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![Civilisations- Mesopotamia [1/6]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121106111048im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/yc8m9DHxH4E/default.jpg "Mesopotamia, or 'the country between two rivers', is the oldest civilisation to have flourished at the confluence of two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Mesopotamians included various peoples, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Akkadians, who coexisted and succeeded one another, mixing and inter-relating in a Near East with a wide range of racial facets. These different peoples, who once lived along the banks of the two rivers, have left behind an archaeological heritage of inestimable value.How did they flourish in such a hostile environment? Where did their wealth come from? And how did this perfectly structured civilisation finally fade and disappear for ever? This popular series gives new insights into some of the most influential civilisations to shape the world as we know it. To understand where we are now, it might help to understand where we have been.")
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- Abbasid Caliphate
- Achaemenid Assyria
- Achaemenid dynasty
- Achaemenid Empire
- Acheulean
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- Aetiology
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- Bronze age
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- Nile
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- Numeral system
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- Old Persian language
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- Osroene
- Otto E. Neugebauer
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- Pantheon (gods)
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- Patient
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- Plato
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- Politics of Iraq
- Polo
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- Prognosis
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- Provinces of Iraq
- Rationality
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- Religion in Iraq
- Religious
- Right-handed
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- Roads in Iraq
- Rugby football
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- Samaria
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- Samarra culture
- Sargon of Akkad
- Sassanid Empire
- Scientific
- Scribes
- Seleucid dynasty
- Seleucid Empire
- Seleucus of Seleucia
- Semitic
- Semitic languages
- Senet
- Sennacherib
- Settler
- Sexagesimal
- Shatt al-Arab
- Shepherd
- Sin (mythology)
- Sin-liqe-unninni
- Slaves
- Social structure
- Socrates
- Socratic method
- Soil
- Solstices
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- South Azeri language
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- Sumerian king list
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- Universe
- Ur
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- Villein
- Wallis Budge
- West Asia
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- Yerevan
- Zagros Mountains
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- Zeus
-
Achaemenid dynasty
http://wn.com/Achaemenid_dynasty -
Achaemenid Empire
http://wn.com/Achaemenid_Empire -
Akkadian Empire
http://wn.com/Akkadian_Empire -
Armavir, Armenia
Armavir (; known as Hoktemberyan, Hoktemberian, or Oktemberyan during the Soviet era up to 1992, and Sardarabad, Sardarapat or Sardar-Apad before 1932) is a city located in western Armenia. The 1989 census reported that the city had a total population of 46,900, but this has declined considerably: the 2001 census counted 32,034; estimate for 2008 is 26,387. It is the capital of the Armavir province (marz). The city of Armavir in Russia, founded by Armenians in the 19th century, was named after this city.
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Armenian Highland
http://wn.com/Armenian_Highland -
Armenian Highlands
http://wn.com/Armenian_Highlands -
Arpad (Syria)
Arpad (probably modern '''Tell Rifa'at''', Syria) was an ancient Aramaean city located in north-western Syria, north of Aleppo. In 743 BC, the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III led a military expedition to Syria, defeating there the Uraratian army. But the city of Arpad, which had formed an alliance with Urartu, did not surrender easily. It took Tiglath-pileser three years of siege to conquer Arpad, whereupon he massacred its inhabitants and destroyed the city.
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Assyrian Empire
http://wn.com/Assyrian_Empire -
Baghdad
Baghdad (, , ) is the capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is coterminous. Having a population estimated between 7 and 7.5 million, it is the largest city in Iraq and the second largest city in the Arab World (after Cairo, Egypt).
http://wn.com/Baghdad -
China
China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity.
http://wn.com/China -
Damascus
http://wn.com/Damascus -
Diyala River
http://wn.com/Diyala_River -
Egypt
http://wn.com/Egypt -
Elam
Elam was an ancient civilization located in what is now southwest Iran. Elam was centered in the far west and the southwest of modern-day Iran, stretching from the lowlands of Khuzestan and Ilam Province, as well as a small part of southern Iraq.
http://wn.com/Elam -
Geography of Iraq
The geography of Iraq is diverse and falls into four main regions: the desert (west of the Euphrates River), Upper Mesopotamia (between the upper Tigris and Euphrates rivers), the northern highlands of Iraqi Kurdistan, and Lower Mesopotamia, the alluvial plain extending from around Tikrit to the Persian Gulf.
http://wn.com/Geography_of_Iraq -
Hassuna
Hassuna or Tell Hassuna is an ancient Mesopotamian site situated in the Ninawa Governorate of Iraq west of the Tigris river, south of Mosul and about 35 km southwest of Nineveh.
http://wn.com/Hassuna -
Hatra
Hatra ( ) is an ancient city in the Ninawa Governorate and al-Jazira region of Iraq. It is currently known as al-Hadr, a name which appears once in ancient inscriptions, and it in the ancient Iranian province of Khvarvaran. The city lies 290 km (180 miles) northwest of Baghdad and 110 km (68 miles) southwest of Mosul.
http://wn.com/Hatra -
Iran
Iran ( ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran is a country in Central Eurasia and Western Asia. The name Iran has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was also known to the western world as Persia. Both Persia and Iran are used interchangeably in cultural contexts; however, Iran is the name used officially in political contexts.
http://wn.com/Iran -
Iraq
Iraq ( or , Arabic: ), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic:
http://wn.com/Iraq -
Iraqi Kurdistan
http://wn.com/Iraqi_Kurdistan -
Kalhu
http://wn.com/Kalhu -
Kultepe
http://wn.com/Kultepe -
Mari, Syria
Mari (modern Tell Hariri, Syria) was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometers north-west of the modern town of Abu Kamal on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of Deir ez-Zor, Syria. It is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th millennium BC, although it flourished with series of superimposed palaces that spans a thousand years, from 2900 BC until 1759 BC, when it was sacked by Hammurabi.
http://wn.com/Mari_Syria -
Medes
http://wn.com/Medes -
Minoan Eruption
http://wn.com/Minoan_Eruption -
Neo Assyrian Empire
http://wn.com/Neo_Assyrian_Empire -
Neo-Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire was a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 934 BC and ended in 608 BC. During this period, Assyria assumed a position as possibly the most powerful nation on earth, and vying with Babylonia and other lesser powers for dominance of the region, though not until the reforms of Tiglath-Pileser III in the 8th century BC, did it become a powerful and vast empire. In the Middle Assyrian period of the Late Bronze Age, Assyria had been a minor kingdom of northern Mesopotamia (modern-day northern Iraq), competing for dominance with its southern Mesopotamian rival Babylonia. Beginning with the campaign of Adad-nirari II, it became a great regional power, growing to be a serious threat to 25th dynasty Egypt.
http://wn.com/Neo-Assyrian_Empire -
Nineveh
http://wn.com/Nineveh -
Nippur
http://wn.com/Nippur -
Parthian Empire
http://wn.com/Parthian_Empire -
Persian Empire
http://wn.com/Persian_Empire -
Persian Gulf
The Persian Gulf, in Southwest Asia, is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. Historically and commonly known as the Persian Gulf, this body of water is also controversially referred to as the Arabian Gulf (by the Arab nations on the Arab side of the gulf) or simply The Gulf by most Arab states, and Gulf of Basra by Turkey, although none of the latter three terms is recognized internationally.
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Samaria
http://wn.com/Samaria -
Samarra
http://wn.com/Samarra -
Shatt al-Arab
http://wn.com/Shatt_al-Arab -
Syria
Syria ( ; ' or '), officially the Syrian Arab Republic (), is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest.
http://wn.com/Syria -
Tigris
The Tigris River is the eastern member of the two great rivers that define Mesopotamia, the other being the Euphrates. The river flows from the mountains of southeastern Turkey through Iraq.
http://wn.com/Tigris -
Turkey
Turkey (), known officially as the Republic of Turkey (), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is one of the six independent Turkic states. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the northeast; Armenia, Azerbaijan (the exclave of Nakhchivan) and Iran to the east; and Iraq and Syria to the southeast. The Mediterranean Sea and Cyprus are to the south; the Aegean Sea to the west; and the Black Sea is to the north. The Sea of Marmara, the Bosphorus and the Dardanelles (which together form the Turkish Straits) demarcate the boundary between Eastern Thrace and Anatolia; they also separate Europe and Asia.
http://wn.com/Turkey -
Umm Qasr
Umm Qasr (, also transliterated as : Um-qasir, Um-qasser), is a port city in southern Iraq. It stands on the canalised Khawr az-Zubayr, part of the Khawr Abd Allah estuary which leads to the Persian Gulf. It is separated from the border of Kuwait by a small inlet. A bridge across the waterway linked the port with Kuwait prior to the 1991 Persian Gulf War.
http://wn.com/Umm_Qasr -
Ur
Ur (Sumerian:
http://wn.com/Ur -
Uruk
http://wn.com/Uruk -
Yerevan
Yerevan (, ) is the capital and largest city of Armenia and one of the world's oldest continuously-inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerevan is the administrative, cultural, and industrial center of the country. It has been the capital since 1918, the thirteenth in the history of Armenia.
http://wn.com/Yerevan -
Zagros Mountains
http://wn.com/Zagros_Mountains -
Zeus
http://wn.com/Zeus
-
Alexander the Great
http://wn.com/Alexander_the_Great -
Ancient Egyptians
http://wn.com/Ancient_Egyptians -
Arab
http://wn.com/Arab -
Ashur
http://wn.com/Ashur -
Assyrian people
The Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people (frequently known as Assyrians, Syriacs, Syriac Christians, Suroye/Suryoye, Chaldeans, and other variants, see names of Syriac Christians) are an ethnic group whose origins lie in the Fertile Crescent. Today that ancient territory is part of several nations; the Assyrian/Chaldean/Syriac people have been minorities under other ethnic groups' rule since the early Middle Ages. They have traditionally lived in northern Iraq, Syria, northwest Iran, and Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia. Many have migrated to the Caucasus, North America and Europe during the past century. The major sub-ethnic division is between an Eastern group ("Nestorians" and "Chaldean Christians") and a Western one ("Syrian Jacobites").
http://wn.com/Assyrian_people -
Chaldea
http://wn.com/Chaldea -
China
China is seen variously as an ancient civilization extending over a large area in East Asia, a nation and/or a multinational entity.
http://wn.com/China -
Edwin Long
Edwin Longsden Long RA (12 July 1829 – 15 May 1891) was an English genre, history, biblical and portrait painter.
http://wn.com/Edwin_Long -
George Sarton
George Sarton (1884-1956) was a Belgian historian who is considered to have founded the discipline of science history. He left Belgium because of the First World War and settled in the United States. He spent the rest of his life researching and writing about the history of the sciences.
http://wn.com/George_Sarton -
Gilgamesh
http://wn.com/Gilgamesh -
Hammurabi
http://wn.com/Hammurabi -
Heraclitus
Heraclitus of Ephesus (Ancient Greek: — ; c. 535–c. 475 BCE) was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher, a native of the Greek city Ephesus, Ionia, on the coast of Asia Minor. He was of distinguished parentage. Little is known about his early life and education, but he regarded himself as self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom. From the lonely life he led, and still more from the riddling nature of his philosophy and his contempt for humankind in general, he was called "The Obscure," and the "Weeping Philosopher."
http://wn.com/Heraclitus -
Ionians
http://wn.com/Ionians -
Iranian languages
The Iranian languages or Iranic languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily, Indo-Iranian. They are spoken by the Iranian peoples. Old Persian and Avestan are the oldest recorded Iranian languages.
http://wn.com/Iranian_languages -
Iraqi people
http://wn.com/Iraqi_people -
Iraqi Turkmen
http://wn.com/Iraqi_Turkmen -
Jean Bottéro
http://wn.com/Jean_Bottéro -
John Maynard Keynes
http://wn.com/John_Maynard_Keynes -
Kingdom of Iraq
The Kingdom of Iraq () was the sovereign state of Iraq during and after the British Mandate of Mesopotamia. The League of Nations mandate started in 1920. The kingdom began in August 1921 with the coronation of Faisal bin al-Hussein bin Ali al-Hashemi as King Faisal I. The kingdom ended in 1958 when the monarchy was over thrown in a coup led by Abd al-Karim Qasim.
http://wn.com/Kingdom_of_Iraq -
Kings of Assyria
http://wn.com/Kings_of_Assyria -
Mandaeans
http://wn.com/Mandaeans -
Mandaeism
http://wn.com/Mandaeism -
Medes
http://wn.com/Medes -
Otto E. Neugebauer
Otto Eduard Neugebauer (May 26, 1899 – February 19, 1990) was an Austrian-American mathematician and historian of science who became known for his research on the history of astronomy and the other exact sciences in antiquity and into the Middle Ages. By studying clay tablets he discovered that the ancient Babylonians knew much more about mathematics and astronomy than had been previously realized. The National Academy of Sciences has called Neugebauer "the most original and productive scholar of the history of the exact sciences, perhaps of the history of science, of our age."
http://wn.com/Otto_E_Neugebauer -
Parthia
Parthia is a region of north-eastern Iran, best known for having been the political and cultural base of the Arsacid dynasty, rulers of the Parthian Empire.
http://wn.com/Parthia -
Plato
:For other uses, see Plato (disambiguation) and Platon (disambiguation).
http://wn.com/Plato -
Plutarch
http://wn.com/Plutarch -
Saddam Hussein
http://wn.com/Saddam_Hussein -
Seleucus of Seleucia
Seleucus (or Seleukos) of Seleucia (born c. 190 BC, fl. 150s BC) was a hellenized Babylonian astronomer and philosopher who stood in the tradition of Hellenistic astronomy.Chaldaean/Babylonian astronomer:William P. D. Wightman (1951, 1953), The Growth of Scientific Ideas, Yale University Press p. 38, where Wightman calls him "Seleukos the Chaldean"; : Greek astronomer:[http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2000eaa..bookE3998. The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)]: [http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Seleucus.html ScienceWorld]: Coming from Seleucia on the Tigris, the capital of the Seleucid empire, or, alternatively, Seleukia on the Red Sea, he is best known as a proponent of heliocentrism and for his theory of the origin of tides.
http://wn.com/Seleucus_of_Seleucia -
Semitic
http://wn.com/Semitic -
Sennacherib
http://wn.com/Sennacherib -
Settler
http://wn.com/Settler -
Sin-liqe-unninni
Sin-liqe-unninni was an incantation/exorcist priest (mashmashshu) who lived in Mesopotamia in the period between 1300 BC and 1000 BC. He is the compiler of the best preserved version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. His name is listed in the text itself, which is unusual for works written in cuneiform. His version is known by its incipit, or first line, "He who saw the deep" or "The one who saw the Abyss". It is unknown how different his version is from the earlier texts.
http://wn.com/Sin-liqe-unninni -
Socrates
http://wn.com/Socrates -
Soil
Soil is a natural body consisting of layers (soil horizons) of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics. It is composed of particles of broken rock that have been altered by chemical and environmental processes that include weathering and erosion. Soil differs from its parent rock due to interactions between the lithosphere, hydrosphere, atmosphere, and the biosphere. It is a mixture of mineral and organic constituents that are in solid, gaseous and aqueous states.
http://wn.com/Soil -
Sumerian king list
http://wn.com/Sumerian_king_list -
Thales
http://wn.com/Thales -
Tiglath-Pileser I
http://wn.com/Tiglath-Pileser_I -
Ur-Nammu
Ur-Nammu (or Ur-Namma, Ur-Engur, Ur-Gur, ca. 2047-2030 BC short chronology) founded the Sumerian 3rd dynasty of Ur, in southern Mesopotamia, following several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian rule. He was succeeded by his son Shulgi, after an eighteen-year reign. His death on the battle-field against the Gutians (after he had been abandoned by his army) was commemorated in a long Sumerian poetic composition.
http://wn.com/Ur-Nammu
karaoke
Turn your watch, turn your watch back,
about a hundred thousand years.
A hundred thousand years.
I'll meet you by the third pyramid
I'll meet you by the third pyramid
Ah come on, that's what I want, we'll meet
in Mesopotamia. oh oh oh
(We're goin' down to meet) I ain't no student,
(Feel those vibrations) of ancient culture
(I know a neat excavation) Before I talk
I should read a book.
But there's one thing I do know,
There's a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia.
Six or eight thousand years ago
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
Six or eight thousand years ago
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
I'll meet you by the third pyramid
I'll meet you by the third pyramid
Ah come on, that's what I want, we'll meet
in Mesopotamia. oh oh oh
(We're goin' down to meet) Now I ain't no student,
(Feel those vibrations) of ancient culture
(I know a neat excavation) Before I talk
I should read a book. (Mesopotamia, that's where I wanna go)
But there's one thing that I do know, (Mesopotamia, that's where I wanna go)
There's a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia.
Six or eight thousand years ago
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
Six or eight thousand years ago
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
In Mesopotamia. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
In Mesopotamia. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
Turn your watch, turn your watch back,
about a hundred thousand years.
A hundred thousand years.
I'll meet you by the third pyramid
I'll meet you by the third pyramid
Ah come on, that's what I want, we'll meet
in Mesopotamia. oh oh oh
(We're goin' down to meet) I ain't no student,
(Feel those vibrations) of ancient culture
(I know a neat excavation) Before I talk
I should read a book.
But there's one thing I do know,
There's a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia.
Six or eight thousand years ago
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
Six or eight thousand years ago
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
I'll meet you by the third pyramid
I'll meet you by the third pyramid
Ah come on, that's what I want, we'll meet
in Mesopotamia. oh oh oh
(We're goin' down to meet) Now I ain't no student,
(Feel those vibrations) of ancient culture
(I know a neat excavation) Before I talk
I should read a book. (Mesopotamia, that's where I wanna go)
But there's one thing that I do know, (Mesopotamia, that's where I wanna go)
There's a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia.
Six or eight thousand years ago
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
Six or eight thousand years ago
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
In Mesopotamia. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
You angel you
You got me under your wing
The way you walk and the way you talk
I feel I could almost sing.
You angel you
You're as fine as anything's fine
I just want to watch you talk
With your memory on my mind
You know, I can't sleep at night for trying.
Yes, I never did feel this way before
I never did get up and walk the floor
If this is love then give me more
And more and more and more and more.
You angel you
You're as fine as can be
The way you walk and the way you talk
Is the way it ought to be.
You know, I can't sleep at night for trying
Never did feel this way before
Never did get up and walk the floor
If this is love then give me more
And more and more and more and more.
You angel you
You got me under your wing
The way you walk and the way you talk
I swear it makes me sing.
Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia
You fucking give me the creeps
You fucking give me the creeps
I've never known another city to burn
Face down in the bottom of a river
Swimming with the dead makes me want to shiver
If you really wanna know, I'd rather just drown alone
Clay fingers reaching for the ceiling
Once numb, now tingling with feeling
You'll see in the end that nothing really gets away
And I'd give it all just to be with you
Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia
You fucking give me the creeps
You fucking give me the creeps
I've never known another city to burn
You took back the mud from which you're made
And threw it at me like a fucking grenade
You keep cutting my throat, then you ask me if I'm feelin ok
This city is just like any other
They keep blowing it up, then building up another
If you look in the hole, you'll see it ain't going away
And I'd give it all away just to be with you
Mesopotamia, Mesopotamia
You fucking give me the creeps
You fucking give me the creeps
I've never known another city to burn
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Civilisations- Mesopotamia [1/6]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:57
- Updated: 03 Nov 2012
Mesopotamia, or 'the country between two rivers', is the oldest civilisation to have flourished at the confluence of two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Mesopotamians included various peoples, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Akkadians, who coexisted and succeeded one another, mixing and inter-relating in a Near East with a wide range of racial facets. These different peoples, who once lived along the banks of the two rivers, have left behind an archaeological heritage of inestimable value.How did they flourish in such a hostile environment? Where did their wealth come from? And how did this perfectly structured civilisation finally fade and disappear for ever? This popular series gives new insights into some of the most influential civilisations to shape the world as we know it. To understand where we are now, it might help to understand where we have been.
http://wn.com/Civilisations_Mesopotamia_1_6_
Mesopotamia: Crash Course World History #3
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 12:06
- Updated: 05 Nov 2012
In which John presents Mesopotamia, and the early civilizations that arose around the Fertile Crescent. Topics covered include the birth of territorial kingdoms, empires, Neo-Assyrian torture tactics, sacred marriages, ancient labor practices, the world's first law code, and the great failed romance of John's undergrad years. Resources: The British Museum's Mesopotamia site: dft.ba The Epic of Gilgamesh: dft.ba or get a hard copy at dft.ba Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians by Enrico Ascalone: dft.ba The Mesopotamians by TMBG: dft.ba Credits: Written by Raoul Meyer and John Green Produced by Stan Muller Animations by Smart Bubble Society: thoughtbubble.org Thought Bubble team: Suzanna Brusikiewicz Jonathon Corbiere Allan Levy Jin Kyung Myung James Tuer Adam Winnik Original Music: Jason Weidner Script Supervisor & Doll Costumer: Danica Johnson Set Design: Donna Sink Props: Brian McCutcheon Photos courtesy of: Mbzt Hardnfast Marie Lan-Nguyen Follow us! @thecrashcourse @realjohngreen @raoulmeyer @crashcoursestan @saysdanica @thoughtbubbler Like us! www.facebook.com Follow us again! thecrashcourse.tumblr.com
http://wn.com/Mesopotamia_Crash_Course_World_History_3
Lost civilisations - 01 - Mesopotamia.avi
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 50:40
- Updated: 05 Nov 2012
lost civilaisation- Mesopotamia or New awan
http://wn.com/Lost_civilisations_01_Mesopotamiaavi
Ancient Mesopotamia Song By Mr. Nicky
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:51
- Updated: 05 Nov 2012
COMMENT-LIKE-SUBSCRIBE ! ~~ ALL RIGHT GO TO MR. NICKY~~
http://wn.com/Ancient_Mesopotamia_Song_By_Mr_Nicky
B-52's Mesopotamia
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:53
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
from 1990
http://wn.com/B-52's_Mesopotamia
Ancient Mesopotamia (clip)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:34
- Updated: 23 Oct 2012
The contributions of the Sumerians, Semites, Babylonians and Assyrians are depicted against authentic locales, including the cities of Babylon, Ur and Nineveh. A Coronet release. 9 minutes, color. direct link to purchase video: www.phoenixlearninggroup.com
http://wn.com/Ancient_Mesopotamia_clip
The B-52's "Mesopotamia"
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:53
- Updated: 03 Nov 2012
"Mesopotamia", 1982. Stereo: uk.youtube.com I don't often do this you know, but here's the lyrics: Turn your watch, turn your watch back, about a hundred thousand years. A hundred thousand years. I'll meet you by the third pyramid I'll meet you by the third pyramid Ah come on, that's what I want, we'll meet in Mesopotamia. oh oh oh (We're goin' down to meet) I ain't no student, (Feel those vibrations) of ancient culture (I know a neat excavation) Before I talk I should read a book. But there's one thing I do know, There's a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia. Six or eight thousand years ago They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa Six or eight thousand years ago They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa I'll meet you by the third pyramid I'll meet you by the third pyramid Ah come on, that's what I want, we'll meet in Mesopotamia. oh oh oh (We're goin' down to meet) Now I ain't no student, (Feel those vibrations) of ancient culture (I know a neat excavation) Before I talk I should read a book. (Mesopotamia, that's where I wanna go) But there's one thing that I do know, (Mesopotamia, that's where I wanna go) There's a lot of ruins in Mesopotamia. Six or eight thousand years ago They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa Six or eight thousand years ago They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa In Mesopotamia. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa They laid down the law. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa In Mesopotamia. Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haa
http://wn.com/The_B-52's_Mesopotamia
Turning Points in History - Mesopotamia
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:25
- Updated: 02 Nov 2012
The rise of cities in Mesopotamia changes the course of human civilization forever
http://wn.com/Turning_Points_in_History_Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia (Sumerians, first civilization on earth)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:35
- Updated: 05 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Mesopotamia_Sumerians,_first_civilization_on_earth
Ancient Mesopotamia
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:09
- Updated: 30 Oct 2012
Media Blitz on Ancient Mesopotamian Empires. Has information and relevant dates on the Ancient Mesopotamian Empires (Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, and Neo-Babylonians).
http://wn.com/Ancient_Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia From Nomads to Farmers
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:58
- Updated: 05 Nov 2012
http://wn.com/Mesopotamia_From_Nomads_to_Farmers
The Mesopotamians - They Might Be Giants (official video)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:05
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
Directed by David Cowles. From the breakthrough 2007 album "The Else" Buy it on vinyl www.rounder.com or at iTunes: phobos.apple.com
http://wn.com/The_Mesopotamians_They_Might_Be_Giants_official_video
Grandes Civilizaciones: Mesopotamia
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:13
- Updated: 05 Nov 2012
www.artehistoria.com El Antiguo Oriente Medio y Mesopotamia conforman una vasta región y una de las cunas de la civilización. Es en esta extensa zona donde se produjo la transición fundamental desde las formas de vida basadas en la caza y la recolección hacia la agricultura. Es aquí donde por primera vez fueron levantados templos y ciudades, donde primero se trabajó el metal, donde apareció la escritura y donde surgieron grandes reinos e imperios. El corazón del Oriente Medio es Mesopotamia, "país entre ríos", como la llamaron los historiadores griegos. Esta inmensa área geográfica, de casi 80.000 km2, comprende el actual Irak y zonas de Irán y Siria. Fueron los ríos Tigris y Eufrates quienes, gracias a irrigar las fértiles llanuras por las que discurren, posibilitaron la vida en esta región de condiciones extremas, con temperaturas actuales por encima de los 50º en verano y muy escasas lluvias anuales. La tierra y el agua fueron los principales recursos, proporcionando abundantes pastos y una próspera agricultura. Los habitantes de Mesopotamia dispusieron de una gran variedad de animales como alimento. Las estepas estaban pobladas por gacelas, gamos y onagros. En las montañas había ciervos, jabalíes, tigres, leones, osos y cabras salvajes. Hacia el 6500 aC, ovejas, cabras, cerdos y vacas están en la dieta de las gentes de Mesopotamia. No será hasta finales del III milenio aC cuando el caballo y el camello sean domesticados. Las condiciones del terreno eran, pues ...
http://wn.com/Grandes_Civilizaciones_Mesopotamia
![Civilisations- Mesopotamia [2/6]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121106111048im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Rh_NbU7n3Rg/default.jpg "Civilisations- Mesopotamia [2/6]")
Civilisations- Mesopotamia [2/6]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:59
- Updated: 23 Oct 2012
Mesopotamia, or 'the country between two rivers', is the oldest civilisation to have flourished at the confluence of two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Mesopotamians included various peoples, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Akkadians, who coexisted and succeeded one another, mixing and inter-relating in a Near East with a wide range of racial facets. These different peoples, who once lived along the banks of the two rivers, have left behind an archaeological heritage of inestimable value.How did they flourish in such a hostile environment? Where did their wealth come from? And how did this perfectly structured civilisation finally fade and disappear for ever? This popular series gives new insights into some of the most influential civilisations to shape the world as we know it. To understand where we are now, it might help to understand where we have been.
http://wn.com/Civilisations_Mesopotamia_2_6_
Ancient History - Mesopotamia PART 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:35
- Updated: 04 Nov 2012
Subscribe!!!!!!!! www.olgurbanpromotions.ning.com CLICK LINK ABOVE TO VIEW MORE INFORMATIVE FOOTAGE. PEACE AND ALSO SIGN UP TO THE NETWORK WEBSITE. LEARN YOUR HISTORY
http://wn.com/Ancient_History_Mesopotamia_PART_1
![Civilisations- Mesopotamia [3/6]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121106111048im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/tFxPXKBUDdE/default.jpg "Civilisations- Mesopotamia [3/6]")
Civilisations- Mesopotamia [3/6]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:55
- Updated: 20 Oct 2012
Mesopotamia, or 'the country between two rivers', is the oldest civilisation to have flourished at the confluence of two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Mesopotamians included various peoples, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Akkadians, who coexisted and succeeded one another, mixing and inter-relating in a Near East with a wide range of racial facets. These different peoples, who once lived along the banks of the two rivers, have left behind an archaeological heritage of inestimable value.How did they flourish in such a hostile environment? Where did their wealth come from? And how did this perfectly structured civilisation finally fade and disappear for ever? This popular series gives new insights into some of the most influential civilisations to shape the world as we know it. To understand where we are now, it might help to understand where we have been.
http://wn.com/Civilisations_Mesopotamia_3_6_
![Civilisations- Mesopotamia [4/6]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121106111048im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/xG9XkIs32ow/default.jpg "Civilisations- Mesopotamia [4/6]")
Civilisations- Mesopotamia [4/6]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:00
- Updated: 02 Nov 2012
Mesopotamia, or 'the country between two rivers', is the oldest civilisation to have flourished at the confluence of two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Mesopotamians included various peoples, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Akkadians, who coexisted and succeeded one another, mixing and inter-relating in a Near East with a wide range of racial facets. These different peoples, who once lived along the banks of the two rivers, have left behind an archaeological heritage of inestimable value.How did they flourish in such a hostile environment? Where did their wealth come from? And how did this perfectly structured civilisation finally fade and disappear for ever? This popular series gives new insights into some of the most influential civilisations to shape the world as we know it. To understand where we are now, it might help to understand where we have been.
http://wn.com/Civilisations_Mesopotamia_4_6_
Inventions and Discoveries in Ancient Mesopotamia (Part 1)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 8:11
- Updated: 03 Nov 2012
Part 2: www.youtube.com (Part 1) In a laudable effort to raise awareness on societies in Ancient Mesopotamia, DTG Productions® has produced a documentary exposing civilization in this part of the world: Inventions and Discoveries in Ancient Mesopotamia.
http://wn.com/Inventions_and_Discoveries_in_Ancient_Mesopotamia_Part_1
![Civilisations- Mesopotamia [6/6]](http://web.archive.org./web/20121106111048im_/http://i.ytimg.com/vi/XmMdzXgnv38/default.jpg "Civilisations- Mesopotamia [6/6]")
Civilisations- Mesopotamia [6/6]
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:13
- Updated: 03 Nov 2012
Mesopotamia, or 'the country between two rivers', is the oldest civilisation to have flourished at the confluence of two rivers: the Tigris and the Euphrates. The Mesopotamians included various peoples, the Sumerians, the Babylonians, the Akkadians, who coexisted and succeeded one another, mixing and inter-relating in a Near East with a wide range of racial facets. These different peoples, who once lived along the banks of the two rivers, have left behind an archaeological heritage of inestimable value.How did they flourish in such a hostile environment? Where did their wealth come from? And how did this perfectly structured civilisation finally fade and disappear for ever? This popular series gives new insights into some of the most influential civilisations to shape the world as we know it. To understand where we are now, it might help to understand where we have been.
http://wn.com/Civilisations_Mesopotamia_6_6_
BLACK LIGHT BURNS "Mesopotamia" (HD)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:36
- Updated: 27 Oct 2012
The official video for Wes Borland and Black Light Burns´ "Mesopotamia", from the album "Cruel Melody"
http://wn.com/BLACK_LIGHT_BURNS_Mesopotamia_HD
B52's - Mesopotamia (Live)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:54
- Updated: 29 Oct 2012
B52's - Mesopotamia (Live) Dedicado para ti, xq te chiflan... muaak
http://wn.com/B52's_Mesopotamia_Live
Ancient Mesopotamia (Rev.) (clip)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:17
- Updated: 20 Oct 2012
The contributions of the Sumerians, Semites, Babylonians and Assyrians are depicted against authentic locales, including the cities of Babylon, Ur and Nineveh. A Coronet release. 10 minutes, color. direct link to purchase the complete program: www.phoenixlearninggroup.com
http://wn.com/Ancient_Mesopotamia_Rev_clip
Exploring the Roots of Mesopotamian Civilization: Excavations at Tell Zeidan, Syria
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 56:42
- Updated: 23 Oct 2012
Exploring the Roots of Mesopotamian Civilization: Excavations at Tell Zeidan, Syria Gil Stein, Oriental Institute The Ubaid period (6th-5th millennia BC) saw the first establishment of towns and villages across Mesopotamia. This period provides the first evidence for the emergence of political leadership, economic differences between rich and poor, irrigation-based economies, dominating regional centers or towns, and the development of temples in these centers. In this lecture, Gil Stein discusses recent excavations at the Ubaid-period site of Tell Zeidan in Syria and the expansion of Ubaid culture across Mesopotamia. Lectures are free and open to the public due to the generous support of Oriental Institute Members. Persons with disabilities who need an accommodation in order to participate in this event should contact the event sponsor for assistance.
http://wn.com/Exploring_the_Roots_of_Mesopotamian_Civilization_Excavations_at_Tell_Zeidan,_Syria
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05 Nov 2012
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05 Nov 2012
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Flooding Syria With Foreign Arms
03 Nov 2012
CounterPunch
Damascus. Across Syria these days, one is able examine massive evidence that this ancient civilization, the historic bastion of nationalist Arabism and since the 1948 Nabka, an essential pillar of the growing culture of Resistance to the Zionist occupation of Palestine, is becoming awash with...(size: 18.3Kb)
Seeking Alpha
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31 Oct 2012
Huffington Post
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Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
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For other uses, see Mesopotamia (disambiguation).
Mesopotamia (from the Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία: "[land] between rivers"; Arabic: بلاد الرافدين (bilād al-rāfidayn); Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪܝܢ (beth nahrain): "land of rivers") is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.
Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires. In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires. The indigenous Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC and, after his death, it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire.
Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthians. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD 226, it fell to the Sassanid Persians, and remained under Persian rule until the 7th century Arab Islamic conquest of the Sassanid Empire. A number of primarily neo Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, including Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra.
Contents |
Etymology[link]
The regional toponym Mesopotamia comes from the ancient Greek root words μέσος (meso) "middle" and ποταμός (potamia) "river" and literally means "(Land) between rivers". The oldest known occurrence of the name Mesopotamia comes from the Anabasis Alexandri, which was written in the late second century AD but specifically refers to sources from the time of Alexander the Great. In the Anabasis, Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria. The Aramaic term biritum/birit narim corresponded to a similar geographical concept.[1] Later, the term Mesopotamia was more generally applied to the all the lands between the Euphrates and the Tigris, thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all of Iraq and southeastern Turkey.[2] The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of the Zagros Mountains are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia.[3][4][5] A further distinction is usually made between Upper or Northern Mesopotamia and Lower or Southern Mesopotamia.[6] Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the Jezirah, is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to Baghdad.[3] Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf.[6] In modern academic usage, the term Mesopotamia often also has a chronological connotation. It is usually used to designate the area until the Muslim conquests, with names like Syria, Jezirah and Iraq being used to describe the region after that date.[2][7] It has been argued that these later euphemisms are Eurocentric terms attributed to the region in the midst of various 19th century Western encroachments.[7][8]
Geography[link]
Main article: Geography of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the mountains of Armenia in modern-day Turkey. Both rivers are fed by numerous tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a 15,000 square kilometres (5,800 sq mi) region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, and reed banks in the south. In the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the Persian Gulf.
The arid environment which ranges from the northern areas of rain-fed agriculture to the south where irrigation of agriculture is essential if a surplus energy returned on energy invested (EROEI) is to be obtained. This irrigation is aided by a high water table and by melting snows from the high peaks of the Zagros Mountains and from the Armenian cordillera, the source of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, that give the region its name. The usefulness of irrigation depends upon the ability to mobilize sufficient labor for the construction and maintenance of canals, and this, from the earliest period, has assisted the development of urban settlements and centralized systems of political authority.
Agriculture throughout the region has been supplemented by nomadic pastoralism, where tent-dwelling nomads herded sheep and goats (and later camels) from the river pastures in the dry summer months, out into seasonal grazing lands on the desert fringe in the wet winter season. The area is generally lacking in building stone, precious metals and timber, and so historically has relied upon long distance trade of agricultural products to secure these items from outlying areas. In the marshlands to the south of the area, a complex water-borne fishing culture has existed since prehistoric times, and has added to the cultural mix.
Periodic breakdowns in the cultural system have occurred for a number of reasons. The demands for labor has from time to time led to population increases that push the limits of the ecological carrying capacity, and should a period of climatic instability ensue, collapsing central government and declining populations can occur. Alternatively, military vulnerability to invasion from marginal hill tribes or nomadic pastoralists have led to periods of trade collapse and neglect of irrigation systems. Equally, centripetal tendencies amongst city states has meant that central authority over the whole region, when imposed, has tended to be ephemeral, and localism has fragmented power into tribal or smaller regional units.[9] These trends have continued to the present day in Iraq.
History[link]
Main article: History of Mesopotamia
Further information: History of Iraq, History of the Middle East, and Chronology of the Ancient Near East
The history of ancient Mesopotamia begins with the emergence of urban societies during the Ubaid period (ca. 5300 BC). The history of the Ancient Near East begins in the Lower Paleolithic period, and ends with either the arrival of the Achaemenid Empire in the late 6th century BC, or with the Arab Islamic conquest of Mesopotamia and the establishment of the Caliphate in the late 7th century AD, from which point the region came to be known as Iraq. Mesopotamia housed some of the world's most ancient highly developed and socially complex states. The region was one of the four riverine civilizations where writing was invented (it being the first), along with the Nile valley in Egypt, the Indus Valley in the Indian subcontinent, and Yellow River valley in China (although writing is also known to have arisen independently in Mesoamerica). Mesopotamia housed historically important cities such as Uruk, Nippur, Nineveh, Assur and Babylon, as well as major territorial states such as the city of Ma-asesblu, the Akkadian kingdom, the Third Dynasty of Ur, and the various Assyrian empires. Some of the important historical Mesopotamian leaders were Ur-Nammu (king of Ur), Sargon (who established the Akkadian Empire), Hammurabi (who established the Old Babylonian state), Ashur-uballit II and Tiglath-Pileser I (who established the Assyrian Empires).
Periodization[link]
- Pre- and protohistory
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (10,000–8700 BC)
- Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8700–6800)
- Hassuna (~6000 bc–? BC), Samarra (~5700 BC–4900 BC) and Halaf (~6000 BC–5300 BC) cultures
- Ubaid period (~5900–4400 BC)
- Uruk period (~4400–3100 BC)
- Jemdet Nasr period (~3100–2900 BC)[10]
- Early Bronze Age
- Early Dynastic period (~2900–2350 BC)
- Akkadian Empire (~2350–2100 BC)
- Ur III period (2112–2004 BC)
- Early Assyrian kingdom (24th to 18th c. BC)
- Middle Bronze Age
- Early Babylonia (19th to 18th c. BC)
- First Babylonian Dynasty (18th to 17th c. BC)
- collapse: Minoan Eruption (c. 1620 BC)
- Late Bronze Age
- Middle Assyrian period (16th to 11th c. BC)
- Assyrian Empire (ca. 1365 BC–1076 BC)
- Kassite dynasty in Babylon, (ca. 1595 BC–1155 BC)
- collapse: Bronze Age collapse (12th to 11th c. BC)
- Iron Age
- Neo-Hittite or Syro-Hittite regional states (11th to 7th c. BC)
- Neo-Assyrian Empire (10th to 7th c. BC)
- Neo-Babylonian Empire (7th to 6th c. BC)
- Classical Antiquity
- Persian Babylonia, Achaemenid Assyria (6th to 4th c. BC)
- Seleucid Mesopotamia (4th to 3rd c. BC)
- Parthian Babylonia (3rd c. BC to 3rd c. AD)
- Osroene (2nd c. BC to 3rd c. AD)
- Adiabene (1st to 2nd c. AD)
- Hatra (1st to 2nd c. AD)
- Roman Mesopotamia, Roman Assyria (2nd c. AD)
- Late Antiquity
- Persian Mesopotamia, Persian Asuristan (Assyria) (3rd to 7th c. AD)
- Arab Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia (mid 7th c. AD)
Language and writing[link]
The earliest language written in Mesopotamia was Sumerian, an agglutinative language isolate. Along with Sumerian, Semitic dialects were also spoken in early Mesopotamia. Akkadian, came to be the dominant language during the Akkadian Empire and the Assyrian empires, but Sumerian was retained for administration, religious, literary, and scientific purposes. Different varieties of Akkadian were used until the end of the Neo-Babylonian period. Aramaic, which had already become common in Mesopotamia, then became the official provincial administration language of first the Neo Assyrian Empire, and then the Achaemenid Persian Empire. Akkadian fell into disuse, but both it and Sumerian were still used in temples for some centuries. The last Akkadian texts date from the late 1st century CE.
Early in Mesopotamia's history (around the mid-4th millennium BC) cuneiform script was invented. Cuneiform literally means "wedge-shaped", due to the triangular tip of the stylus used for impressing signs on wet clay. The standardized form of each cuneiform sign appears to have been developed from pictograms. The earliest texts (7 archaic tablets) come from the E Temple dedicated to the goddess Inanna at Uruk, from a building labeled as Temple C by its excavators.
The early logographic system of cuneiform script took many years to master. Thus, only a limited number of individuals were hired as scribes to be trained in its use. It was not until the widespread use of a syllabic script was adopted under Sargon's rule[citation needed] that significant portions of Mesopotamian population became literate. Massive archives of texts were recovered from the archaeological contexts of Old Babylonian scribal schools, through which literacy was disseminated.
During the third millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism.[11] The influence of Sumerian on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence.[11] This has prompted scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the third millennium as a sprachbund.[11] Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia somewhere around the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate),[12] but Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary, and scientific language in Mesopotamia until the 1st century CE.
Literature[link]
Main article: Akkadian literature
Libraries were extant in towns and temples during the Babylonian Empire. An old Sumerian proverb averred that "he who would excel in the school of the scribes must rise with the dawn." Women as well as men learned to read and write,[13] and for the Semitic Babylonians, this involved knowledge of the extinct Sumerian language, and a complicated and extensive syllabary.
A considerable amount of Babylonian literature was translated from Sumerian originals, and the language of religion and law long continued to be the old agglutinative language of Sumer. Vocabularies, grammars, and interlinear translations were compiled for the use of students, as well as commentaries on the older texts and explanations of obscure words and phrases. The characters of the syllabary were all arranged and named, and elaborate lists were drawn up.
Many Babylonian literary works are still studied today. One of the most famous of these was the Epic of Gilgamesh, in twelve books, translated from the original Sumerian by a certain Sin-liqe-unninni, and arranged upon an astronomical principle. Each division contains the story of a single adventure in the career of Gilgamesh. The whole story is a composite product, although it is probable that some of the stories are artificially attached to the central figure.
Science and technology[link]
Mathematics[link]
Main articles: Babylonian mathematics and Babylonian calendar
Mesopotamian mathematics and science was based on a sexagesimal (base 60) numeral system. This is the source of the 60-minute hour, the 24-hour day, and the 360-degree circle. The Sumerian calendar was based on the seven-day week. This form of mathematics was instrumental in early map-making. The Babylonians also had theorems on how to measure the area of several shapes and solids. They measured the circumference of a circle as three times the diameter and the area as one-twelfth the square of the circumference, which would be correct if pi were fixed at 3. The volume of a cylinder was taken as the product of the area of the base and the height; however, the volume of the frustum of a cone or a square pyramid was incorrectly taken as the product of the height and half the sum of the bases. Also, there was a recent discovery in which a tablet used pi as 25/8 (3.125 instead of 3.14159~). The Babylonians are also known for the Babylonian mile, which was a measure of distance equal to about seven modern miles (11 km). This measurement for distances eventually was converted to a time-mile used for measuring the travel of the Sun, therefore, representing time.[14]
Astronomy[link]
Main article: Babylonian astronomy
The Babylonian astronomers were very adept at mathematics and could predict eclipses and solstices. Scholars thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of these related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12-month calendar based on the cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of astronomy as well as astrology date from this time.
During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Babylonian astronomers developed a new approach to astronomy. They began studying philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the early universe and began employing an internal logic within their predictive planetary systems. This was an important contribution to astronomy and the philosophy of science and some scholars have thus referred to this new approach as the first scientific revolution.[15] This new approach to astronomy was adopted and further developed in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy.
In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical reports were thoroughly scientific; how much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The Babylonian development of methods for predicting the motions of the planets is considered to be a major episode in the history of astronomy.
The only Greek Babylonian astronomer known to have supported a heliocentric model of planetary motion was Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC).[16][17][18] Seleucus is known from the writings of Plutarch. He supported Aristarchus of Samos' heliocentric theory where the Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the Sun. According to Plutarch, Seleucus even proved the heliocentric system, but it is not known what arguments he used (except that he correctly theorized on tides as a result of Moon's attraction).
Babylonian astronomy served as the basis for much of Greek, classical Indian, Sassanian, Byzantine, Syrian, medieval Islamic, Central Asian, and Western European astronomy.[19]
Medicine[link]
The oldest Babylonian texts on medicine date back to the Old Babylonian period in the first half of the 2nd millennium BC. The most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is the Diagnostic Handbook written by the ummânū, or chief scholar, Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa,[20] during the reign of the Babylonian king Adad-apla-iddina (1069-1046 BC).[21]
Along with contemporary Egyptian medicine, the Babylonians introduced the concepts of diagnosis, prognosis, physical examination, and prescriptions. In addition, the Diagnostic Handbook introduced the methods of therapy and aetiology and the use of empiricism, logic, and rationality in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. The text contains a list of medical symptoms and often detailed empirical observations along with logical rules used in combining observed symptoms on the body of a patient with its diagnosis and prognosis.[22]
The symptoms and diseases of a patient were treated through therapeutic means such as bandages, creams and pills. If a patient could not be cured physically, the Babylonian physicians often relied on exorcism to cleanse the patient from any curses. Esagil-kin-apli's Diagnostic Handbook was based on a logical set of axioms and assumptions, including the modern view that through the examination and inspection of the symptoms of a patient, it is possible to determine the patient's disease, its aetiology, its future development, and the chances of the patient's recovery.[20]
Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety of illnesses and diseases and described their symptoms in his Diagnostic Handbook. These include the symptoms for many varieties of epilepsy and related ailments along with their diagnosis and prognosis.[23]
Technology[link]
Mesopotamian people invented many technologies including metal and copper-working, glass and lamp making, textile weaving, flood control, water storage, and irrigation. They were also one of the first Bronze age people in the world. They developed from copper, bronze, and gold on to iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals. Also, copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and maces.
According to a recent hypothesis, the Archimedes screw may have been used by Sennacherib, King of Assyria, for the water systems at the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Nineveh in the 7th century BC, although mainstream scholarship holds it to be a Greek invention of later times.[24] Later during the Parthian or Sassanid periods, the Baghdad Battery, which may have been the world's first battery, was created in Mesopotamia.[25]
Religion and philosophy[link]
Main article: Mesopotamian religion
Mesopotamian religion was the first to be recorded. Mesopotamians believed that the world was a flat disc[citation needed], surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above that, heaven. They also believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the universe was born from this enormous sea. In addition, Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic.
Although the beliefs described above were held in common among Mesopotamians, there were also regional variations. The Sumerian word for universe is an-ki, which refers to the god An and the goddess Ki. Their son was Enlil, the air god. They believed that Enlil was the most powerful god. He was the chief god of the Pantheon, equivalent to the Greek god Zeus and the Roman god Jupiter. The Sumerians also posed philosophical questions, such as: Who are we?, Where are we?, How did we get here?.[citation needed] They attributed answers to these questions to explanations provided by their gods.
Philosophy[link]
The origins of philosophy can be traced back to early Mesopotamian wisdom, which embodied certain philosophies of life, particularly ethics, in the forms of dialectic, dialogs, epic poetry, folklore, hymns, lyrics, prose works, and proverbs. Babylonian reasoning and rationality developed beyond empirical observation.[26]
The earliest form of logic was developed by the Babylonians, notably in the rigorous nonergodic nature of their social systems. Babylonian thought was axiomatic and is comparable to the "ordinary logic" described by John Maynard Keynes. Babylonian thought was also based on an open-systems ontology which is compatible with ergodic axioms.[27] Logic was employed to some extent in Babylonian astronomy and medicine.
Babylonian thought had a considerable influence on early Greek and Hellenistic philosophy. In particular, the Babylonian text Dialogue of Pessimism contains similarities to the agonistic thought of the sophists, the Heraclitean doctrine of contrasts, and the dialectic and dialogs of Plato, as well as a precursor to the maieutic method of Socrates.[28] The Ionian philosopher Thales was influenced by Babylonian cosmological ideas.
Culture[link]
Festivals[link]
Ancient Mesopotamians had ceremonies each month. The theme of the rituals and festivals for each month is determined by six important factors:
- The phase of the Moon (a waxing moon meant abundance and growth, while a waning moon was associated with decline, conservation, and festivals of the Underworld)
- The phase of the annual agricultural cycle
- Equinoxes and solstices
- The local mythos and its divine Patrons
- The success of the reigning Monarch
- Commemoration of specific historical events (founding, military victories, temple holidays, etc.)
Music[link]
Main article: Music of Mesopotamia
Some songs were written for the gods but many were written to describe important events. Although music and songs amused kings, they were also enjoyed by ordinary people who liked to sing and dance in their homes or in the marketplaces. Songs were sung to children who passed them on to their children. Thus songs were passed on through many generations as an oral tradition until writing was more universal. These songs provided a means of passing on through the centuries highly important information about historical events.
The Oud (Arabic:العود) is a small, stringed musical instrument used by the Mesopotamians. The oldest pictorial record of the Oud dates back to the Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago. It is on a cylinder seal currently housed at the British Museum and acquired by Dr. Dominique Collon. The image depicts a female crouching with her instruments upon a boat, playing right-handed. This instrument appears hundreds of times throughout Mesopotamian history and again in ancient Egypt from the 18th dynasty onwards in long- and short-neck varieties. The oud is regarded as a precursor to the European lute. Its name is derived from the Arabic word العود al-‘ūd 'the wood', which is probably the name of the tree from which the oud was made. (The Arabic name, with the definite article, is the source of the word 'lute'.)
Games[link]
Hunting was popular among Assyrian kings. Boxing and wrestling feature frequently in art, and some form of polo was probably popular, with men sitting on the shoulders of other men rather than on horses.[29] They also played majore, a game similar to the sport rugby, but played with a ball made of wood. They also played a board game similar to senet and backgammon, now known as the "Royal Game of Ma-asesblu."
Family life[link]
Mesopotamia across its history became more and more a patriarchal society, one in which the men were far more powerful than the women. Thorkild Jacobsen, as well as many others, has suggested that early Mesopotamian society was ruled by a "council of elders" in which men and women were equally represented, but that over time, as the status of women fell, that of men increased. As for schooling, only royal offspring and sons of the rich and professionals, such as scribes, physicians, temple administrators, went to school. Most boys were taught their father's trade or were apprenticed out to learn a trade.[30] Girls had to stay home with their mothers to learn housekeeping and cooking, and to look after the younger children. Some children would help with crushing grain or cleaning birds. Unusual for that time in history, women in Mesopotamia had rights. They could own property and, if they had good reason, get a divorce.
Burials[link]
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Hundreds of graves have been excavated in parts of Mesopotamia, revealing information about Mesopotamian burial habits. In the city of Ur, most people were buried in family graves under their houses, along with some possessions. A few have been found wrapped in mats and carpets. Deceased children were put in big "jars" which were placed in the family chapel. Other remains have been found buried in common city graveyards. 17 graves have been found with very precious objects in them. It is assumed that these were royal graves.
Economy and agriculture[link]
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Agriculture arrived in the civilization about 5000 B.C.E. [31] Sumer developed the first large-scale economy, but the Babylonians developed the earliest system of economics. It was comparable to modern post-Keynesian economics, but with a more "anything goes" approach.[27]
The word Ensi wa used to describe the official who organized the work of all facets of commune argiculture. Villeins are known to have worked most frequently within agriculture, especially in the grounds of temples or palaces. [32]
The geography of Mesopotamia is such that agriculture is possible only with irrigation and good drainage, a fact which has had a profound effect on the evolution of Mesopotamian civilization. The need for irrigation led the Sumerians, and later the Akkadians, to build their cities along the Tigris and Euphrates and the branches of these rivers. Major cities, such as Ur and Uruk, took root on tributaries of the Euphrates, while others, notably Lagash, were built on branches of the Tigris. The rivers provided the further benefits of fish (used both for food and fertilizer), reeds, and clay (for building materials). With irrigation, the food supply in Mesopotamia was quite rich. The Tigris and Euphrates River valleys form the northeastern portion of the Fertile Crescent, which also included the Jordan River valley and that of the Nile. Although land nearer to the rivers was fertile and good for crops, portions of land farther from the water were dry and largely uninhabitable. This is why the development of irrigation was very important for settlers of Mesopotamia. Other Mesopotamian innovations include the control of water by dams and the use of aqueducts. Early settlers of fertile land in Mesopotamia used wooden plows to soften the soil before planting crops such as barley, onions, grapes, turnips, and apples. Mesopotamian settlers were some of the first people to make beer and wine. As a result of the skill involved in farming in the Mesopotamian, farmers did not depend on slaves to complete farm work for them, but there were some exceptions. There were too many risks involved to make slavery practical (i.e. the escape/mutiny of the slave). Although the rivers sustained life, they also destroyed it by frequent floods that ravaged entire cities. The unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often hard on farmers; crops were often ruined so backup sources of food such as cows and lambs were also kept.
Government[link]
The geography of Mesopotamia had a profound impact on the political development of the region. Among the rivers and streams, the Sumerian people built the first cities along with irrigation canals which were separated by vast stretches of open desert or swamp where nomadic tribes roamed. Communication among the isolated cities was difficult and, at times, dangerous. Thus, each Sumerian city became a city-state, independent of the others and protective of its independence. At times one city would try to conquer and unify the region, but such efforts were resisted and failed for centuries. As a result, the political history of Sumer is one of almost constant warfare. Eventually Sumer was unified by Eannatum, but the unification was tenuous and failed to last as the Akkadians conquered Sumeria in 2331 BC only a generation later. The Akkadian Empire was the first successful empire to last beyond a generation and see the peaceful succession of kings. The empire was relatively short-lived, as the Babylonians conquered them within only a few generations.
Kings[link]
The Mesopotamians believed their kings and queens were descended from the City of Gods, but, unlike the ancient Egyptians, they never believed their kings were real gods.[33] Most kings named themselves “king of the universe” or “great king”. Another common name was “shepherd”, as kings had to look after their people.
Power[link]
When Assyria grew into an empire, it was divided into smaller parts, called provinces. Each of these were named after their main cities, like Nineveh, Samaria, Damascus, and Arpad. They all had their own governor who had to make sure everyone paid their taxes. Governors also had to call up soldiers to war and supply workers when a temple was built. He was also responsible for enforcing the laws. In this way, it was easier to keep control of a large empire. Although Babylon was quite a small state in the Sumerian, it grew tremendously throughout the time of Hammurabi's rule. He was known as “the law maker”, and soon Babylon became one of the main cities in Mesopotamia. It was later called Babylonia, which meant "the gateway of the gods." It also became one of history's greatest centers of learning.
Warfare[link]
As city-states began to grow, their spheres of influence overlapped, creating arguments between other city-states, especially over land and canals. These arguments were recorded in tablets several hundreds of years before any major war—the first recording of a war occurred around 3200 BC but was not common until about 2500 BC. At this point, warfare was incorporated into the Mesopotamian political system, where a neutral city may act as an arbitrator for the two rival cities. This helped to form unions between cities, leading to regional states.[33] When empires were created, they went to war more with foreign countries. King Sargon, for example, conquered all the cities of Sumer, some cities in Mari, and then went to war with northern Syria. Many Assyrian and Babylonian palace walls were decorated with the pictures of the successful fights and the enemy either desperately escaping or hiding amongst reeds. A king in Sumer, Gilgamesh, was thought to be two-thirds god and only one-third human. His exploits were recorded in many poems and songs of the time.
Laws[link]
King Hammurabi, as mentioned above, was famous for his set of laws, the Code of Hammurabi (created ca. 1780 BC), which is one of the earliest sets of laws found and one of the best preserved examples of this type of document from ancient Mesopotamia. He codified over 200 laws for Mesopotamia.
Architecture[link]
Main article: Architecture of Mesopotamia
The study of ancient Mesopotamian architecture is based on available archaeological evidence, pictorial representation of buildings, and texts on building practices. Scholarly literature usually concentrates on temples, palaces, city walls and gates, and other monumental buildings, but occasionally one finds works on residential architecture as well.[34] Archaeological surface surveys also allowed for the study of urban form in early Mesopotamian cities.
The most notable architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at Uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from the Early Dynastic period sites in the Diyala River valley such as Khafajah and Tell Asmar, the Third Dynasty of Ur remains at Nippur (Sanctuary of Enlil) and Ur (Sanctuary of Nanna), Middle Bronze Age remains at Syrian-Turkish sites of Ebla, Mari, Alalakh, Aleppo and Kultepe, Late Bronze Age palaces at Bogazkoy (Hattusha), Ugarit, Ashur and Nuzi, Iron Age palaces and temples at Assyrian (Kalhu/Nimrud, Khorsabad, Nineveh), Babylonian (Babylon), Urartian (Tushpa/Van Kalesi, Cavustepe, Ayanis, Armavir, Erebuni, Bastam) and Neo-Hittite sites (Karkamis, Tell Halaf, Karatepe). Houses are mostly known from Old Babylonian remains at Nippur and Ur. Among the textual sources on building construction and associated rituals are Gudea's cylinders from the late 3rd millennium are notable, as well as the Assyrian and Babylonian royal inscriptions from the Iron Age.
See also[link]
References[link]
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- ^ a b Foster, Benjamin R.; Polinger Foster, Karen (2009), Civilizations of ancient Iraq, Princeton: Princeton University Press, ISBN 978-0-691-13722-3
- ^ a b Canard, M. (2011), "al-ḎJazīra, Ḏjazīrat Aḳūr or Iḳlīm Aḳūr", in Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E. et al., Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Leiden: Brill Online, OCLC 624382576
- ^ Wilkinson, Tony J. (2000), "Regional approaches to Mesopotamian archaeology: the contribution of archaeological surveys", Journal of Archaeological Research 8 (3): 219–267, DOI:10.1023/A:1009487620969, ISSN 1573-7756
- ^ Matthews, Roger (2003), The archaeology of Mesopotamia. Theories and approaches, Approaching the past, Milton Square: Routledge, ISBN 0-415-25317-9
- ^ a b Miquel, A.; Brice, W.C.; Sourdel, D.; Aubin, J.; Holt, P.M.; Kelidar, A.; Blanc, H.; MacKenzie, D.N. et al. (2011), "ʿIrāḳ", in Bearman, P.; Bianquis, Th.; Bosworth, C.E. et al., Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition, Leiden: Brill Online, OCLC 624382576
- ^ a b Bahrani, Z. (1998), "Conjuring Mesopotamia: imaginative geography a world past", in Meskell, L., Archaeology under fire: Nationalism, politics and heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East, London: Routledge, pp. 159–174, ISBN 978-0-415-19655-0
- ^ Scheffler, Thomas; 2003. “ 'Fertile crescent', 'Orient', 'Middle East': the changing mental maps of Southeast Asia,” European Review of History 10/2: 253–272.
- ^ Thompson, William R. (2004) "Complexity, Diminishing Marginal Returns, and Serial Mesopotamian Fragmentation" (Vol 3, Journal of World Systems Research)
- ^ Pollock, Susan (1999), Ancient Mesopotamia. The Eden that never was, Case Studies in Early Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 2, ISBN 978-0-521-57568-3
- ^ a b c Deutscher, Guy (2007), Syntactic Change in Akkadian: The Evolution of Sentential Complementation, Oxford University Press US, pp. 20–21, ISBN 978-0-19-953222-3, http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=XFwUxmCdG94C
- ^ Woods C. 2006 “Bilingualism, Scribal Learning, and the Death of Sumerian”. In S.L. Sanders (ed) Margins of Writing, Origins of Culture: 91-120 Chicago [1]
- ^ Tatlow, Elisabeth Meier Women, Crime, and Punishment in Ancient Law and Society: The ancient Near East Continuum International Publishing Group Ltd. (31 March 2005) ISBN 978-0-8264-1628-5 p. 75
- ^ Eves, Howard An Introduction to the History of Mathematics Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1969 p. 31
- ^ D. Brown (2000), Mesopotamian Planetary Astronomy-Astrology , Styx Publications, ISBN 90-5693-036-2.
- ^ Otto E. Neugebauer (1945). "The History of Ancient Astronomy Problems and Methods", Journal of Near Eastern Studies 4 (1), p. 1-38.
- ^ George Sarton (1955). "Chaldaean Astronomy of the Last Three Centuries B. C.", Journal of the American Oriental Society 75 (3), p. 166-173 [169].
- ^ William P. D. Wightman (1951, 1953), The Growth of Scientific Ideas, Yale University Press p.38.
- ^ Pingree (1998)
- ^ a b H. F. J. Horstmanshoff, Marten Stol, Cornelis Tilburg (2004), Magic and Rationality in Ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Medicine, p. 99, Brill Publishers, ISBN 90-04-13666-5.
- ^ Marten Stol (1993), Epilepsy in Babylonia, p. 55, Brill Publishers, ISBN 90-72371-63-1.
- ^ H. F. J. Horstmanshoff, Marten Stol, Cornelis Tilburg (2004), Magic and Rationality in Ancient Near Eastern and Graeco-Roman Medicine, p. 97-98, Brill Publishers, ISBN 90-04-13666-5.
- ^ Marten Stol (1993), Epilepsy in Babylonia, p. 5, Brill Publishers, ISBN 90-72371-63-1.
- ^ Stephanie Dalley and John Peter Oleson (January 2003). "Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of Invention in the Ancient World", Technology and Culture 44 (1).
- ^ Twist, Jo (20 November 2005). "Open media to connect communities". BBC News. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4450052.stm. Retrieved 2007-08-06.
- ^ Giorgio Buccellati (1981), "Wisdom and Not: The Case of Mesopotamia", Journal of the American Oriental Society 101 (1), p. 35-47.
- ^ a b Sheila C. Dow (2005), "Axioms and Babylonian thought: a reply", Journal of Post Keynesian Economics 27 (3), p. 385-391.
- ^ Giorgio Buccellati (1981), "Wisdom and Not: The Case of Mesopotamia", Journal of the American Oriental Society 101 (1), p. 35-47 43.
- ^ Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat (1998), Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia
- ^ Rivkah Harris (2000), Gender and Aging in Mesopotamia
- ^ Richard Bulliet, Pamela Kyle Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson, David Northup. [[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jvsVSqhw-FAC&pg=PA29&dq=mesopotamian+agriculture&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NeDFT-3PDcPW8gPMg_iRBg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=mesopotamian%20agriculture&f=false The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History]. Cengage Learning, 1 Jan 2010. [http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=jvsVSqhw-FAC&pg=PA29&dq=mesopotamian+agriculture&hl=en&sa=X&ei=NeDFT-3PDcPW8gPMg_iRBg&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=mesopotamian%20agriculture&f=false. Retrieved 2012-05-30.
- ^ H. W. F. Saggs - Professor Emeritus of Semitic Languages at University College, Cardiff. Babylonians. University of California Press, 1 Jun 2000. http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=BPdLxEyHci0C&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=agricultural+practice+in+Babylonia&source=bl&ots=sTSSaHbcs5&sig=t6CxtOHRU2qHWgyaVma06YoN46o&hl=en&sa=X&ei=oCnFT_TxEImA8wPFgcnnCg&sqi=2&ved=0CHkQ6AEwCA#v=onepage&q=agricultural%20practice%20in%20Babylonia&f=false. Retrieved 2012-05-29. ISBN 0520202228
- ^ a b Robert Dalling (2004), The Story of Us Humans, from Atoms to Today's Civilization
- ^ Dunham, Sally (2005), "Ancient Near Eastern architecture", in Daniel Snell, A Companion to the Ancient Near East, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 266–280, ISBN 0-631-23293-1
Further reading[link]
- Atlas de la Mésopotamie et du Proche-Orient ancien, Brepols, 1996 ISBN|2503500463.
- Benoit, Agnès; 2003. Art et archéologie : les civilisations du Proche-Orient ancien, Manuels de l'Ecole du Louvre.
- Jean Bottéro; 1987.Mésopotamie. L'écriture, la raison et les dieux, Gallimard, coll. « Folio Histoire », ISBN|2070403084.
- Jean Bottéro; 1992. Mesopotamia: writing, reasoning and the gods. Trans. by Zainab Bahrani and Marc Van de Mieroop, University of Chicago Press: Chicago.
- Edzard, Dietz Otto; 2004. Geschichte Mesopotamiens. Von den Sumerern bis zu Alexander dem Großen, München, ISBN 3-406-51664-5
- Hrouda, Barthel and Rene Pfeilschifter; 2005. Mesopotamien. Die antiken Kulturen zwischen Euphrat und Tigris. München 2005 (4. Aufl.), ISBN 3-406-46530-7
- Joannès, Francis; 2001. Dictionnaire de la civilisation mésopotamienne, Robert Laffont.
- Korn, Wolfgang; 2004. Mesopotamien – Wiege der Zivilisation. 6000 Jahre Hochkulturen an Euphrat und Tigris, Stuttgart, ISBN 3-8062-1851-X
- Kuhrt, Amélie; 1995. The Ancient Near East: c. 3000-330 B.C. 2 Vols. Routledge: London and New York.
- Liverani, Mario; 1991. Antico Oriente: storia, società, economia. Editori Laterza: Roma.
- Matthews, Roger; 2005. The early prehistory of Mesopotamia – 500,000 to 4,500 BC, Turnhout 2005, ISBN 2-503-50729-8
- Oppenheim, A. Leo; 1964. Ancient Mesopotamia: Portrait of a dead civilization. The University of Chicago Press: Chicago and London. Revised edition completed by Erica Reiner, 1977.
- Pollock, Susan; 1999. Ancient Mesopotamia: the Eden that never was. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge.
- Postgate, J. Nicholas; 1992. Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the dawn of history. Routledge: London and New York.
- Roux, Georges; 1964. Ancient Iraq, Penguin Books.
- Silver, Morris; 2007. Redistribution and Markets in the Economy of Ancient Mesopotamia: Updating Polanyi, Antiguo Oriente 5: 89-112.
- Snell, Daniel (ed.); 2005. A Companion to the Ancient Near East. Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub, 2005.
- Van de Mieroop, Marc; 2004. A history of the ancient Near East. ca 3000-323 BC. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.
External links[link]
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Mesopotamia |
- Ancient Mesopotamia — timeline, definition, and articles at Ancient History Encyclopedia
- Mesopotamia — introduction to Mesopotamia from the British Museum
- By Nile and Tigris, a narrative of journeys in Egypt and Mesopotamia on behalf of the British museum between the years 1886 and 1913, by Sir E. A. Wallis Budge, 1920 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDF format)
- A Dweller in Mesopotamia, being the adventures of an official artist in the Garden of Eden, by Donald Maxwell, 1921 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDFPDF (7.53 MB) format)
- Mesopotamian Archaeology, by Percy S. P. Pillow, 1912 (a searchable facsimile at the University of Georgia Libraries; DjVu & layered PDFPDF (12.8 MB) format)
- [2] Sumerian Philosophy
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