History of ancient Mesopotamia

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The Middle East, thanks to its environment and its climate, was the place where the phenomenon of civilization began, that is, it was the place where the first cities arose and where the models that would later reach the rest of the world were configured. In this lesson from a TEACHER we want to bring you closer to that period, therefore focusing on one of the most important areas within this, because it would be the exact place where said phenomenon. Therefore we will focus our lesson on the history of ancient Mesopotamia.

Index

1. Definition of the term Mesopotamia
2. Summary of the history of Mesopotamia
3. The birth of writing
4. The most important civilizations

The origin of this word is found from the Greek root meso Y we power, which comes to refer to the area between two rivers. This is because the area known as Mesopotamia is surrounded by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that in ancient times flowed separately into the well-known Persian Gulf.

But over time the depositions left by both rivers, caused a layer of sediment caused the sea to lower its level, thus making the two rivers unite to lead.

Within our lesson on the history of ancient Mesopotamia we must say that in addition to being the area where the phenomenon of civilization occurred, it will be the place where some of the best known empires of the ancient world were born and formed, being a Babylon a great reference.

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The first news we have about the neolithization of this geographical area comes from between 6000-5000 BC. C. moment in which we will find the first signs of agriculture and domestication of the first animals, that is to say, the emergence of a precarious cattle ranch.

This fact makes archaeologists think that it was being transmitted little by little to the surrounding areas, that is, from the interior to the exterior in a circular movement. Once these techniques were developed by the different societies that inhabited the place, it is possible that the first differences arose within these, since until the At the moment, and according to the anthropological studies carried out, it is known that societies were redistributive, in which there was only one council that was made up of the elderly, that is, say, the wisest people, who were the ones who decided the future of the village.

But from the moment in which the villages begin to have certain surpluses, social differences beginWell, there are people who begin to put aside work to start doing other types of activities such as war, commerce, crafts, religion... It will be, therefore, at this moment when the first cities begin to be created.

The first remains of these are dated between 5600-5000 BC. C. being linked to Hassuna-Samarra and Halaf cultures later. You can perfectly know the differences between a city and a village by their size and by the appearance of a series of monumental buildings, which at first were temples, which made up the nerve center of the city, these being surrounded in an ordered way by strata, that is, the closer to the temples, the more important were the residents.

We can know that at that time societies were still redistributive and depending on what was worked, more or less food was obtained. The surpluses were kept in the granaries of the temple, of which a part was offered to the god (true lord of the city).

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Continuing our lesson on the history of ancient Mesopotamia, we must place ourselves in the year 3000 a. C. because it will be at that moment when the writing is born. This was created by the scribes of the temples to make a series of lists, in order to keep records of the entries and exits of the materials and objects.

These writings are made on unbaked clay tablets and it is known that, after not serving, the tablets were erased and used to write again on these, for Therefore, those that we know correspond to the last period of these civilizations, which, due to the abandonment or fire of the cities, were buried and sheltered until our present day. weather.

In the same way it was in that period when the wheel was created, essential element for trade and transport of objects.

In this other lesson from a TEACHER we offer you a overview of Ancient Mesopotamia.

Continuing with our lesson on history of ancient Mesopotamia, we will stop at the most important civilizations that passed through this geographical area.

Sumerians

We can unequivocally say that It was the first civilization installed in Mesopotamia, being the creator of the famous cities of Uruk, Lagash, Ur, Eridu... These cities had a great monumentality, being very famous the great temples, the ziggurats.

Its economy was based on agriculture, creating large irrigated fields on the outskirts of these. In the same way they were the creators of the cuneiform writing, the first within the writings that would emerge in the Near East.

The acadians

At first they were nomadic peoples that settled little by little. From this group, peoples such as the Amorites, Phoenicians, Arameans or the Israelites themselves would emerge. Its moment of greatest action was around 2350 BC. C. during the reign of Sargon whose capital was located at Kish.

It would be at this moment when they would come into contact with the Sumerians by taking from them a series of city-states. For the year 2220 a. C. the Empire was undone, due to the constant attacks of nomadic tribes that were descending from the mountains producing a power vacuum that they could not cover.

The assyrians

It was a civilization that was located north of Babylon, they came from the cities of Nineveh and Assur. These normally came down to wage war with the Babylon area and thus be able to obtain spoils of war.

The Hittites

Although they do not belong to the Mesopotamia area, we must speak of said people settled in the southern mountains, from the that on certain occasions they reached the area of ​​Babylon destroying everything in their path and creating a period of disorder Social.

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