Mesopotamia means “between the rivers,” and is the name given to the narrow strip of land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mesopotamia forms the larger part of what historians call the “Fertile Crescent.”
The Fertile Crescent is a semicircle of land stretching from the southeast coast of the Mediterranean Sea, around the Syrian Desert north of Arabia, to the Persian Gulf.
The ancient region of Mesopotamia covered what today is the north of Syria, the southeast of Turkey, most of central Iraq, and a small part of western Iran. The northern areas are dominated by steep hills through which the Euphrates and Tigris flow in deep channels. The southern region is a mix of marshy plain and desert.
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Contents
Introduction Place in History / 6 What Mesopotamia Did for Us / 7 Landscape and Climate / 8 A Brief History of Mesopotamia, 6000–539 BCE / 10 Table of Major Dates / 12
Chapter 1: The Sumerians Expanding onto the Plain / 14 Building Southern Mesopotamia / 16 Early Village Life / 18 Invention of the Wheel, 3500–3250 BCE / 20 Tepe Gawra—a Temple Through Time / 23 The Bronze Age Begins, 3500 BCE / 24 Growth of the Town / 26 The Invention of Writing, 5000–2000 BCE / 28 A City Dwelling / 30 An Aristocrat’s House / 33 Sumerian Family Life—the Family Structure / 34 Sumerian Family Life—Clothing and Adornment / 36 Sumerian Family Life—Daily Food / 38 The Government of Sumer, c.2300 BCE / 40 A Visit to the Temple / 42 Worshipping the Gods / 44 War Gets Organized / 46 Akkad Conquers Sumer / 48
Chapter 2: Creating Order The Legacy of Hammurabi / 50 Making New Laws / 52 Reaching for the Heavens / 54 Reading the Heavens / 56 Medicine in Mesopotamia / 58 Mesopotamian Literature—Creation and Gilgamesh / 60 Exit from Ur—the Spread of Mesopotamian Culture / 62
Chapter 3: The Age of Super States Indo-Europeans Occupy Mesopotamia / 64 The Rise and Fall of Assyria, 1420–609 BCE / 66 Assyrian Society / 68 The Assyrian Family / 70 An Assyrian Soldier’s Life / 72 Forced Migrations / 75 Hunting—the Sport of Kings / 76 Cities of Splendor and Learning / 78
Chapter 4: New Babylonia The Glory of Nebuchadnezzar’s City / 80 A Society Run by Priests / 82 Daily Life in Babylon—Home and Festival / 84 The Hanging Gardens / 86 The God Marduk / 88 The Tower of Babel / 91 Achaemenids, Seleucids, Arsacids, and Sassanids / 92
Glossary / 94 Index / 96
INTRODUCTION
What Mesopotamia Did for Us
Mesopotamia’s place in history is unique. It was here that, in the Western world, primitive humans became the first farmers, the first town dwellers, and the creators of urban civilization. In Mesopotamia were discovered the secrets of fire, of bronze, and of the wheel. Literature began with the development of a universal writing system. Science began its first halting steps with simple and then ever more sophisticated mathematics. It was in Mesopotamia that kings evolved a code of common law on which much of history would depend. No wonder, then, that Mesopotamia is called the “Cradle of Civilization.”
Landscape and Climate
Mesopotamia means “between the rivers,” and is the name given to the narrow strip of land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mesopotamia forms the larger part of what historians call the “Fertile Crescent.”
The Fertile Crescent is a semicircle of land stretching from the southeast coast of the Mediterranean Sea, around the Syrian Desert north of Arabia, to the Persian Gulf.
The ancient region of Mesopotamia covered what today is the north of Syria, the southeast of Turkey, most of central Iraq, and a small part of western Iran. The northern areas are dominated by steep hills through which the Euphrates and Tigris flow in deep channels. The southern region is a mix of marshy plain and desert.
Throughout Mesopotamia, the typical climate consists of hot summers and relatively cold winters. Rainfall occurs in the winter and spring, but it is unevenly distributed and concentrated mostly on the northern rim. For this reason, only Upper Mesopotamia—the northern region—can support crops fed by rainfall. In the remainder, farming is dependent on the flood plains of the Euphrates, Tigris, and their tributaries. The ancient farmers also used irrigation canals running between the rivers. Only nomadic tribesmen lived in the northern central plain between the two rivers and beyond the rivers’ valleys.
A changing coastline Although the climate has remained relatively unchanged over 10,000 years, the course of the rivers in the southern plain has altered many times. Since the ancients relied on having a supply of water nearby, any towns along its banks had to be abandoned whenever the river changed its course. The two rivers carry a great deal of silt from the Turkish and Armenian Mountains, and over the years this has built up in the Persian Gulf. As a result the Gulf’s coastline has changed greatly from ancient times and today this has left ports such as Ur more than 150 miles inland.
The first farmers migrated from the Zagros Mountains by 6000 BCE, where they had learned to cultivate the wild wheat that grew in the rainy hills. They began to dig trenches to irrigate the plain, and began making settlements. They were the Sumerians, and this is when our story begins, on page 14.
1. Khorramshahr 2. Abadan 3. Khosrowabad 4. Al Faw 5. Mah Shahr
6. River Karun 7. Shatt al Arab (combined flow of Euphrates and Tigris) 8. Bubiyan (island belongs to Kuwait)
Norman Bancroft Hunt
Living in Ancient Mesopotamia
Thalamus
Thalamus Publishing Living in Ancient Mesopotamia Series consultant editor: Norman Bancroft Hunt
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Bancroft-Hunt, Norman. Living in Ancient Mesopotamia / Norman Bancroft Hunt. — 1st ed. p. cm. — (Living in the ancient world) Includes index. ISBN 978-0-8160-6337-6 1. Iraq—History—To 634. 2. Iraq—Social life and customs. 3. Iraq—Religious life and customs. I.Title. II. Series.
DS71.B36 2008 935—dc22 / 2008005265
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For Thalamus Publishing Series consultant editor: Norman Bancroft Hunt Project editor: Warren Lapworth Maps and design: Roger Kean
Printed and bound in China
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 This book is printed on acid-free paper
Picture acknowledgments All illustrations by Oliver Frey except for – Jean-Claude Golvin: 10–11; John James/Temple Art: 18–19, 32–33; Roger Kean: 12–13 (all), 35 (center); Mike White/Temple Art: 60, 61 (top and bottom), 68–69, 74, 86–87 (main), 88–89.
