxing andwrestling feature frequently in art, and some form ofpolo was probably popular, with men sitting on the shoulders of other men rather than on horses.[53]
The Babylonian marriage market by the 19th-century painterEdwin Long
Mesopotamia, as shown by successive law codes, those ofUrukagina,Lipit Ishtar andHammurabi, across its history became more and more apatriarchal society, one in which the men were far more powerful than the women. For example, during the earliest Sumerian period, the"en", or high priest of male gods was originally a woman, that of female goddesses.Thorkild Jacobsen, as well as others, have suggested that early Mesopotamian society was ruled by a "council of elders" in which men and women were equally represented, but that over time, as the status of women fell, that of men increased.[54]
As for schooling, only royal offspring and sons of the rich and professionals, such as scribes, physicians, temple administrators, went to school. Most boys were taught their father's trade or were apprenticed out to learn a trade.[55] Girls had to stay home with their mothers to learnhousekeeping andcooking, and to look after the younger children. Some children would help with crushing grain or cleaning birds. Unusually for that time in history, women in Mesopotamia hadrights. They could ownproperty and, if they had good reason, get adivorce.[56]: 78–79
Burials
Hundreds ofgraves have been excavated in parts of Mesopotamia, revealing information about Mesopotamianburial habits. In the city ofUr, most people were buried in family graves under their houses, along with some possessions. A few have been found wrapped in mats andcarpets. Deceased children were put in big "jars" which were placed in the familychapel. Other remains have been found buried in common citygraveyards. 17 graves have been found with very precious objects in them. It is assumed that these were royal graves. Rich of various periods, have been discovered to have sought burial in Bahrein, identified with Sumerian Dilmun.[57]
Sumerian temples functioned as banks and developed the first large-scalesystem of loans and credit. The Babylonians developed the earliest system of commercialbanking. It was comparable in some ways to modernpost-Keynesian economics, but with a more "anything goes" approach.[49]
Irrigated agriculture spread southwards from the Zagros foothills with the Samara and Hadji Muhammed culture, from about 5,000 BC.[58]
In the early period down toUr III temples owned up to one third of the available land, declining over time as royal and other private holdings increased in frequency. The wordEnsi was used to describe the official who organized the work of all facets of temple agriculture.Villeins are known to have worked most frequently within agriculture, especially in the grounds of temples or palaces.[59]
The geography of southern Mesopotamia is such that agriculture is possible only with irrigation and with good drainage, a fact which had a profound effect on the evolution of early Mesopotamian civilization. The need for irrigation led the Sumerians, and later the Akkadians, to build their cities along the Tigris and Euphrates and the branches of these rivers. Major cities, such as Ur and Uruk, took root on tributaries of the Euphrates, while others, notably Lagash, were built on branches of the Tigris. The rivers provided the further benefits of fish, used both for food and fertilizer, reeds, and clay, for building materials. With irrigation, thefood supply in Mesopotamia was comparable to that of the Canadian prairies.[60]
A map of the Fertile Crescent including the location of ancient Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
The Tigris and Euphrates River valleys form the northeastern portion of theFertile Crescent, which also included the Jordan River valley and that of the Nile. Although land nearer to the rivers was fertile and good forcrops, portions of land farther from the water were dry and largely uninhabitable. Thus the development ofirrigation became very important forsettlers of Mesopotamia. Other Mesopotamianinnovations include the control of water bydams and the use of aqueducts. Early settlers of fertile land in Mesopotamia used woodenplows to soften thesoil before planting crops such asbarley,onions,grapes,turnips, andapples.
Mesopotamian settlers were among the first people to makebeer andwine. As a result of the skills needed to farm in the Mesopotamian region, farmers did not generally depend onslaves to do the work. Although the rivers sustained life, they also destroyed it by frequent floods that ravaged entire cities. The unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often hard on farmers. Crops were often ruined, so backup sources of food such as cows and lambs were kept. Over time the southernmost parts of Sumerian Mesopotamia suffered from increased salinity of the soils, leading to a slow urban decline and a centring of power in Akkad, further north.
Trade
Mesopotamian trade with theIndus Valley civilisation flourished as early as the third millennium BC.[61] Cylinder seals found throughout ANE is evidence of trade between Mesopotamian cities.[62] Starting in the 4th millennium BC, Mesopotamian civilizations also traded withancient Egypt (seeEgypt–Mesopotamia relations).[63][64]
Genetic studies on the modern day people ofIraq are limited and generally restricted to analysis of classical keys due to the country's modern political instability,[68] although lately, there have been several published studies displaying a genealogical connection between all Iraqis and the neighboring countries, across religious, ethnic and linguistic barriers. Studies indicate that the different ethno-religious groups of Iraq (Mesopotamia) share significant similarities in genetics and that Mesopotamian Arabs, who make up the majority of Iraqis, are more genetically similar to Iraqi Kurds than other Arab populations in theMiddle East andArabia.[69]
No significant differences in Y-DNA variation were observed among Iraqi Mesopotamian Arabs, Assyrians, or Kurds.[68] Modern genetic studies indicate that Iraqi Mesopotamian Arabs are more related toIraqi-Assyrians thanIraqi Kurds.[70][71]
Dogan et. al (2017) states that contemporaryAssyrian andYazidis from northern Iraq might "have stronger continuity with the original genetic stock of the Mesopotamian people, which possibly provided the basis for the ethnogenesis of various subsequent Near Eastern populations." Among northern Iraqi Assyrians,J andR subclades were observed at 36% and 41% respectively, whereR1a,R1b,J1 andJ2 sub-clades accounted for 11%, 30%, 12% and 24%. For Yazidis, R haplogroup subclades dominate, where R1a and R1b account for 9% and 21%, respectively. The high prevalence of R and J macrohaplogroups is attributed to pre-Last Glacial Maximum events in the Near East.[72]
Many historians and anthropologists provide strong circumstantial evidence to presuppose that Iraq'sMarsh Arabs share very strong links to the ancient Sumerians.[73][74]
While other studies indicate that the Iraqi-Assyrian population was found to be significantly related to other Iraqis, especially Mesopotamian Arabs,[75][73] likely due to the assimilation of indigenous Assyrians with other people groups who occupied and settled Mesopotamia after the fall of theNeo-Babylonian Empire.[76]
The geography of Mesopotamia had a profound impact on the political development of the region. Among the rivers and streams, the Sumerian people built the first cities, along with irrigation canals which were separated by vast stretches of open desert or swamp where nomadic tribes roamed. Communication among the isolated cities was difficult and, at times, dangerous. Thus, each Sumerian city became acity-state, independent of the others and protective of its independence.
At times, one city would try to conquer and unify the region, but such efforts were resisted and failed for centuries. As a result, the political history of Sumer is one of almost constant warfare. Eventually Sumer was unified byEannatum. The unification was tenuous and failed to last, as the Akkadians conquered Sumer in 2331 BC only a generation later. The Akkadian Empire was the first successful empire to last beyond a generation and see a peaceful succession of kings. The empire was relatively short-lived, as the Babylonians conquered them within only a few generations.
The Mesopotamians believed their kings and queens were descended from the citygods, but, unlike theancient Egyptians, they never believed their kings were real gods.[77] Most kings named themselves "king of the universe" or "great king". Another common name was "shepherd", as kings had to look after their people.
Power
When Assyria grew into an empire, it was divided into smaller parts, calledprovinces. Each of these were named after their main cities, likeNineveh,Samaria,Damascus, andArpad. They all had their own governor, who had to make sure everyone paid their taxes. Governors had to call up soldiers to war and supply workers when a temple was built. He was responsible for enforcing the laws. In this way, it was easier to keep control of a large empire.
Although Babylon was quite a smallstate in Sumer, it grew tremendously throughout the time ofHammurabi's rule. He was known as "the lawmaker" and created theCode of Hammurabi. SoonBabylon became one of the main cities in Mesopotamia. It was later called Babylonia, which meant "the gateway of the gods." It became one of history's greatest centers of learning.
A relief showing a campaign in theMesopotamian Marshes of southernBabylonia during the reign ofAshurbanipal. Assyrian soldiers are on a boat, chasing fleeing enemies. Some are hiding in the reedsThe Standard of Ur, 2600 BC, the Early Dynastic Period III. Shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli on wood. Discovered at theRoyal Cemetery at Ur, Dhi Qar Governorate,Iraq
With the end of theUruk phase, walled cities grew. Many isolatedUbaid villages were abandoned, indicating a rise in communal violence. An early kingLugalbanda was supposed to have built the white walls around the city. Ascity-states began to grow, their spheres of influence overlapped, creating arguments between other city-states, especially over land and canals. These arguments were recorded in tablets several hundreds of years before any major war—the first recording of a war occurred around 3200 BC, but was not common until about 2500 BC.[78]
AnEarly Dynastic II king (Ensi) of Uruk in Sumer, Gilgamesh (c. 2600 BC), was commended for military exploits againstHumbaba guardian of the Cedar Mountain, and was later celebrated in many later poems and songs in which he was claimed to be two-thirds god and only one-third human. The laterStele of the Vultures at the end of theEarly Dynastic III period (2600–2350 BC), commemorating the victory ofEannatum ofLagash over the neighbouring rival city ofUmma, is the oldest monument in the world that celebrates a massacre.[79]
From this point forwards, warfare was incorporated into the Mesopotamian political system. At times, a neutral city acted as an arbitrator for two rival cities. This helped to form unions between cities, leading to regional states.[77] When empires were created, they went to war more with foreign countries. King Sargon, for example, conquered all the cities of Sumer, some cities in Mari, and then went to war with cities in modern-day Syria. Many Assyrian and Babylonian palace walls were decorated with pictures of the successful fights and the enemy either desperately escaping or hiding amongst reeds.
The Neo-Babylonian kings used deportation as a means of control, like their predecessors, the Assyrians. For the Neo-Babylonian kings, war was a means to obtain tribute, plunder, sought after materials such as various metals and quality wood, and prisoners of war which could be put to work as slaves in the temples which they built. The Assyrians displaced populations throughout their vast empire. This practice under the Babylonian kings was more limited, only being used to establish new populations in Babylonia itself. Though royal inscriptions from the Neo-Babylonian period don't speak of acts of destruction and deportation in the same boastful way royal inscriptions from the Neo-Assyrian period do, this does not prove that the practice ceased, or that the Babylonians were less brutal than the Assyrians, since there is evidence that the cityAscalon was destroyed byNebuchadnezzar II in 604 BC.[80][81]
The art of Mesopotamia rivalledthat of Ancient Egypt as the most grand, sophisticated and elaborate in westernEurasia, from the 4th millennium BC until thePersian Achaemenid Empire conquered the region in the 6th century BC. The main emphasis was on very durable, forms of sculpture in stone and clay. Little painting has survived, but what has suggests that painting was mainly used for geometrical and plant-based decorative schemes. Most sculpture was also painted.
TheProtoliterate period, dominated byUruk, saw the production of sophisticated works like theWarka Vase andcylinder seals. TheGuennol Lioness is an outstanding smalllimestone figure fromElam of about 3000–2800 BC, part man and part lion.[83] A little later there are a number of figures of large-eyed priests and worshippers, mostly in alabaster and up to a foot high, who attended templecult images of the deity, but very few of these have survived.[84] Sculptures from theSumerian andAkkadian period generally had large, staring eyes, and long beards on the men. Many masterpieces have been found at the Royal Cemetery atUr (c. 2650 BC), including the two figures of aRam in a Thicket, theCopper Bull and a bull's head on one of theLyres of Ur.[85]
From the many subsequent periods before the ascendency of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Mesopotamian art survives in a number of forms: cylinder seals, relatively small figures in the round, and reliefs of various sizes, including cheap plaques of moulded pottery for the home, some religious and some apparently not.[86] TheBurney Relief is an unusual elaborate and relatively large (20 x 15 inches)terracotta plaque of a naked winged goddess with the feet of a bird of prey, and attendant owls and lions. It comes from the 18th or 19th century BC, and may also be moulded.[87]
Stonestelae,votive offerings, or ones probably commemorating victories and showing feasts, are found from temples, which unlike more official ones lack inscriptions that would explain them.[88] The fragmentaryStele of the Vultures is an early example of the inscribed type.[89] The AssyrianBlack Obelisk of Shalmaneser III a large and solid late one.[90]
The conquest of the whole of Mesopotamia and much surrounding territory by the Assyrians created a larger and wealthier state than the region had known before, and very grandiose art in palaces and public places, no doubt partly intended to match the splendour of the art of the neighbouring Egyptian empire. The Assyrians developed a style of extremely large schemes of very finely detailed narrative low reliefs in stone for palaces, with scenes of war or hunting. TheBritish Museum has an outstanding collection. They produced very little sculpture in the round, except for colossal guardian figures, often the human-headedlamassu, which are sculpted in high relief on two sides of a rectangular block, with the heads effectively in the round, and five legs, so that both views seem complete. Even before dominating the region, they continued the cylinder seal tradition, with designs which are often exceptionally energetic and refined.[91]
Bronze head of an Akkadian ruler, discovered inNineveh in 1931, presumably depicting eitherSargon of Akkad or Sargon's grandsonNaram-Sin.[92]
Striding lions from the Processional Street ofBabylon.
Lamassu, initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was calledLamma, it was later depicted from Assyrian times as a hybrid of a human, bird, and either a bull or lion—specifically having a human head, the body of a bull or a lion, and bird wings, under the nameLamassu.[93][94]
Assyrian ornaments and patterns, illustrated in a book from 1920
Detail of Nebuchadnezzar II's Building Inscription plaque of the Ishtar Gate, fromBabylon
Artist's impression of a hall in an Assyrian palace fromThe Monuments of Nineveh byAusten Henry Layard, 1853
TheBlack Obelisk of Shalmaneser III. The king, surrounded by his royal attendants and a high-ranking official, receives a tribute from Sua, king of Gilzanu (north-west Iran), who bows and prostrates before the king. FromNimrud
"Winged genie",Nimrud c. 870 BC, with inscription running across his midriff.
The study of ancient Mesopotamian architecture is based on availablearchaeological evidence, pictorial representation of buildings, and texts on building practices. Scholarly literature usually concentrates on temples, palaces, city walls and gates, and other monumental buildings, but occasionally one finds works on residential architecture as well.[95] Archaeological surface surveys also allowed for the study of urban form in early Mesopotamian cities.
Brick is the dominant material, as the material was freely available locally, whereas building stone had to be brought a considerable distance to most cities.[96] Theziggurat is the most distinctive form, and cities often had large gateways, of which theIshtar Gate from Neo-Babylonian Babylon, decorated with beasts in polychrome brick, is the most famous, now largely in thePergamon Museum inBerlin.
Iron Age palaces and temples are found at theAssyrian (Kalhu/Nimrud,Khorsabad,Nineveh),Babylonian (Babylon),Urartian (Tushpa/Van, Kalesi, Cavustepe, Ayanis,Armavir,Erebuni,Bastam) andNeo-Hittite sites (Karkamis,Tell Halaf,Karatepe). Houses are mostly known from Old Babylonian remains at Nippur and Ur. Among the textual sources on building construction and associated rituals, are Gudea's cylinders from the late 3rd millennium, as well as the Assyrian and Babylonian royal inscriptions from theIron Age.
^abcMiquel, A.; Brice, W. C.; Sourdel, D.; Aubin, J.; Holt, P. M.; Kelidar, A.; Blanc, H.; MacKenzie, D. N.; Pellat, Ch. (2011), "ʿIrāḳ", in Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.;Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.),Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Online,OCLC624382576.
^Pollock, Susan (1999),Ancient Mesopotamia. The Eden that never was, Case Studies in Early Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 1,ISBN978-0-521-57568-3
^Lemche, Niels Peter (2004). "Assyria and Babylonia".Historical dictionary of ancient Israel. Historical dictionaries of ancient civilizations and historical eras. Lanham, Md.: Scarecrow Press. pp. 64–67.ISBN978-0-8108-4848-1.
^abFoster, Benjamin R.; Polinger Foster, Karen (2009),Civilizations of ancient Iraq, Princeton: Princeton University Press,ISBN978-0-691-13722-3
^abCanard, M. (2011), "al-ḎJazīra, Ḏjazīrat Aḳūr or Iḳlīm Aḳūr", in Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.;Bosworth, C. E.; van Donzel, E.; Heinrichs, W. P. (eds.),Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Leiden, Netherlands: Brill Online,OCLC624382576.
^Wilkinson, Tony J. (2000), "Regional approaches to Mesopotamian archaeology: the contribution of archaeological surveys",Journal of Archaeological Research,8 (3):219–267,doi:10.1023/A:1009487620969,ISSN1573-7756,S2CID140771958.
^Matthews, Roger (2003),The archaeology of Mesopotamia. Theories and approaches, Approaching the past, Milton Square: Routledge,ISBN978-0-415-25317-8.
^abBahrani, Z. (1998), "Conjuring Mesopotamia: imaginative geography and a world past", in Meskell, L. (ed.),Archaeology under fire: Nationalism, politics and heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, London, England: Routledge, pp. 159–174,ISBN978-0-415-19655-0.
^Scheffler, Thomas (2003). "'Fertile crescent', 'Orient', 'Middle East': the changing mental maps of Southeast Asia".European Review of History.10 (2):253–272.doi:10.1080/1350748032000140796.S2CID6707201.
^Broadbent, G., "The Ecology of the Mudhif", in: Geoffrey Broadbent and C. A. Brebbia,Eco-architecture II: Harmonisation Between Architecture and Nature, WIT Press, 2008, pp. 15–26.
^Thompson, William R. (2004) "Complexity, Diminishing Marginal Returns, and Serial Mesopotamian Fragmentation", (Vol 3, Journal of World-Systems Research).
^Pollock, Susan (1999),Ancient Mesopotamia. The Eden that never was, Case Studies in Early Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 2,ISBN978-0-521-57568-3.
^Woods C. (2006). "Bilingualism, Scribal Learning, and the Death of Sumerian". In S. L. Sanders (ed)Margins of Writing, Origins of Culture: 91–120, Chicago, Illinois[1].Archived 29 April 2013 at theWayback Machine.
^Boyer 1991, "Mesopotamia" p. 30: "Babylonian mathematicians did not hesitate to interpolate by proportional parts to approximate intermediate values. Linear interpolation seems to have been a commonplace procedure in ancient Mesopotamia, and the positional notation lent itself conveniently to the rile of three. [...] a table essential in Babylonian algebra; this subject reached a considerably higher level in Mesopotamia than in Egypt. Many problem texts from the Old Babylonian period show that the solution of the complete three-term quadratic equation afforded the Babylonians no serious difficulty, for flexible algebraic operations had been developed. They could transpose terms in equations by adding equals to equals, and they couldmultiply both sides by like quantities to removefractions or to eliminate factors. By adding to they could obtain for they were familiar with many simple forms of factoring. [...]Egyptian algebra had been much concerned with linear equations, but the Babylonians evidently found these too elementary for much attention. [...] In another problem in an Old Babylonian text we find two simultaneous linear equations in two unknown quantities, called respectively the "first silver ring" and the "second silver ring.""
^Joyce, David E. (1995)."Plimpton 322".Archived from the original on 8 March 2011. Retrieved3 June 2022.The clay tablet with the catalog number 322 in the G. A. Plimpton Collection at Columbia University may be the most well known mathematical tablet, certainly the most photographed one, but it deserves even greater renown. It was scribed in the Old Babylonian period between −1900 and −1600 and shows the most advanced mathematics before the development of Greek mathematics.
^D. Brown (2000),Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology, Styx Publications,ISBN90-5693-036-2.
^Otto E. Neugebauer (1945). "The History of Ancient Astronomy Problems and Methods",Journal of Near Eastern Studies4 (1), pp. 1–38.
^George Sarton (1955). "Chaldaean Astronomy of the Last Three Centuries B.C.",Journal of the American Oriental Society75 (3), pp. 166–173 [169].
^William P. D. Wightman (1951, 1953),The Growth of Scientific Ideas, Yale University Press, p. 38.
^abH. F. J. Horstmanshoff, Marten Stol, Cornelis Tilburg (2004),Magic and Rationality in Ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Medicine, p. 99,Brill Publishers,ISBN90-04-13666-5.
^Friedenwald, Julius; Morrison, Samuel (January 1940). "The History of the Enema with Some Notes on Related Procedures (Part I)".Bulletin of the History of Medicine.8 (1).Johns Hopkins University Press: 77.JSTOR44442727.
^H. F. J. Horstmanshoff, Marten Stol, Cornelis Tilburg (2004),Magic and Rationality in Ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Medicine, pp. 97–98,Brill Publishers,ISBN90-04-13666-5.
^Stephanie Dalley andJohn Peter Oleson (January 2003). "Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of Invention in the Ancient World",Technology and Culture44 (1).
^Hetherington, Norriss S. (2014).Encyclopedia of Cosmology (Routledge Revivals) : Historical, Philosophical, and Scientific Foundations of Modern Cosmology. Hoboken: Taylor and Francis. p. 399.ISBN9781317677666.
^Bertman, Stephen (2005).Handbook to life in ancient Mesopotamia (Paperback ed.). Oxford [u.a.], England: Oxford University Press. p. 312.ISBN978-0-19-518364-1.
^Giorgio Buccellati (1981), "Wisdom and Not: The Case of Mesopotamia",Journal of the American Oriental Society101 (1), pp. 35–47.
^Saggs, H. W. F. – Professor Emeritus of Semitic Languages at University College, Cardiff, Wales (2000).Babylonians. University of California Press.ISBN978-0-520-20222-1.Archived from the original on 14 April 2021. Retrieved29 May 2012.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Wheeler, Mortimer (1953).The Indus Civilization. Cambridge history of India: Supplementary volume (3 ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (published 1968). p. 111.ISBN9780521069588.Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved10 April 2021.In calculating the significance of Indus contacts with Mesopotamia, it is obvious that the economic vitality of Mesopotamia is the controlling factor. Documentary evidence there vouches for vigorous commercial activity in the Sarginid and Larsa phases [...]{{cite book}}:ISBN / Date incompatibility (help)
^Shaw, Ian. & Nicholson, Paul,The Dictionary of Ancient Egypt, (London: British Museum Press, 1995), p. 109.
^Mitchell, Larkin."Earliest Egyptian Glyphs".Archaeology. Archaeological Institute of America.Archived from the original on 27 December 2012. Retrieved29 February 2012.
^Bryce, James (1886)."The Relations of History and Geography".Littell's Living Age. 5.169. Boston: Littell and Company: 70.Archived from the original on 11 April 2021. Retrieved10 April 2021.There was also an important trade route through central Asia, which coming down through Persia and Mesopotamia to the Levant, reached the sea in northern Syria [...]. These trade routes assumed enormous importance in the earlier Middle Ages, and upon them great political issues turned.
^Brebbia, Carlos A.; Martinez Boquera, A., eds. (28 December 2016).Islamic Heritage Architecture. Volume 159 of WIT transactions on the built environment. Southampton: WIT Press (published 2016). p. 111.ISBN9781784662370. Retrieved10 April 2021.[...] the Silk Road [...] passed through central Asia and Mesopotamia. When the Suez Canal was inaugurated in 1869, trade was diverted to the sea [...].
^abDalling, Robert (2004),The Story of Us Humans, from Atoms to Today's Civilization.
^Winter, Irene J. (1985). "After the Battle is Over: The 'Stele of the Vultures' and the Beginning of Historical Narrative in the Art of the Ancient Near East". In Kessler, Herbert L.; Simpson, Marianna Shreve. Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, Symposium Series IV. 16. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art. pp. 11–32.ISSN0091-7338.
^Winter, Irene J. (1985). "After the Battle is Over: The 'Stele of the Vultures' and the Beginning of Historical Narrative in the Art of the Ancient Near East". In Kessler, Herbert L.; Simpson, Marianna Shreve. Pictorial Narrative in Antiquity and the Middle Ages. Center for Advanced Study in the Visual Arts, Symposium Series IV. 16. Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art. pp. 11–32.ISSN0091-7338.
^Fensham, F. Charles (19620, "Widow, Orphan, and the Poor in Ancient near Eastern Legal and Wisdom Literature" (Journal of Near Eastern Studies, Vol. 21, No. 2 (April 1962)), pp. 129–139.
^Dunham, Sally (2005), "Ancient Near Eastern architecture", in Snell, Daniel (ed.),A Companion to the Ancient Near East, Oxford, England: Blackwell, pp. 266–280,ISBN978-0-631-23293-3.
^"Mesopotamia".World History Encyclopedia.Archived from the original on 10 April 2021. Retrieved21 July 2017.
Sources
Beaulieu, P. A. (2005). "World Hegemony, 900–300 BCE". In Snell, D. C. (ed.).A Companion to the Ancient Near East. Oxford University Press.ISBN978-1405160018.
Frankfort, Henri (1970).The Art and Architecture of the Ancient Orient. Pelican History of Art (4th ed.). Penguin (now Yale History of Art).ISBN0-14-056107-2.
Liungman, Carl G. (2004).Symbols: Encyclopedia of Western Signs and Ideograms. Lidingö, Sweden: HME Publishing.ISBN978-91-972705-0-2.
Edzard, Dietz Otto; 2004.Geschichte Mesopotamiens. Von den Sumerern bis zu Alexander dem Großen, München, Germany,ISBN3-406-51664-5.
Hrouda, Barthel and Rene Pfeilschifter; 2005.Mesopotamien. Die antiken Kulturen zwischen Euphrat und Tigris. München, Germany 2005 (4. Aufl.),ISBN3-406-46530-7.
Joannès, Francis (2001).Dictionnaire de la civilisation mésopotamienne, Robert Laffont.
Korn, Wolfgang; 2004.Mesopotamien – Wiege der Zivilisation. 6000 Jahre Hochkulturen an Euphrat und Tigris, Stuttgart, Germany,ISBN3-8062-1851-X.
Matthews, Roger; 2005.The early prehistory of Mesopotamia – 500,000 to 4,500 BC, Turnhout 2005,ISBN2-503-50729-8.
Oppenheim, A. Leo; 1964.Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a dead civilization. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago, Illinois and London, England. Revised edition completed by Erica Reiner, 1977.
Pollock, Susan; 1999. Ancient Mesopotamia: the Eden that never was. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
Postgate, J. Nicholas; 1992.Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the dawn of history. Routledge: London, England and New York.
Roux, Georges; 1964.Ancient Iraq, Penguin Books.
Silver, Morris; 2007.Redistribution and Markets in the Economy of Ancient Mesopotamia: Updating Polanyi,Antiguo Oriente 5: 89–112.
_(2).jpg)
![Bronze head of an Akkadian ruler, discovered in Nineveh in 1931, presumably depicting either Sargon of Akkad or Sargon's grandson Naram-Sin.[92]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aMask_of_Sargon_of_Akkad.jpg)
![Lamassu, initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called Lamma, it was later depicted from Assyrian times as a hybrid of a human, bird, and either a bull or lion—specifically having a human head, the body of a bull or a lion, and bird wings, under the name Lamassu.[93][94]](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=https%3a%2f%2fwikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aAssyrian_Winged_Bull.jpg)
_(14741970056).jpg)
.svg)
