Mesopotamian Civilization (Meaning and Explanation)

We explain what the Mesopotamian civilization was and what was its origin. In addition, its characteristics, peoples and legacy.

In Mesopotamia the first cities emerged and zigurats (temples) were built.

Mesopotamian civilization

The term “Mesopotamian civilization” refers to The different populations and cultures that lived in ancient times in a fertile territory between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (In the current Iraq, in Asia). Mesopotamia It means “Entre Ríos” and refers to this geographical location.

Although its origins date back to the Neolithic period, Mesopotamian civilization It began with the emergence of the first cities during the Uruk period, around 3500 a. C. Simultaneously the first urban and state nuclei arose in Egypt.

Due to the transformations introduced by Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations (such as state organization, cities and writing), they are traditionally known as the “cradle of civilization” (term that many historians reject because it offers a simplistic and linear look of history).

Among the main populations of ancient Mesopotamia The SumerianAcadia, the Babylonianthe Assyria and the Caldea. These cultures developed sophisticated agriculture techniques, established cities with great population density and monumental architectural works.

In addition, they implemented cuneiform writing to elaborate administrative, religious and literary texts, promoted mathematics and astronomy, formed great armies that allowed them to found empires and worshiped a pantheon of shared gods.

Origin of Mesopotamian civilization

The origin of the Mesopotamian civilization dates back to prehistory, especially to the Neolithic period, when the first sedentary populations between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were settled, in the current Iraq, dedicated to livestock and agriculture.

The first Neolithic cultures in northern Mesopotamia date from the millennia VII and v a. C. They were identified by their material remains (mainly ceramics) and received the names of Hassuna, Samarra and Halaf. Subsequently, the UBAID culture, which gave its name to the UBAID period and that some authors identify as belonging to the calcolithic period expanded from the south (a region known as Baja Mesopotamia).

Mesopotamia’s low was a region with great productive potential but that required the construction of works to drain swampy areas and facilitate the irrigation of cultivation lands through channels. The elaboration of these and other innovations during the UBAID period, such as the introduction of the animal shooting plow, favored intensive agriculture and the production of surpluses. This allowed more time to the production of manufactures, the construction of buildings and the long distance exchanges.

After the UBAID period the so -called Uruk period began, which also arose in the low Mesopotamia but extended its influence beyond. He covered the IV Millennium a. C. And it was the time when cities emerged, writingartisanal specialization, state domination and other characteristics of Mesopotamian civilization. The language spoken by these populations was the Sumerian and the region was called Sumer or Sumeria. From 3000 a. C., Sumerian culture was consolidated in southern Mesopotamia.

Mesopotamian peoples

Mesopotamian civilization was made up of different peoples, with diverse origins and that had greater or lesser political importance throughout the periods that marked the history of ancient Mesopotamia. However, the cultures of these peoples used to have some points in common that justify their study as part of the same Mesopotamian civilization.

Among the main ones Mesopotamian peoples The Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Chaldeans and the Persians stand out.

The Sumerians

The Sumerians constituted the first urban culture of Mesopotamia. Its precise origin is unknown, but it is known that they were installed in the Mesopotamian south and They developed many of the innovations that extended over the centuriessuch as the writing system, the measurement of time, the construction of great temples dedicated to divinities and advances in medicine, mathematics or astronomy.

This town spoke the Sumerian, a non -semi -tidal language that used a writing system called cuneiform (which was also used by other Mesopotamian cultures). In addition, the Sumerians stood out for creating channels that allowed river water to take advantage of and develop a higher scale agriculture.

The Akkadians

The Akkadians were responsible for founding the first unified territorial state in Mesopotamia, or Akkadian empire. This was carried out by Sargon of Acade around 2350 a. C. For two hundred years, the Acadia dynasty dominated from the city of Acadein the north of the Baja Mesopotamia, a territory that came to cover most of the high and low Mesopotamia.

Unlike the Sumerians, the Akkadians spoke a Semitic Language, the Akkia, whose use was extended throughout the Eastern East in the epistolary exchanges and other official documents.

The Babylonians

The Babylonians imposed in southern Mesopotamia a dynasty of amorreo origin shortly after the fall of the Akian Empire in 2150 a. C. and the collapse of the third dynasty of UR in 2000 a. C.

They were led by King Hammurabi (to whom a legal and celebrative code is attributed known as Hammurabi Code), who founded the Paleobabilonic Empire that extended along the low Mesopotamia and reached some more north areas. Its end was marked by the looting of the city of Babylon by Hittite troops of Anatolia in 1595 a. C.

The Assyrians

The Assyrians were installed in northern Mesopotamia (region called Alta Mesopotamia). At first, they stood out as merchants that maintained exchange circuits with Anatolia, where they founded commercial neighborhoods (this stage is known as Paleoasirio period). During the average period, between 1400 and 1050 a. C., established an empire that dominated much of the high Mesopotamia.

However, the largest expansion period took place during the Neoasirio period, between 934 and 609 a. C., when Assyrian military machinery allowed the formation of an immense empire which encompassed the high and the low Mesopotamia, Elam (in the current Iran), the Mediterranean Levante, parts of Anatolia and Arabia and even Egypt. At this time, King Asurbanipal highlighted, who reached important military successes and founded a great library in Nineveh.

The Chaldeans

The Chaldeans were Semitic Tribes of the southern Mesopotamia that from the seventh century BC. C. had confrontations with the Assyrians, who had extended their empire downward Mesopotamia.

In 626 a. C., a outed king called Nabopolasar founded a new ruling dynasty in Babylon already throughout his reign managed to overcome the Assyrians, whose empire crumbled. This fact marked the beginning of the neo -Babylonian Empire, also known as Empire Caldeo, which came to dominate an almost as extensive territory as that of the Assyrian Empire.

During this stage, King Nebuchadnezzar II conquered Jerusalem and stood out for his construction activity in Babylon. However, in 539 a. C. The Neobabilonic Empire fell to the Persians.

The Persians

The Persians dominated an extensive territory that included Mesopotamia, although they were not a Mesopotamian people. They were an Iranian people, of Indo -European origin, which from the Persia region (in the current Iran) founded an empire under the Aquemenid dynasty.

This happened after Cyrus II, nicknamed “El Grande”, conquered around 550 a. C. The Medo Empire (which covered a large part of the regions to the north and east of Mesopotamia), the kingdom of Lidia in Anatolia and the Neobabilonic Empire (which understood Mesopotamia and other territories such as Levante).

The successors of Ciro continued the conquests and arrived at Egypt, Libya, the Indo Valley and the Aegeanwhere they faced the Greeks. One of them, Darío I, founded the city of Persepolis, in which he applied an ostentatious architectural program. The Persian Empire Aquemenida lasted more than two hundred years And it was organized on the basis of a structure based on provinces, called satrapia. His defeat in front of Alexander the Great’s Macedonic Army in 331 a. C. marked the end of the Aquemenide dynasty.

Characteristics of Mesopotamian civilization

Mesopotamian civilization invented the cuneiform writing system.

Mesopotamian civilization was characterized by:

The introduction of sophisticated agriculture and livestock techniques.
A new social structure (differentiated from the one that characterized the previous neolithic and calcolytic populations), with a large population concentrated in cities and a state system for collection of taxes and division of labor.
A diversity of peoples that inhabited this region and that had a greater or lesser political influence according to the period, such as the Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Babylonians, the Assyrians and the Chaldeans.
The formation of great empires which were held in a powerful military machinery, such as the Neoasirio Empire, the neo -Babylonian Empire and, originally from the Iranian Plateau, the Persian Empire.
The development of important knowledge On mathematics, astronomy and architecture.
The creation of one of the first two writing systems of history (next to the Egyptian hieroglyph): the cuneiform writing system.
The creation of the oldest legal documentsespecially the Hammurabi code, made up of a set of laws written on stone.
The polytheistic religionfor which they adored several gods who had different ranges of importance. Each God was revered in a certain temple, administered by priests, and the cities had their respective guardianship gods.
The elaboration of religious and literary texts that in many cases they survived until today, as the poems enuma Elish and attract or the epic of Gilgamesh.

Throughout Mesopotamian history, the political and social structure of its inhabitants experienced changes. For example, the Sumerians of the early dynastic period (2900-2350 a. C.) were organized in independent cities-states that sometimes faced each other, while the stages, Babylonians, Assyrians and Chaldeans founded broader political entities through the conquest of several cities and regions. However, some aspects of social and political organization endured over time.

Mesopotamian society was organized hierarchically. It was a state order in which the king was on the cusp, followed by the court and the rest of the elite. At the base, on the other hand, there were the peasants, artisans, soldiers and, finally, the slaves.

King. It was the highest earthly authority in a city, a region or an empire. In addition to fulfilling political and military tasks, it was considered an intermediary between human beings and gods.
Court. It was the most immediate environment of the king and was generally formed by his family and his entourage of trust.
Noble and priests. They belonged to distinguished families or were people who had earned the king’s favor and fulfilled very estimated functions. The most important positions were those of priest and priestess, scribe, architect, merchant and army general.
Free workers. They were part of the low sectors of the Mesopotamian society and were the peasants, artisans, soldiers and other free workers who, in addition to keeping their families with their work, were obliged to pay taxes to the temple or the palace. Some members of the lower classes could promote socially.
Slaves. They were prisoners of war or people who fell into slavery for having contracted debts. They dealt with various works at the service of a master and could be sold or bought, and also released.

While Mesopotamian society was patriarchal and granted women a role as a mother and wife, Women could exercise valued work, buy, sell or manage land and perform as priestesses. The women of the Royal Court could also have political influence.

Mesopotamian religion

Mesopotamian religion He was polytheistic (focused on the cult of several gods). Although Mesopotamia was inhabited by various peoples and crossed different periods, beliefs, deities and rituals were largely shared, even when some gods were more important in some periods than in others.

The main pantheon arose during the Sumerian era and remained over time, although the Sumerian names were generally replaced by stubborn names, surely together with a belief fusion process.

The main gods were:

An (In Akkadio: Anu), God of heaven and supreme authority of the gods.
Enlil (In Akkadian: Elil), God of the wind.
Ninhursag (also called NIntu and Ninmah), terrestrial goddess and creation.
Enki (In Akkadio: EA), God of waters, wisdom and creation.
Nanna (In Akkadian: Sin), God of the Moon.
UTU (In Aky: Shamash), God of the Sun and Justice.
Inanna (In Akkadian: Ishtar), mother goddess and deity of love, fertility and war.

Legacy of Mesopotamian civilization

The Hammurabi Code was one of the first legal codes of history.

Among the main contributions of the Mesopotamian civilization are:

The writing system. The first uses of writing in history were documented in Mesopotamia and in the Nile Valley in the middle of the IV Millennium AC in the case of Mesopotamian writing, it was called cuneiform writing due to the wedge shape that the signs had, made by the pressure of a stiletto on fresh clay.
The Code of Laws. In Mesopotamia the first legal codes were developed. The best known was the Hammurabi Code, of the Paleobabilonic era, which was written in a diorite wake. It consisted of a set of laws written in the semi -language that presented different punishments for different crimes (or even for the same crime but according to the social position of which he committed them). According to several historians, these codes did not have a normative legal value but that they had the purpose of demonstrating that the king was fair and enforced the law.
The Mesopotamian calendar. In general, calendars varied between cities and periods. One of the calendars that stood out was the Babylonian calendar, based on another of Sumerian origin, which counted twelve months (plus a month interspersed) and established the beginning of the year with the spring equinox.
Astronomy and Mathematics knowledge. Mesopotamian priests and scribes dedicated themselves to observing and calculating the movement of the stars, especially from the paleobabilonic period. While these observations were motivated by the belief in the divinatory capacity of the interpretation of the stars (that is, they were more than astronomical astronomical practices), they contributed to greater astronomical knowledge. An example is the astronomical newspapers of the neo -tabilonic period. The study of the stars was carried out by applying mathematical calculations, which shows that Mesopotamian scholars had extensive knowledge in arithmetic and geometry, particularly the sexagesimal system that used as a basis the number sixty and currently survives to measure degrees and times.

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References

Edzard, do et al. (2023). History of Mesopotamia. Britannica Encyclopedia. https://www.britannica.com/
Leick, G. (2003). Historical Dictionary of Mesopotamia. The Scarecrow Press.
Liverani, M. (1995). The Old East. History, society and economy. Criticism.
Mark, JJ (2014). Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/
Mark, JJ (2018). Mesopotamia. World History Encyclopedia. https://www.worldhistory.org/
Postgate, Jn (1999). Archaic Mesopotamia. Society and economy at dawn in history. Akal.