Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia

153 Pages·2009·14.34 MB·English

by  Barbara Somervill

Great empires of the past
Empires of
A
ncient
M
esopotAMiA
Great empires of the past
Empire of Alexander the Great
Empire of Ancient Egypt
Empire of Ancient Greece
Empire of Ancient Rome
Empire of the Aztecs
Empire of the Incas
Empire of the Islamic World
Empire of the Mongols
Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia
Empires of Ancient Persia
Empires of Medieval West Africa
Empires of the Maya
Gr e at e m pi r e s of t h e pa st
Empires of
A
ncient
M
esopotAMiA
B a. S
arBara omervill
leSlie Schramer, hiStorical conSultant
Great Empires of the Past: Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia
Copyright © 2010 Barbara A. Somervill
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Somervill, Barbara A.
Empires of ancient Mesopotamia / Barbara A. Somervill.
p. cm. — (Great empires of the past)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-60413-157-4 (hardcover: acid-free paper)
ISBN 978-1-43812-885-6 (e-book)
1. Iraq—Civilization—To 634—Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series.
DS69.5.S65 2009
935—dc22
2009017740
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C
ONTENTS
Introduction 7
PART I HISTORY
CHAPTER 1 From Farm to City 17
CHAPTER 2 From Sargon to Hammurabi 31
CHAPTER 3 Th e Final Years of Power 45
PART II SOCIETY AND CULTURE
CHAPTER 4 Sumerian Culture 67
CHAPTER 5 Babylonian Culture 85
CHAPTER 6 Assyrian Culture 111
Epilogue 125
Time Line 133
Glossary 135
Bibliography 137
Further Resources 140
Picture Credits 143
Index 144
About the Author 152
5
GEP-MesopotamiaFNL.indd 5 11/6/09 11:46:18 AM

i
ntroduction
FEW CULTURES HHHAAAvvE HAD AS BIG AN IMPACT ON MODERN opposite
society as the empires of ancient Mesopotamia. Their influence can This stone plaque shows
be seen in almost every area, including mathematics, writing, agricul- a mythical beast with a
lion’s body and a ram’s
ture, and architecture. It was Mesopotamian scholars who developed
head. It was made by
the idea of using zero as a number. They also developed writing and
the Assyrians—one of
they founded the first schools.
the many cultures that
In agriculture, early Mesopotamian farmers understood the dominated parts of
importance of maintaining a surplus (extra) of food so they could eat ancient Mesopotamia.
even in bad years. They used seeds from wild plants to produce crops,
and invented a plow that planted seeds as it turned over the soil. They
also domesticated farm animals (bred them to be used specifically for
agriculture). Since the climate was dry, they needed to bring water
from elsewhere for their crops, so they developed an irrigation system
(bringing water to crops through canals or ditches). The ability to cre-
ate a steady food supply meant that the Mesopotamians could settle
in one location and build a community
Mesopotamians were also the people who invented a process for
making glass. They designed arches, columns, and domes for their
buildings, as well. And, in perhaps the most basic invention of all,
they developed the wheel for use in transportation.
The GeoGraphy of MesopoTaMia
Mesopotamia was not a single nation or a single culture. It was a large
region that today spreads through Iraq and parts of Syria and Tur-

EmpirEs of AnciEnt mEsopotAmiA
CONNECTIONS key. The name Mesopotamia
is Greek, and means “the land
What Are Connections?
between the rivers.” The rivers
are the Tigris and the Euphra-
throughout this book, and all the books in the Great
tes. Mesopotamia covers all
Empires of the past series, there are connections boxes.
the land between these two
they point out ideas, inventions, art, food, customs, and
rivers, which were crucial for
more from this empire that are still part of the world today.
the region’s development.
nations and cultures in remote history can seem far away
The region is bounded
from the present day, but these connections demonstrate
to the north and east by the
how our everyday lives have been shaped by the peoples
Zagros and Taurus mountain
of the past.
ranges. To the south lies the
Arabian Plateau and the Per-
sian Gulf, and to the west
the Syrian Desert. The northern area is made up of rolling hills and
sweeping plains. Seasonal rains wash the land and fill the rivers and
streams.
When human beings first arrived in the area, they found forests,
mountains, and fresh water. Far to the south lie marshes that are
thick with reeds. The wetlands are broad and flat. There are no great
forests or hills. Over thousands of years, the climate has changed
very little. Winters are cold and wet. Summers are long, hot, and very
dry.
In Mesopotamia, the rivers, more than any other land feature,
allowed civilization to grow and thrive. Each spring, snow melted in
the northern mountains, sending water rushing along the rivers. The
water carried fertile soil, which it deposited on the fields when the
rivers overflowed. These deposits allowed for high-yield farming in
an area that would otherwise have been too harsh to grow crops. The
rivers also provided fresh water for drinking and washing, fish to eat,
and transportation for travelers and traders.
The ancient Mesopotamian cultures saw a need to control the
rivers’ flow. They built protective dikes (low walls, usually made of
earth, built to keep out water) to prevent cities from being flooded.
They dug canals to channel the water and to irrigate their crops. They
built docks from which to launch the reed sailboats they made to
travel along the rivers.

introduction
Today, dams, dikes, and canals still control the flow of the Tigris
and the Euphrates Rivers. The rivers also still provide fresh water,
The Fertile Crescent
fish, and transportation for the peoples of the region.
Mesopotamia has been
called the Fertile Cres-
UncoverinG MesopoTaMia cent and the cradle of
civilization. The name
The earliest people of Mesopotamia were hunter-gatherers. These
Fertile Crescent comes
people lived in clans (groups of close-knit families) and did not have from the shape of the
permanent homes. They hunted game animals and gathered wild land, which is similar to
fruit, roots, nuts, and berries to feed themselves. When the clans had a crescent moon. Desert
surrounds the crescent,
killed all the game in one area, they moved on to find a new hunting
but within that region
site. Those roaming clans eventually became farmers and, over time,
fruit, vegetables, and
built towns and cities. This change took several thousand years.
grain grow quickly. The
The people living in different cities spoke different languages and
cradle of civilization
had different religious beliefs. Their customs and lifestyles were dif- refers to a number of
ferent as well. The only thing they shared was the land on which they different places where
lived. The desire to possess the land set one group against another in people built new cul-
tures, founded cities
what seems like endless years of war.
and governments, and
Over thousands of years, many cultures rose and fell in Meso-
established agriculture.
potamia. Among the most powerful were the Sumerians, the Baby-
The area of the Fertile
lonians, and the Assyrians. These cultures left a remarkably clear Crescent is often consid-
history behind. People today can read about them in the Old Testa- ered the cradle of civiliza-
ment of the Bible. People can also study their cultures in the ruins of tion because it was also
the place where writing
ancient cities. Most of these cities lay buried beneath tons of rubble
began. China, India, and
for more than 2,000 years. Uncovering these cities in the 1800s and
Egypt have also been
1900s created rivalries between scientists.
thought of as cradles of
Archaeology (the study of ancient people and cultures) in its early civilization.
stages was like a match between sports teams. In the mid-1800s, the
British and the French led the field. They argued over who got to dig
where and tried to sabotage each other. As they dug up tombs, burial
grounds, and entire cities, the two nations sent home the wealth of
the Middle East to fill their museums and private collections with
artifacts (items made by humans, such as pottery or tools). It never
occurred to them that the precious items they dug up might not
belong to them.
The two archaeologists who dominated the digs in Mesopotamia
were Austen Henry Layard (1817–1894) of Britain and Paul Emile
Botta (1802–1870) of France. Botta and Layard sought to uncover at