Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia (from the Greek, meaning 'between two rivers’) was an ancient region in the eastern Mediterranean bounded in the northeast by the Zagros Mountains and in the southeast by the Arabian Plateau, corresponding to today’s Iraq, mostly, but also parts of modern-day Iran, Syria and Turkey. The 'two rivers' of the name referred to the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers and the land was known as 'Al-Jazirah'(the island) by the Arabs (referencing what Egyptologist J.H. Breasted would later call the Fertile Crescent, where Mesopotamian civilization began).

Unlike the more unified civilizations of Egypt or Greece, Mesopotamia was a collection of varied cultures whose only real bond was that of their script, their gods and their attitude toward women. The social customs, laws and even language of Akkad, for example, cannot be assumed to correspond to those of Babylon; it does seem, however, that the rights of women, the importance of literacy and the pantheon of the gods did, indeed, do so. As a result of this, Mesopotamia should be more properly understood as a region which produced multiple empires and civilizations rather than any single civilization. Even so, Mesopotamia is known as the “cradle of civilization” primarily because of two developments that occurred there in the 4th century BCE: the rise of the city as we recognize that entity today and the invention of writing (although writing is also known to have developed in Egypt, in the Indus Valley, in China and to have taken form independently in Mesoamerica).

Archaeological excavations starting in the 1840s have revealed human settlements dating to 10,000 BCE in Mesopotamia and indicate that the fertile conditions of the land between two rivers [see Fertile Crescent] allowed an ancient hunter-gatherer people to settle in the land, domesticate animals, and turn their attention to agriculture. Trade soon followed and with prosperity came urbanization and the birth of the city. It is generally thought that writing was also invented due to trade out of the necessity for long-distance communication and for keeping more careful track of accounts.

Mesopotamia was known in antiquity as a seat of learning and it is believed that Thales of Miletus (known as the 'first philosopher') studied there. As the Babylonians believed that water was the 'first principle' from which all else flowed, and as Thales is famous for that very claim, it seems probable he studied in the region. Intellectual pursuits were highly valued across the region and the schools (devoted primarily to the priestly class) were said to be as numerous as temples and taught reading, writing, religion, law, medicine and astrology. There were over 1,000 deities in the pantheon of the gods of the Mesopotamian cultures and many stories concerning the gods (among them, the creation myth, the Enuma Elish) and it is generally accepted that Biblical tales such as the Fall of Man and the Flood of Noah (among many others) originated in Mesopotamian lore, as they first appear in Mesopotamian works such as The Myth of Adapa and the Epic of Gilgamesh, the oldest written story in the world. Women enjoyed equal rights and could own land, file for divorce and make contracts in trade.

The history of the region may be more easily understood by dividing it into periods:

Pre-Pottery Neolithic Age: 10,000 BCE. There is archaeological evidence of crude settlements and early signs of warfare between tribes, most likely over fertile land for crops and fields for grazing livestock.

Pottery Neolithic Age: 7,000 BCE. In this period there was a widespread use of tools and clay pots and a specific culture begins to emerge in the Fertile Crescent.

Copper Age: 5,900 – 3,200 BCE. The rise of cities began in this period, most notably in the regions of Sumer (in which thrived the cities of Eridu, Uruk, Ur, Kish, Nuzi, Jericho, Lagash, Nippur and Ngirsu) and Elam with its city of Susa. The period also saw the invention of writing around 3000 BCE and the first war in the world, between the Kingdoms of Sumer and Elam, was recorded 3,200 BCE, with Sumer as the victor.

Early Bronze Age: 3,000 – 2119 BCE. The rise of the city-state lay the foundation for economic and political stability leading to the rise of the Akkadian Empire (2350 BCE) and the rapid growth of the cities of Akkad and Mari. The cultural prosperity necessary for the creation of art in the region resulted in more intricate designs in architecture and sculpture.

Middle Bronze Age: 2119-1700 BCE. The expansion of the Assyrian Kingdoms (Assur, Nimrud, Sharrukin, Dur and Ninevah) and the rise of Babylonian Dynasty (centered in Babylon and Chaldea) created an atmosphere conducive to trade and, with it, warfare. Hammurabi, King of Babylon (1792-1750 BCE) wrote his famous code of laws, inscribed on the stele of the gods, during this period and the great walls of Babylon and the Ishtar Gate (remarked upon by later writers as 'wonders’) were built. Babylon became a leading center at this time for intellectual pursuit and high accomplishment in arts and letters.

Late Bronze Age: 1700-1100 BCE. The rise of the Kassite Dynasty (a tribe who came from the Zagros Mountains in the north and thought to have originated in modern-day Iran) leads to a shift in power and an expansion of culture and learning after the Kassites conquer Babylon. The collapse of the Bronze Age followed the discovery of how to mine ore and make use of iron, a technology which the Kassites and, later, the Hittites made singular use of in warfare. The period also saw the beginning of the decline of Babylonian culture due to the rise in power of the Kassites and the Assyrian Empire was firmly established and prospered under the rule of Tiglath-Pileser I and, after him, Ashurnasirpal II.

Iron Age: 1000 – 500 BCE. This age saw the rise and expansion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under Tiglath-Pileser III and that Empire’s meteoric rise to power and conquest under the rule of Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal (who, between the three, conquered Babylonia, Syria, Israel and Egypt). The Empire suffered a decline as rapid as its rise due to repeated attacks on central cities by Babylonians, Medes and Scythians. The tribes of the Hittites and the Mitanni consolidated their respective powers during this time and resulted in the rise of the Neo-Hittite and Neo-Babylonian Empires. King Nebuchadrezzar II of Babylon destroyed Jerusalem (588) during this period and forced the inhabitants of Israel into the “Babylonian Exile” and the fall of Babylon to Cyrus II of Persia in 539 BCE effectively ended Babylonian culture.

Classical Antiquity: 500 BCE – 7th century CE. After Cyrus II took Babylon, the bulk of Mesopotamia became part of the Parthian Empire and this period saw a rapid cultural decline most notably in the loss of the knowledge of cuneiform script. The conquest of the Persians by Alexander the Great brought Hellenization of the culture and religion and, even though Alexander tried to again make Babylon a city of consequence, its days of glory were a thing of the past. By the time of the conquest by the Roman Empire, Mesopotamia was a largely Hellenized region which had forgotten the old gods and the old ways. The Romans improved the infrastructure of their colonies significantly through their introduction of better roads and plumbing and brought Roman Law to the land. The entire culture of the land once known as Mesopotamia was swept away in the final conquest of the region by Muslim Arabs in the 7th century CE which resulted in the unification of law, language, religion and culture under Islam.

Written by Joshua J. Mark, published 02 September 2009.