MESOPOTAMIA CIVILISATION

Wikipedia : Mesopotamia

Often called the "Cradle of Civilization," Mesopotamia was the site of the world’s first urban societies. The name comes from the Greek words mesos (middle) and potamos (river), literally meaning "the land between the rivers"—the Tigris and the Euphrates.

Today, this region corresponds mostly to modern-day Iraq, as well as parts of Syria, Turkey, and Kuwait.

1. Key Empires and Eras

Mesopotamia wasn't a single empire but a succession of different cultures that shared similar gods, technologies, and writing styles.

• Sumerians (c.5 4000–2300 BCE): The pioneers. They built the first city-states like Uruk and Ur, and invented the first writing system.
• Akkadians (c. 2334–2154 BCE): Led by Sargon the Great, they established the world’s first true empire by uniting the Sumerian city-states.
• Babylonians (c. 1894–1595 BCE): Famous for King Hammurabi and his "Code of Laws," and later for the Hanging Gardens under Nebuchadnezzar II.
• Assyrians (c. 2500–605 BCE): Known for their fierce military and the massive library at Nineveh, which preserved thousands of clay tablets.

2. Revolutionary Inventions

Many things we use today began in the mud-brick cities of Mesopotamia:

Invention	Impact
Cuneiform	The world's first writing system, used for trade, laws, and literature (The Epic of Gilgamesh).
The Wheel	Originally used for pottery, then adapted for chariots and transport.
Mathematics	They used a base-60 system, which is why we still have 60 seconds in a minute and 360 degrees in a circle.
Irrigation	By channeling river water, they could farm in a desert, leading to food surpluses and the rise of cities.
The Plow	Revolutionized agriculture by making it possible to cultivate large areas of land quickly.

3. Culture and Religion

• Ziggurats: These massive, terraced step-pyramids were the centers of Mesopotamian cities. They weren't just for worship; they were also administrative hubs.
• Polytheism: They worshipped thousands of gods (like Enlil, god of air, or Ishtar, goddess of love/war). Each city-state had a specific "patron god" who lived in the local ziggurat.
• Social Hierarchy: Society was organized into a pyramid with the King and Priests at the top, followed by scribes, merchants, artisans, and farmers, with enslaved people at the bottom.

4. Why It Ended

The civilization eventually declined due to several factors:

• Soil Salinity: Constant irrigation caused salt to build up in the soil, eventually making it impossible to grow crops.
• Shifting Riverbeds: The Tigris and Euphrates changed courses over centuries, leaving once-great cities stranded in the desert.
• Conquest: In 539 BCE, Cyrus the Great of Persia conquered Babylon, marking the end of Mesopotamia as an independent power.

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15 January 2026: 1.05 p.m