Mesopotamia HOW WRITING BEGAN WHEELIES IN ANCIENT SUMER WHOLE CITIES MADE OF CLAY WOMEN IN TROUSERS AND MEN IN SKIRTS HANGING OUT IN THE HANGING GARDENS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH mesopotamia_cover.indd 1 3/10/17 3:39 PM 2 societies, economies, and political and re- Cradle of Civilization ligious systems. Long before the cities, however, bands of In the heart of modern-day Iraq, between humans searched the plain for plants and the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, lies a dry, animals to eat. About 12,000 years ago, fl at, hot plain. It offers little to attract a some of these hunters and gatherers dis- casual tourist. But buried under sandy covered that the seeds they had been eat- mounds on this vast plain are the remains ing could be planted to grow more food. of Mesopotamia, “the land between two These people began to settle in villages, rivers.” Scholars call Mesopotamia “the growing crops and domesticating animals. cradle of civilization.” It was there that Some of the fi rst permanent settlements cities fi rst developed into civilizations: were at the foot of the mountains east and human communities with well-organized north of Mesopotamia. When the soil was d CIVILIZATION IN MESOPOTAMIA the Great conquered the Babylon, lay northwest of Assyrians used chariots in began with the Sumerians, Sumerian city-states. The vast Sumer on the Euphrates battle and excelled at warfare. who started building cities in territory ruled by Sargon’s River. The Babylonians cre- Eventually, Mesopotamia came southern Mesopotamia around central government, with ated a 12-month calendar. under the rule of the Persians, 3500 BCE. The Sumerians all its varied people, made Babylon was conquered by the who controlled much of the invented an early form of up Akkad, Mesopotamia’s Assyrian Empire, which arose region for about 1,000 years. writing called cuneiform. first empire. Next came the in northern Mesopotamia Around 2350 BCE, Sargon Babylonian Empire; its capital, along the Tigris River. The C. 4500 BCE: C. 2350 BCE: The pottery-mak- 1115 BCE: C. 3100 BCE: The Akkadian ing Ubaid people The Assyrian The Sumerians king Sargon the settle southern Empire arises invent cuneiform Great conquers Mesopotamia. in northern writing, making and unifies the They develop irri- Mesopotamia. record-keeping city-states of gation. possible. Sumer. MESOPOTAMIA’S ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS 1792 BCE: C. 3500 BCE: C. 2600 BCE: Babylon grows 811 BCE: Walled Sumerian Gilgamesh is powerful under Queen Semiramis city-states king of the King Hammurabi, rules Assyria. emerge in Sumerian city of who creates a southern Uruk. Mesopotamia. code of laws for his realm. mesopotamia_2-3.indd 2 3/10/17 3:41 PM 3 worn out, the farmers moved onto the and leadership. plain, where the soil was nourished by the Villages grew into cities and then city- annual overfl ow of the rivers. There was states, which sometimes warred with one little rain, so farmers needed to channel another, following their leaders’ call. For river water to irrigate the fi elds. Irrigation thousands of years, civilizations rose and projects required cooperation, planning, fell on the plain of Mesopotamia. u TODAY, THE this palace from Over time, the once-flourish- Ur, an ancient waters of the ing cities of Sumerian city. Ur Euphrates have u MESOPOTAMIA Both rivers have Mesopotamia are was surrounded shifted to the west; is part of an area their sources in reduced to mounds by branches, or today, the river is called the Fertile the mountains of brick rising from tributaries, of the 10 miles from the Crescent. Some of of northeastern the arid soil, like Euphrates River. city’s ruins. the earliest civiliza- Turkey and drain tions developed into the Persian here, along the Gulf. This map banks of the Tigris shows the area and Euphrates. today. r MESOPOTAMIA BILL had few natural OF SALE resources; stone, 605 BCE: wood, and metal 689 BCE: The Chaldean were scarce. There WATER The Assyrians king was, however, PITCHER conquer Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar abundant clay. II rebuilds Buildings were Babylon. constructed of mud bricks, writing was done on clay MESOPOTAMIA’S ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS tablets, and the earliest sculptures were made from 612 BCE: 539 BCE: clay. The Chaldeans The Persian king and Medes sack Cyrus conquers the Assyrian Babylon. capital Nineveh, HOUSE MODEL ending the VASE Assyrian Empire. mesopotamia_2-3.indd 3 3/10/17 3:42 PM 4 Sumerians, SUMER 3500–2006 BCE Babylonians, The fi rst civilization developed in Sumerians use mats to dry the marshes Sumer, the marshy area at the southern end of the fertile plain Assyrians, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Over time, the Sumerians converted their open villages into and More walled cities. As cities expanded their The history of Mesopota- control, they became city-states ruled by strong leaders. One such mia is measured in millen- leader, Sargon the Great, from Akkad, niums rather than centu- conquered all of Mesopotamia, ruling from c. 2334 to 2279 BCE. Sumerians ries. The fi rst cities developed a system of writing that developed in the south could be used for different languag- around 3500 BCE. For the es, enabling people to keep records and transmit knowledge. They also next 3,000 years, king- developed metalworking and were doms rose and fell, em- early users of the wheel. Sumer, pires expanded and con- however, became weakened by constant warfare. It was overrun tracted, and outsiders by invaders in 2006 BCE, and the conquered and were re- region splintered into small pelled. During that time, kingdoms. three dominant civiliza- This is a statue of King Gudea, tions held center stage at who developed long-distance various times: the Sumeri- trade in timber and metal objects. ans, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians. In brief, here are their stories. BABYLONIA 1792–539 BCE MAGNIFICENT The city of Babylon inherited the Ishtar Gate, site of grand processions MESOPOTAMIANS culture of Sumer. Under Hammurabi Hammurabi took the throne of Bab- (1792–1750 BCE), it became the seat of ylon in 1792 BCE. A skilled states- a strong central government and a man and warrior, he united rival great cultural and religious center. kingdoms and made Babylon the However, during the following centu- center of power. He claimed that the ries, Babylon was often invaded – gods told him to write a set of laws, by the Kassites and the Assyrians, for to bring justice to the land, so “the example. In 612 BCE, Babylon was dom- strong should not harm inated by Chaldeans. They, along with the weak.” This was the Medes, crushed the Assyrian Em- the Code of Hammu- pire. Chaldean king Nebuchadnezzar II rabi. One of its (ruled 605–562 BCE) rebuilt Babylon into laws said, “If a the greatest city in the world. Babylo- man destroy the nians created the 60-minute hour, a eye of another calendar with 12 lunar months, and man, they shall complex multiplication tables. Cyrus, destroy his eye.” king of Persia, conquered Babylonia in Another said, “If 539 BCE, ending its glory days forever. a son strike his fa- ther, they shall cut off his fi ngers.”* A lion adorns *From The Code of Hammurabi, a wall at the King of Babylon by Robert Francis Harper, ed. University of entrance to Chicago Press, 1904. Babylon. mesopotamia_4-5.indd 4 3/10/17 3:46 PM 5 SUMER 3500–2006 BCE ASSYRIA 1115–612 BCE Warlike Assyrians are busy at work in a military camp In hilly northern Mesopotamia, the small city-state of Assur slowly grew to become the powerful kingdom of Assyria. Using chariots, battering rams, and armored horses, the Assyrians conquered Babylon in 689 BCE, as well as other independent states. They uprooted the people they con- quered, enslaved them, and forced them into labor. These prisoners built the cities of Nineveh and Nimrud. The cities featured ornate palaces and temples and magnifi - cent sculptures. Their mighty walls had gateways fl anked by winged bulls or lions. They even had sewage systems. Kings Tiglath-Pileser III, Sennacherib, and Ashur- banipal II made the empire grow and opened trade links. However, in 612 BCE, Chaldean people from southern Babylonia, who had gained control of Babylon, joined the Medes people from Iran and sacked the capital Nineveh. The Assyrian Empire never recovered. Ashurnasirpal II captured wild animals and brought them to the city of Nimrud BCE for display in the BABYLONIA 1792–539 world’s fi rst zoo. Bronze statue of Hammurabi, ruler of Babylonia mesopotamia_4-5.indd 5 3/16/17 2:17 PM 6 CITY ARTISANS Day-to-Day included potters, carpenters, metal workers, leather Life workers, basket The ruins of Mesopotamia weavers, and jewelers. They reveal more about kings made both neces- and battles than about the sities and luxury ordinary citizens who items. lived there. Still, artifacts and ancient writings tell us something about the day-to-day lives of the people. What was it like to live in Mesopotamia? l MESOPOTAMIAN cylinder seals combined beauty and usefulness. Carved in stone, they produced a raised image when rolled on moist clay. The image could be used to mark a merchant’s ship- ment or stamp an official document. d HOUSES WERE bricks. Square or a central court- WORKER STIRRING MILK made of the only rectangular, the yard. Cities were abundant build- houses were con- mazes of narrow, ing material, mud structed around winding streets. Some had drain- age systems, and some homes even had flush toilets. Trash, however, was thrown into the street until it piled up so high that steps had to be cut down toward doorways. MESOPOTAMIAN FASHION r EARLY GARMENTS were knee- to calf-length skirts, worn by women and men.