THE Mesopotamia it is how we know a region in the Middle East where there are some countries, like Iraq, and which housed some of the main civilizations of Eastern Antiquity. Mesopotamia is known as the work of the greeks, and that's where the first cities arose. This is also where the first form of writing emerged, created by the Sumerians.
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Knowing Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is the name of a region located in the Middle East what housed some of the greatest civilizations of eastern antiquity.. It is important to mention that when we talk about Mesopotamia, we are talking about a region and not peoples. The term in question was a nomenclature given by the ancient Greeks.
In the Greek language, Mesopotamia means “land between rivers", because meso means "in the middle" or "between" and potam means “river”. This nomenclature makes sense because the people who inhabited the region, in fact, were in a land that was right in the middle of two rivers: the
Tiger it's the Euphrates.These two rivers made Mesopotamia a kind of oasis. Thus, Mesopotamia had abundant water, fertile soil and available resources, which would ensure the survival of human beings. This explains why Mesopotamia was one of the regions that housed the first human settlements.
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Emergence of Mesopotamian Cities
The first human settlements appeared in Mesopotamia, around 10,000 BC. Ç. This happened in the process of sedentarization of human beings, that, little by little, they were abandoning nomadism and settling in a place to survive on agriculture and animal husbandry.
However, in the Mesopotamian case, the cultivation of the soil required great manual skills from human beings, since it was necessary to control the water to guarantee their survival. Thus, it was necessary to build dams to prevent river floods from flooding the plantations, but it was also necessary to build irrigation canals to prevent the sun from drying out the soil and killing the plants.
This way of life contributed to the rise of civilization, and from there came the first known Mesopotamian city. It is believed that the city of Eridu, in southern Mesopotamia, has arisen around 5400 BC. Ç. Historians believe that after Eridu, mankind's first great advances took place.
Historian Paul Kriwaczek claims, for example, that in Eridu (and other neighboring towns that have sprung up) a state has developed centralized, a class hierarchy, a division of labor, an organized religion, as well as writing, literature, music, education, among others|1|. For the Mesopotamians, the city would have been founded by enki, a deity known for having taught human beings the knowledge of civilization.
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Peoples of Mesopotamia
As mentioned, Mesopotamia was a region that housed a number of peoples from eastern antiquity. Among them were: the Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Amorites, the Assyrians, and the Babylonians. We will see, below, some highlights about each one.
Sumerians
The first to settle and develop a civilizational pattern in the region were the Sumerians, around 5400 BC Ç. They were responsible for building the first cities, such as ur, uruk and Eridu.
Sumerian cities were considered cities-ANDstate for having independent administration from each other. The Sumerians also built the first dams and the first reservoirs and irrigation canals in order to contain river floods and store and transport water to distant regions.
To facilitate the accounting of trade and agricultural production, the Sumerians developed mankind's first form of writing, known as writingcuneiform. This type of writing was done on clay blocks using a pointed objective, called a wedge. Cuneiform writing became a standard for writing in Mesopotamia.
Akkadians
Around 2200 BC a., the Sumerians were conquered by the Akkadians, who inhabited the central region of Mesopotamia (the Sumerians inhabited the south). With the rise of the Akkadians, the EmpireAkkadian, had Sargon I as main king. This empire was short-lived, as it was soon destroyed with the arrival of the Gutios and Elamites in Mesopotamia.
The Akkadian Empire emerged from the city of B.Cad (or Agade, in the Sumerian language), which, to this day, historians are not sure where it was. It is believed, however, that this city was west of the Euphrates River and near the city of Kish. The Akkadians fell into decay with the end of their empire.
Amorites
In 1900 BC C., the Amorites, from the city of Babylon, started the conquest of Mesopotamia and formed the First Babylonian Empire. With the reign of Hammurabi, this empire transformed Babylon into an important urban center of the time. It was this king who also organized the famous Hammurabi Code.
The Code of Hammurabi grouped together a series of laws of the time based on the principle of Lawintalion, with the motto “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth”. This set of laws stipulated that those who committed crimes would be punished in an equivalent and proportional manner to the damage they had committed. This code was written in the Akkadian language using cuneiform script.
The Code of Hammurabi, despite its harsh laws, is understood by historians as a civilizational advance in Mesopotamia, as it served to mediate disputes and had an important role in preventing such disputes from turning into major conflicts, which could undermine the stability of society Babylonian.
The hold of the Amorites was weakened by the death of Hammurabi and by the attacks they suffered from the Cassites and Hittites.
Assyrians
In 1200 BC a., the Assyrians conquered Mesopotamia by means of their organized armies, that became professional throughout the second millennium a. Ç. Assyrian society was known to be highlymilitarized, and his soldiers were fearsome warriors who used a great deal of violence against their enemies.
The Assyrians expanded their domains from the city of Assur and, although in the 20th century a. C., already had a certain relevance due to their commercial colonies. O Assyrian Empire only formed from the end of the 14th century; Ç. Its heyday, however, took place from the 10th century BC onwards. Ç.
The Assyrian army was one of the largest in antiquity, and may have reached the total of 50 thousand soldiers. It was well equipped, as the Assyrians dominated metallurgy, as well as being quite organized, having troops of cavalry, artillery and infantry. Assyrian soldiers were known for their ferocity in battle, using violence whenever necessary.
The main king of the Assyrians was Ashurbanípal, who placed great value on knowledge and culture and therefore ordered the construction of the Library of Nineveh. From a military point of view, he kept the Assyrians as a powerful army, making his empire rival Egypt in strength. Ashurbanípal's death began the Assyrian decadence. If you want to know more about this pioneering civilization, read our text: Assyrians.
Chaldeans
Finally, the last great Mesopotamian people were the Chaldeans, who conquered the Assyrians in 612 BC. Ç. through the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, these people formed the Second Babylonian Empire, which, however, was short-lived. The Chaldeans managed to conquer many of the territories held by the Assyrians.
Nebuchadnezzar is credited with building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, although there is very little evidence to confirm the existence of this construction. Nebuchadnezzar's death put the Chaldean empire in decay, allowing the region to be conquered by the Achaemenid Empire (Persians), led by Cyrus II, in the year 539 a. Ç.
Summary
Mesopotamia is a region of the Middle East, where a number of civilizations from eastern antiquity settled.
The main peoples who settled in this region were the Sumerians, Amorites, Akkadians, Assyrians and Chaldeans.
The term Mesopotamia comes from the Greek language and means “land between rivers”, being a reference to the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
In Mesopotamia, the first signs of sedentarization of the human being were registered, and it is believed that the first city was Eridu.
The Sumerians were the first to build dams and irrigation canals, and they also created mankind's first form of writing, cuneiform writing.
The Babylonians developed one of the best known penal codes of antiquity, the Code of Hammurabi.
The Assyrians were known for having formed a great empire and possessed a great military force.
The Chaldeans were the last Mesopotamian people to dominate the region, being conquered by the Persians in the VI century; Ç.
Grades
|1| KRIWACZEK, Paul. Babylon: Mesopotamia and the birth of civilization. Rio de Janeiro: Zahar, 2018. P. 34.
