Ancient Mesopotamia: The Cradle of Civilization

The Growth of Early Cities

Mesopotamia: The growth of cities. The early cities in the world were built by people who had the most advanced farming, crafts, and trade. The best-known early civilizations are those of the "ancient world" that emerged along the rivers: the Tigris and Euphrates (Mesopotamia), the Nile (Egypt), the Huang He (China), and the Indus (India).

Full civilizations appeared when villages grew into towns and cities with governments, laws, and record keeping. This advance is called civilization, a word that means "living in a city." It also includes whole races of people who have developed culture and a way of life with their own ways of reading, writing, and producing arts and crafts.

Features of River Civilizations

• A strong political power, led by the king who created a body of civil servants.
• A very hierarchical society: King, privileged people, and subjugated people.

The Fertile Crescent: Mesopotamia

The name Mesopotamia comes from Greek and means "between rivers." It is the land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates; today, this is Iraq. Writing emerged in Mesopotamia over 5,000 years ago. When cities grew, it became necessary to create a system of control to keep the data useful to the king and his government, such as taxes and trade transactions. Soon, other things were registered in writing: holy books, science books, and literary books. The presence of writing was so important that historians set the birth of history from this event.

The Political History of Mesopotamia

The political history of Mesopotamia was defined by the alternation of peoples:

A) Sumerians

They built large cities, such as Ur and Uruk, and Ziggurats (pyramid-shaped temples) where their priests could study the stars. They invented the wheel and also dug canals and traded by sea. They developed writing using wedge-shaped signs on wet clay.

B) Babylonians

The city of Babylon became the capital of the Akkadians. Their kings gradually took control of all Mesopotamia. The most famous king was Hammurabi (1792–1759 BC); his first code of laws helped to rule his great empire. Babylon was famous for its beautiful Hanging Gardens.

C) Assyrians

Fierce warriors from about 1300 BC, their kings began to conquer a huge area, including Babylon and Damascus. These people ruled Mesopotamia until Alexander the Great captured Babylon in 331 BC.