Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia refers to the
region now occupied by modern
Iraq, eastern
Syria, and southern
Turkey. The name comes from the
Greek words μέσος "between" and ποταμός "river", referring to the area between the
Euphrates and the
Tigris (the
Arabic term is
Bayn Nahrain "between two rivers"). The fertile area watered by these two rivers is known as the "Cradle of Civilization," and it was here that the first
literate societies developed. There has never been a political
entity called Mesopotamia, nor does Mesopotamia have any definite
boundaries; the name is simply a convenient one invented by Greek
historians to refer to a broad
geographical area.
 |
Overview map of ancient Mesopotamia |
Mesopotamia has been home to some of the world's major ancient civilizations, succeeding the major prehistoric cultures such as
Ubaid and
Jemdet Nasr, including the
Sumerian city states, and the
Akkadian,
Babylonian, and
Assyrian Empires. Some of the important historical Mesopotamian leaders were
Ur-Nammu (king of Ur),
Sargon (established the Akkadian Empire),
Hammurabi (established the Babylonian Empire) and
Tiglath-Pileser I (established the Assyrian Empire).
"Ancient Mesopotamia" is taken to include the period from the late
4th millennium BC until the rise of the
Achaemenids in the
6th century BC. This long period may be divided in
*
Uruk period (largely prehistorical, following the
Ubaid period), ca. 41st to 32nd c. BC
*
Sumerian city states ca. 31st to 24th c.
*
Akkadian Empire 24th to 23rd c.
*
Gutean period 22nd c.
*
Third dynasty of Ur ("Sumerian Renaissance") 22nd to 20th c.
*
Early Assyrian kingdom 20th to 18th c.
*
First Babylonian Dynasty 18th to 17th c.
*
Kassite dynasty,
Middle Assyrian period 16th to 12th c.
*Dark Age 12th to 10th c.
*
Neo-Assyrian Empire 10th to 7th c.
*
Neo-Babylonian Empire 7th to 6th c.
2nd and 3rd millennium dates are approximate, compare
Chronology of the Ancient Near East.
The earliest written
language in Mesopotamia was
Sumerian, a
language isolate. Later a
Semitic language,
Akkadian, came to be the dominant language, although Sumerian was retained for
administrative,
religious,
literary, and
scientific purposes. Different varieties of Akkadian were used until the end of the Neo-Babalonian period. Then
Aramaic, which had already become common in Mesopotamia, became the official language of the
Achaemenid Persian Empire. Akkadian fell into disuse, although both it and Sumerian were still used in temples for some centuries.
Development of writing
Mesopotamia was one of the first, if not the first, place in the world where
writing developed. The earliest form of writing was
pictographic, based on pictures that represented objects or ideas. In the late
4th millennium BC this system became more simplified and abstract, developing into
cuneiform, a
syllabary writing system. This form of writing eventually spread across much of the Near East.
Akkadians,
Elamites,
Hittites and
Assyrians all wrote with this system. Cuneiform was written on clay
tablets with a
reed stylus, which produced the characteristic wedge shape of cuneiform writing. It has also suggested that Sumerian was an invented language, perhaps used for religious, scientific or literary purposes.
Royal libraries and museums
One of the largest collections of
cuneiform writing comes from the
archives of
Ashurbanipal, the leader of
Assyria. Around
650 BC he decided to create a
library in
Nineveh. As all
temples in Babylonia had libraries, he sent his
scribes to collect
tablets from them. If a temple was unwilling to give away a tablet, the scribes had to make a copy. Soon the
royal library in
Nineveh was the largest in Assyria. Much of what we know about
ancient Mesopotamia today comes from this library.
The Babylonian king
Nebuchadnezzar II founded a
museum where important
statues, objects and some tablets were displayed. This is an example of
Babylonian literature.
Mesopotamian people developed many technologies, among them
metalworking,
glassmaking,
textile weaving, food control, and water storage and
irrigation. They were also one of the first
Bronze age people in the world. Early on they used
copper,
bronze and
gold, and later they used
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, and
spears. They also made weapons from gold, but most likely these were used only for decoration.
Mathematics
The Mesopotamians used a
sexagesimal (base 60)
numeral system. This is the source of the current 60-minute
hour and 24-hour
day, as well as the 360
degree circle. The Sumerian calendar also measured weeks of seven days each. This mathematical knowledge was used in
mapmaking.
Astronomy
The Babylonian astronomers were very interested in studying the stars and sky, and could predict
eclipses and
solstices. In
astronomy everything was seen to have some purpose, usually related to
religion and
omens.
In ancient Mesopotamia eclipses were considered as bad
omens, but only the ones that were seen counted. If an eclipse was not seen in the royal city, then that the omen had nothing to do with the king or his country.
Constellations still in use today, such as
Leo,
Taurus,
Scorpius,
Auriga,
Gemini,
Capricornus and
Sagittarius were picked out by Sumerian and Babylonian
astronomers. The constellations were useful in determining the planting and harvesting of crops, and in calculating time.
Mesopotamians also have the distinction of originating
astrology. However, most of what we now think of as astrology developed during the decline of their civilization.
Medicine
Note: there is a journal (
Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes) specifically devoted to cuneiform medicine. Its webpage may be found at: [
1].
Approximately a thousand cuneiform tablets of medical content are preserved from Mesopotamia, and many more doubtless remain to be discovered. The range of domains which medical tablets cover is extremely broad, from gynaecology to infections to psychiatric conditions.
There are two main categories of medical tablet: 'therapeutic' and 'diagnostic'. Both types are divided into different entries by horizontal lines drawn across the tablet by the scribe.
The function of therapeutic tablets is to instruct the therapist on how to effect an appropriate cure. A typical entry reads "If a man is afflicted with X, to cure him do Y". Sometimes entries on therapeutic tablets include a diagnosis: "If a man is afflicted with X, (then) he suffers from (disease) Y, to cure him do Z". In the absence of a diagnosis, it can be difficult to separate symptoms from diseases.
The primary function of diagnostic tablets is to identify which supernatural agency was responsible for the patient contracting a particular ailment. A typical entry reads "If a man suffers from X, god Y is responsible".
Given that in Mesopotamian culture ill fortune (including ill health) presupposed disfavour on the part of the gods, healing had a strong religious dimension, and prayers were recited asking for deliverance. Alongside prayers, rituals were performed and incantations were recited. Some incantations, as in other cultures, were gobbledygook.
Medical remedies were also much used. While these might seem to modern eyes to represent the 'rational' side of Mesopotamian healing, versus 'irrational' ritual based cures, no such cleavage probably existed in the ancient mind.
Medical remedies (potions, plasters, suppositories were among the modes of application) were mostly plant based. Many nasty looking substances listed as ingredients in pharmaceutical prescriptions, such as "sailor's dung" or "live lizard" were actually secret names of plants. This is deduced (among other means) by a tablets which list plants and nasty substances in parallel columns.
Though the ancient names of many plants are known, it is difficult to identify them. The only book-length attempt at identifications (
A Dictionary of Assyrian Botany, published posthumously by Reginald Campbell Thompson), is extremely erudite but overly sanguine. Many identifications proposed there do not stand up to closer scrutiny.
A consequence of the difficulty in identifying plants is that it is difficult to gauge the level of efficacy of the prescriptions. However, in some cases the ancient therapist has been vindicated: honey was used on wounds and sores, and it is now known to have antiseptic properties. Rituals probably served important psychological functions.
Surgery was practised, but the number of currently known tablets giving instructions for operations is small.
There were different types of therapist, each probably with different specialisms, but the differences between them are still subject of debate. There were also specialist veterinarians, but at present little is known about them. Little is known about payment.
Letters instructing that nobody should drink out of the same cup as a diseased person show that there was an awareness of the dangers of contagion already in the early second millennium BCE.
Books which those interested in Mesopotamian medicine may wish to consult include:
Babylonisch-assyrische Diagnostik by Nils P. Heeßel (Ugarit-Verlag, 2000)
Birth in Babylonia and the Bible by Marten Stol (Brill, 2000)
Diagnoses in Assyrian and Babylonian Medicine by JoAnn Scurlock and Burton R. Andersen (Illinois University Press, 2005).
These books contain references to further reading, as do articles in
Le Journal des Médecines Cunéiformes mentioned above.
Mesopotamian
religion is the oldest religion on record. Mesopotamians believed that the world was a flat
disc, surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above that,
heaven. They also believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the
universe was born from this enormous sea. Mesopotamian religion was highly
polytheistic, that is people believed in many gods.
Although the
beliefs described above were held in common among Mesopotamians, there were also regional variations. The Sumerian word for universe is an-ki, which refers to the god An and the goddess Ki. Their son was Enlil, the air god. They believed that Enlil was the most powerful god. He was the chief god of the
Pantheon, as the Greeks had
Zeus and the Romans had
Jupiter. The Sumerians also posed
philosophical questions, such as: Who are we?, Where are we?, How did we get here?. They attributed answers to these questions to explanations provided by their gods.
If someone was sick they
prayed to the gods so that person would recover. As mentioned above, the Mesopotamian doctors were not medically advanced, so instead people asked help from the gods.
Primary gods and goddesses
*
An was the Sumerian god of the sky, later known as
Anu. He was married to Ki, but in some other Mesopotamian religions he has a wife called Uraš.
*
Marduk was the principal god of
Babylon. The people glorified him, so he would allow
Babylon to rise into a great empire from a small state.
*
Gula, or in other places
Ninishina, was the goddess of healing. When somebody was sick, she was one of the goddess they prayed to.
*
Nanna (some places called
Suen,
Nanna-Suen or
Sin) was the moon god. He was one of the sons of
Enlil.
*
Utu (also called
Šamaš or
Sahamash) was the sun god.
*
Ishtar was the goddess of
love and of
sex.
*
Enlil was the most powerful god in Mesopotamian religion. His wife was
Ninlil, and his children were
Inanna,
Iškur,
Nanna-Suen,
Nergal,
Ninurta,
Pabilsag,
Nushu,
Utu,
Uraš Zababa and
Ennugi.
*
Nabu was the Mesopotamian god of writing. He was very wise, and was praised for his writing ability. In some places he was believed to be in control of heaven and earth.
*
Iškur (or
Adad) was the god of storms.
*
Ninurta was the Sumerian god of war. He was also the god of heros.
*
Inanna, the Sumerian goddess of love and war, was also the wife of
Ninurta.
*
Pazuzu, also known as
Zu, was an evil god, who stole the tablets of
Enlil's destiny, and is killed because of this. He also brought diseases which had no known cure.
Demons
The
belief in
demons was also a large part of
ancient Mesopotamian religion. People were afraid of bad
souls, so they set up many statues and painted pictures to scare away those unwanted ghosts. Like gods, there were different demons with their own names and specializing in different evil actions.
Burials
Archeologists found hundreds of
graves in some parts of Mesopotamia. These graves tell us many things about Mesopotamian
burial habits. In the city of
Ur, most people were buried in family graves under their houses. Children were put in big jars and were taken to the family
chapel. Other people were just buried into common city
graveyards. A few people were wrapped in mats and carpets. In most graves some belongings of the people were with them, and there were 17 graves with very precious objects in them so it is assumed that these were royal graves.
Ziggurats
Ziggurats were huge temples built to
worship the gods. They were built from
clay and
mud and had three or four parts. They were very high so that at times of flood they would stay dry. Many workers were required to build a
ziggurat. There had to be enough people to dig clay, make
bricks, and carry those bricks and put them together. Only the Ur ziggurat survived because the builders in the later years learnt that firing the clay would make the bricks last longer.
Music and songs
Music and
songs were a large part of Mesopotamian
entertainment. Some were written for the gods but many were written to describe important
events. Although music and songs amused
kings and
rulers, they were also enjoyed by ordinary people who liked to sing and dance in their homes or in the
marketplaces. Songs were sung to children who passed them on to their children. Thus songs were passed on through many
generations until someone wrote them down. These songs provided a means of passing on through the
centuries highly important
information about
historical events that were eventually passed on to us.
The
Oud (Arabic:العود) is a small, stringed musical instrument. The oldest pictorial record of the Oud dates back to the
Uruk period in Southern
Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago. It is on a cylinder seal currently housed at the British Museum and acquired by Dr. Dominique Collon. The
image depicts a female crouching with her instruments upon a
boat, playing
right-handed. This instrument appears hundreds of times throughout Mesopotamian history and again in ancient
Egypt from the 18th
dynasty onwards in long- and short-neck varieties.
The oud is regarded as a
precursor to the
European lute. Its name is derived from the Arabic word العود al-‘ūd 'the wood', which is probably the name of the tree from which the oud was made. (The Arabic name, with the definite article, is the source of the word 'lute'.)
Games
Games were also popular, especially for
royalties. The other people did not have any games, or else did not have time for them. A beautiful
board game was found in one of the royal graves of Ur. Nobody knows for sure how to play it because the rules were not found. There are only suggestions of playing it.
Family life
Life was very hard for ordinary people in ancient Mesopotamia, partly because many babies died of incurable
diseases. Most boys had to go to
work with their fathers and had their own part of the work to do. Girls had to stay home with their mothers to learn
housekeeping and
cooking, and to look after the younger children. Some boys from
richer families were able to go to
school. Unusual for that time in history, women had
rights. They could own
property and, if they had good reason, get a
divorce.
Food supply in Mesopotamia was quite rich due to the location of the two rivers from which its name is derived,
Tigris and
Euphrates. Although land nearer to the rivers was
fertile and good for
crops, portions of land further from the water were dry and largely uninhabitable. This is why the development of
irrigation was very important for
settlers of Mesopotamia. Other Mesopotamian
innovations include the control of water by
dams and the use of
aqueducts. Early settlers of fertile land in Mesopotamia used
wooden
plows to soften the
soil before planting crops such as
barley.
onions,
grapes,
turnips, and
apples. Mesopotamian settlers were some of the first people to make
beer and
wine. The unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often hard on farmers; crops were often ruined so backup sources of food such as cows and lambs were also kept.
Tigris and Euphrates
The two rivers surrounding ancient Mesopotamia were the
Tigris and the
Euphrates. These two rivers made the dry land fertile. Most ordinary people were quite poor and so these two rivers were very important to them. Yearly
rainfall was low so river water was their only water supply. People had to
irrigate their lands, otherwise crops would dry out. So they had to collect and control water with
dams. If a dam was built in a high place, the dammed water did not go further down. This caused a problem for the lower cities, resulting many wars in that region.
Kings
Most kings in Ancient Mesopotamia were thought to be chosen by a
god, be a son of a god, or be a god himself. They were helping the gods by running the state. Most kings named themselves "king of the universe" or "great king". Another common name was "
shepherd", as kings had to look after their people.
Nebuchadnezzar was the most powerful king in
Babylonia. He was thought to be the son of the god Nabu. He married the daughter of Cyaxeres, so the Median and the
Babylonian
dynasties had a familial connection. Nebuchadnezzar's name means: Nabo, protect the crown! Belshedezzar was the last king of Babylonia. He was the son of Nabonidus whose wife was Nictoris, the daughter of Nebuchadnezzar. The first king of the first dynasty of Ur (around 2560) was Mesanepada. He made Ur Sumer's main city.
First Dynasty of Ur c. 2563-2387 B.C. 2563-
2524:
Mesannepadda2523-
2484:
A'annepadda2483-
2448:
Meskiagnunna2447-
2423:
Elulu2422-
2387:
BaluluDynasty of Lagash c. 2494-2342 B.C.2494-
2465:
Ur-Nanshe2464-
2455:
Akurgal2454-
2425:
Ennatum2424-
2405:
Enannatum I 2402-
2375:
Entemena2374-
2365:
Enannatum II2364-
2359:
Enentarzi2358-
2352:
Lugal-anda2351-
2342:
Uru-inim-ginaDynasty of Uruk c. 2340-2316 B.C.2340-
2316:
Lugal-zaggesiDynasty of Akkad c. 2334-2154 B.C.2334-
2279:
Sargon2278-
2270:
RimushPower
When
Assyria grew into an
empire, it was divided into smaller parts, called
provinces. Each of these were named after their main cities, like Nivenah,
Samaria,
Damascus and
Arpad. They all had their own
governor who had to make sure everyone paid their taxes; he had to call up
soldiers to
war, and supply
workers when a
temple was built. He was also responsible for the laws being enforced. In this way it was easier to keep control of an empire like Assyria.Although Babylon was quite a small
state in the Sumerian, it grew tremendously throughout the time of
Hammurabi's rule. He was known as "the law maker", and soon
Babylon became one of the main cities in Mesopotamia. It was later called Babylonia, which meant, the gateway of the gods. It also became one of the greatest centers of learning.
Warfare
The
civilizations, and within them
city-states, of Mesopotamia had many
wars, amongst each other for
land and
power. They also fought for the rivers' control, transportation,
irrigation, and for places they could get
timber,
stone and
metal. 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 northern
Syria. Many Babylonian
palace walls were decorated with the pictures of the successful fights and the
enemy, whether desperately escaping, or hiding amongst reeds. A king in Sumer, Gilgamesh, was thought two-thirds god and only one third human. There were legendary stories and poems about him, which were passed on for many generations, because he had many adventures that were believed very important, and he won lots of wars and battles.
Laws
King Hammurabi, as mentioned above, was famous for his set of laws,
The Code of Hammurabi(created ca. 1780 BC), which is one of the earliest sets of laws found and one of the best preserved examples of this type of document from ancient Mesopotamia.
For more information, see Hammurabi and Code of Hammurabi.Houses
The houses of
rich people were very big. They had two or three
floors, with a
roof, (which could also be used as a place to live). They had a large
courtyard around the house. In the house there were a few
bedrooms, a reception room, a
chapel, a
kitchen, a
lavatory and a
tomb under the house.The houses of ordinary people were much simpler, with only a couple of rooms in it.
The palaces of the
kings in Mesopotamia were huge buildings, which were beautifully decorated. Most walls had pictures carved into
ivory, about great victories of the Mesopotamians. They also had large
sculptures at entrances, to protect the king from
demons and other
evil spirits. Most
furniture was also made from ivory, because it was easy to decorate and carve into shape. Their palaces contained large amount of
metals as well.
Bronze and
gold was used the most for
decorations on the walls, the rooms, the sculptures and the
throne. Palaces were also the main centers of the
government.
There was a large difference in
money and
wealth between
rich and
ordinary people. Ordinary people were highly dependant on their
crops, because they had very little
money. Rich people had many
slaves and usually lots of money.
1 talent
= 60 mina = 3600
shekel 30 kg of
silver1 mina = 60 shekel 500 grams silver
1 shekel 8.333 grams silver 1 shekel = 2 divisions
1 shekel = 8 slices
1 shekel = 12 grains
1 shekel = 24 carats
1 shekel = 24 chickpeas
1 shekel = 180 barleycornsSilver coins were not pure silver. About 87% of the coin was silver.
Most people in Mesopotamia traveled by water rather than by foot, because it was much more convenient. They made boats from reeds, and it was easy to get through swampy areas, too. Later, when the use of wheels was invented, chariots were used, especially rich people, to look around the city with the pull of a couple of horses.
*The region then came under the rule of the Persian
Achaemenid Empire, apparently as two
satrapies,
Babylonia in the south and Athura (from
Assyria) in the north. During this time, 500-330 BC, Persia, an Indo-European language-speaking nation, became the pre-eminent power of the world.
*After the conquest of all
Persia by the Hellenizing
Macedonian king
Alexander the Great, the satrapies were part of the major diadochy, the
Seleucid Empire, until just before its elimination by
Greater Armenia in 42 BC.
*Most of Mesopotamia then became part of the
Parthian Empire of
Persia, which lasted until 224 AD.
Ctesiphon was made the capital of the
Parthian Empire. However, part in the northwest became
Roman. Under the
Tetrarchy this part was divided into two provinces:
Osrhoene (around Edessa, roughly the modern-day border between
Turkey and
Syria) and Mesopotamia (a bit more northeast).
*During the time of the
Persian Empire of
Sassanids, the much larger share of Mesopotamia was called
Del-e Iranshahr meaning "Iran's Heart" and the metropol
Ctesiphon (facing ancient Seleukia across the Tigris), the capital of
Persia, was situated in Mesopotamia.
*In the early 7th century AD, the
caliphs of the
Arab Empire came to power in
Damascus and annexed all of the
Sassanid Empire. Consequently Mesopotamia was reunited under the
Arabs, but governed as two provinces: northern, with
Mosul (also known as
Nineveh) as its capital, and southern, with
Baghdad as its capital. Later Baghdad also became the caliphal capital. Baghdad was the seat of the
Arab Empire until 1258.
*From 1508-1534 AD, the Persian
Safavids took control of Mesopotamia.
*In 1535 AD,
Ottoman Turks took over Baghdad. During the reign of the
Ottoman Empire, Mesopotamia was ruled as three separate vilayats, or territories:
Mosul,
Baghdad, and
Basra, which included the territory that is now present-day
Kuwait.
*At the end of
World War I Mesopotamia was briefly occupied by the British, who set up the government of what is now present day
Syria and
Iraq under one
Hashemite ruler.
*In 1920 the nation-state of Iraq was created by the
British, with its present-day borders and including the territory that is now known as
Kuwait. Kuwait, which had originally been a part of the Basra province under
Ottoman rule, declared its independence from Iraq in 1961.
These civilizations arose from earlier settlements and cultures which were among the first to make use of
agriculture.
*
Neolithic settlements e.g.,
Jarmo,
Tell Abu Hureyra*
Hassuna period*
Halaf period (or
Halafian)
*
Samarra period (or
Samarran), e.g.,
Choga Mami*
Ubaid period, e.g.,
Eridu*
Uruk period, named after the city
Uruk.
*
Sumerian Early Dynastic periodEarly cities in this region include:
*lower Mesopotamia /
Sumer **
Uruk **
Isin **
Lagash *
Akkad **
Agade**
Babylon **
Kish **
Nippur * upper Mesopotamia /
Assyria**
Assur**
Nineveh**
Mari**
Aleppo*
A Dweller in Mesopotamia, being the adventures of an official artist in the Garden of Eden, by Donald Maxwell, 1921
(a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)*
Mesopotamian Archaeology, by Percy S. P. Handcock, 1912
(a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)* A Companion to the Ancient Middle East, edited by Daniel Snell (Malden 2004)
* Georges Roux,
Ancient Iraq, Penguin Books, 1993
*
Dietz Otto Edzard:
Geschichte Mesopotamiens. Von den Sumerern bis zu Alexander dem Großen, München 2004, ISBN 3-406-51664-5
*
Barthel Hrouda,
Rene Pfeilschifter:
Mesopotamien. Die antiken Kulturen zwischen Euphrat und Tigris. München 2005 (4. Aufl.), ISBN 3-406-46530-7
*
Wolfgang Korn:
Mesopotamien - Wiege der Zivilisation. 6000 Jahre Hochkulturen an Euphrat und Tigris, Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-8062-1851-X
* Agnès Benoit:
Art et archéologie : les civilisations du Proche-Orient ancien, Manuels de l'Ecole du Louvre, 2003
* Collectif:
Atlas de la Mésopotamie et du Proche-Orient ancien, Brepols, 1996 ISBN|2503500463 ;
*
Jean Bottéro:
Mésopotamie. L'écriture, la raison et les dieux, Gallimard, coll. « Folio Histoire », 1997 ISBN|2070403084
* Francis Joannès :
Dictionnaire de la civilisation mésopotamienne, Robert Laffont, 2001 ;
*
Roger Matthews:
The archaeology of Mesopotamia. Theories and approaches, London 2003, ISBN 0-415-25317-9
*
Roger Matthews:
The early prehistory of Mesopotamia - 500,000 to 4,500 BC, Turnhout 2005, ISBN 2-503-50729-8
