essay questions for mesopotamia

Presentations made painless

• Get Premium

124 Mesopotamia Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

Inside This Article

Mesopotamia, often referred to as the cradle of civilization, was an ancient region located in the Middle East that is known for its advancements in areas such as agriculture, writing, and mathematics. With such a rich history, there are countless essay topics that can be explored to delve deeper into the culture, society, and achievements of the Mesopotamian people. Here are 124 Mesopotamia essay topic ideas and examples to help inspire your next research paper or academic project:

• The significance of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamian civilization
• The invention of writing in Mesopotamia and its impact on the world
• The role of religion in Mesopotamian society
• The development of agriculture in Mesopotamia
• The rise of city-states in Mesopotamia
• The Code of Hammurabi and its influence on modern legal systems
• The role of women in Mesopotamian society
• The invention of the wheel in Mesopotamia
• The construction of ziggurats in Mesopotamia
• The Mesopotamian view of the afterlife
• The development of cuneiform writing in Mesopotamia
• The role of trade in Mesopotamian society
• The Mesopotamian system of education
• The development of mathematics in Mesopotamia
• The influence of Mesopotamian art on later civilizations
• The Mesopotamian concept of kingship
• The role of priests and temples in Mesopotamian society
• The development of astronomy in Mesopotamia
• The Mesopotamian system of weights and measures
• The Mesopotamian system of government
• The Mesopotamian system of taxation
• The development of irrigation systems in Mesopotamia
• The role of warfare in Mesopotamian society
• The Mesopotamian concept of beauty
• The Mesopotamian system of medicine
• The Mesopotamian system of music
• The development of metalworking in Mesopotamia
• The Mesopotamian system of slavery
• The Mesopotamian system of marriage and family
• The Mesopotamian system of trade and commerce
• The Mesopotamian system of diplomacy
• The Mesopotamian system of agriculture
• The Mesopotamian system of animal husbandry
• The Mesopotamian system of construction
• The Mesopotamian system of transportation
• The Mesopotamian system of communication
• The Mesopotamian system of religion
• The Mesopotamian system of art
• The Mesopotamian system of dance
• The Mesopotamian system of theater
• The Mesopotamian system of literature
• The Mesopotamian system of philosophy
• The Mesopotamian system of science
• The Mesopotamian system of technology
• The Mesopotamian system of architecture
• The Mesopotamian system of engineering
• The Mesopotamian system of mathematics
• The Mesopotamian system of astronomy
• The Mesopotamian system of psychology
• The Mesopotamian system of sociology
• The Mesopotamian system of anthropology
• The Mesopotamian system of history
• The Mesopotamian system of geography
• The Mesopotamian system of economics
• The Mesopotamian system of politics
• The Mesopotamian system of law
• The Mesopotamian system of ethics
• The Mesopotamian system of aesthetics
• The Mesopotamian system of logic
• The Mesopotamian system of metaphysics
• The Mesopotamian system of epistemology
• The Mesopotamian system of theology
• The Mesopotamian system of mythology
• The Mesopotamian system of folklore
• The Mesopotamian system of legends
• The Mesopotamian system of myths
• The Mesopotamian system of rituals
• The Mesopotamian system of ceremonies
• The Mesopotamian system of festivals
• The Mesopotamian system of holidays
• The Mesopotamian system of customs
• The Mesopotamian system of traditions
• The Mesopotamian system of beliefs
• The Mesopotamian system of values
• The Mesopotamian system of norms
• The Mesopotamian system of mores
• The Mesopotamian system of taboos
• The Mesopotamian system of superstitions
• The Mesopotamian system of omens
• The Mesopotamian system of prophecies
• The Mesopotamian system of divination
• The Mesopotamian system of magic
• The Mesopotamian system of sorcery
• The Mesopotamian system of witchcraft
• The Mesopotamian system of demonology
• The Mesopotamian system of angelology
• The Mesopotamian system of cosmology
• The Mesopotamian system of eschatology
• The Mesopotamian system of creation
• The Mesopotamian system of destruction
• The Mesopotamian system of salvation
• The Mesopotamian system of damnation
• The Mesopotamian system of afterlife
• The Mesopotamian system of reincarnation
• The Mesopotamian system of resurrection
• The Mesopotamian system of judgment
• The Mesopotamian system of punishment
• The Mesopotamian system of reward
• The Mesopotamian system of redemption
• The Mesopotamian system of forgiveness
• The Mesopotamian system of mercy
• The Mesopotamian system of justice
• The Mesopotamian system of fairness
• The Mesopotamian system of equality
• The Mesopotamian system of freedom
• The Mesopotamian system of democracy
• The Mesopotamian system of monarchy
• The Mesopotamian system of aristocracy
• The Mesopotamian system of oligarchy
• The Mesopotamian system of theocracy
• The Mesopotamian system of dictatorship
• The Mesopotamian system of totalitarianism
• The Mesopotamian system of anarchy
• The Mesopotamian system of chaos
• The Mesopotamian system of order
• The Mesopotamian system of lawlessness
• The Mesopotamian system of crime
• The Mesopotamian system of rehabilitation
• The Mesopotamian system of recidivism

These essay topic ideas and examples are just a starting point for exploring the fascinating world of Mesopotamia. Whether you are interested in history, archaeology, anthropology, or any other related field, there is no shortage of topics to choose from when it comes to studying this ancient civilization. So, pick a topic that interests you and start researching to uncover the secrets of Mesopotamia.

Want to research companies faster?

Instantly access industry insights

Let PitchGrade do this for me

Leverage powerful AI research capabilities

We will create your text and designs for you. Sit back and relax while we do the work.

Explore More Content

• Privacy Policy
• Terms of Service

© 2024 Pitchgrade

AP® World History

Mesopotamia: ap® world history crash course review.

• The Albert Team
• Last Updated On: March 1, 2022

It’s always difficult to decide on what you are going to focus on when you are studying for your AP® World History Exam. How can you cover thousands of years of global history? It’s a good question, but that’s why we’ve created these AP® World History Crash Course reviews. And trust us, you are going to want to add Mesopotamia to your list of must-know AP® World History concepts .

Mesopotamia has also been called “the Cradle of Civilization,” hence you know you’re going to want to use this AP® World History review during your exam studying. It was a hugely influential place and time in world history. So, stick with this AP® World History review and we will take you through everything you need to know for your AP® World History Exam, covering not only the most important dates and events, but how the concept is most likely to pop up on the exam itself.

Mesopotamia, The Cradle of Civilization

Mesopotamia literally means “between two rivers” in Greek. That’s because the term itself references the ancient civilizations that arose in the regions between the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers.

In modern day terms, we’re talking most of Iraq and parts of Iran Syria, and Turkey. And more specifically, it was bounded by the Zagros Mountains in the Northeast and the Arabian Plateau in the Southeast. But why take our word for it? Take a look at the map below for a much easier to understand depiction of the Mesopotamia region.

Map of Mesopotamia Image Source: Wikimedia Commons

You might also know the area as the “Fertile Crescent,” due to the fact that the river sediment and nutrients surrounding the area led to prime civilization territory. The land was primed and ready for food production, water was plentiful, and therefore there were also plenty of animals to both raise and eat.

Why is Mesopotamia Important?

Basically, the rich diversity of the Mesopotamic region allowed for human civilization to thrive. It helped to start the Neolithic and Agricultural Revolutions, which allowed for the development of culture, science, and religion, and helped to give rise of the most influential ancient empires.

There has been evidence of human activity in the region tracking all the way back to 10,000 BCE. These were the peoples who helped to domesticate animals, invented the wheel, planted the first cereal crops, studied the skies, and created written script.

In other words, this is a super important AP® World History Concept. Another reason this term is a must-know for the AP® World History exam is the fact that ancient Mesopotamians created the written word and therefore there is an ancient history to trace. They wrote about actual historical events, when other contemporaries were unable to.

The People of Mesopotamia

People have been present in the Mesopotamic region since the Stone Age and it has been the center of human activity for tens of thousands of years. When hunters and gatherers settled down to tend their crops, they began to create sophisticated tools and social structures as a way to survive, so objects like pottery and farm equipment were developed between 5,000 to 7,000 BCE.

Now, this AP® World History Crash course will get a little more interesting with the introduction of what have been called the Copper and Bronze Ages. This is where you get bigger and highly structured societies, because what does the development of copper and Bronze bring? Weapons.

The Sumerian Civilization was one of the first and most influential societies in all of world history, and therefore you need to know this AP® World History concept. By 3,000 BCE the Sumerian people were mathematically plotting the stars, writing, and working the land.

And the region only thrived from there. The Babylonians arrived on the scene around 2,000 BCE and remained a powerhouse for several thousands of years.

Probably the most significant influences on the region began to emerge around 1,000 BCE and would remain the central empire throughout the Roman Empire. These were the Assyrian and the Persian Civilizations.

It was the Babylonians, the Assyrians, and the Persians that emerged as the three biggest influences on the region, creating advanced and well-armed armies that maintained regional control, traded extensively with the ancient Greeks, Romans, Indians, and even as far east as the Pacific Coast of China.

Mesopotamia’s Contributions to World History

Mesopotamia’s history is so rich and its influences are so vast that it would take several book-length AP® World History reviews to properly cover every detail. But there are definitely some key developments and concepts that they contributed that you will need to know for your upcoming AP® World History exam.

For one, remember this was the “Cradle of Civilization.” This was where humans were born and raised basically. But it’s also the first real evidence of the city-state. Mesopotamian cities were infamous and rather unique with multi-storied buildings, markets, and rules that were enforced. A lot like cities today, right?

Also, their political rule typically revolved around the city. These city-states were relatively independent and operated as political hubs, a lot like ancient Greece. It would take large empires like that of the Assyrians to unify these diverse political cities.

Religiously speaking, this was a sunny, rich area. Since food required the sun to grow, religious deities often centered around one powerful god with other, less powerful ones controlling the natural and mystical worlds. Religion was so central that they created pyramids, or ziggurats, as centers of worship.

Lastly, you can’t really talk about Mesopotamia without mentioning technology and astronomy. Great thinkers hovered around these even greater cities, leading to sometimes odd discoveries. Bronze and copper production led to advances in military technology from spears to armor. But there were other inventions like the world’s first battery.

Thinking also led their eyes upwards. They were astoundingly brilliant astronomers. They were the first peoples to accurately trace the planets movements. They even theorized the rotation of the earth and moon to impressive detail. To this day, we are not entirely sure how they did all this.

Mesopotamia and the AP® US History Exam

So, this AP® World History Crash Course review on Mesopotamia has been a bit of a whirlwind, we know. But to be clear, this term needs to be on your list of must-know AP® World History concepts. Attack those textbooks, this website, and any other tool you can use to study for your AP® World History Exam.

What do you need to focus on then? Good question. Always keep in mind that Mesopotamia was the “Cradle of Civilization.” This is where human society began as we generally know it today. It was the birthplace of writing, the city-state, agricultural production, and the center for diverse technologies, religions, and societies.

Also, think about the role of nature and the environment here. Would it all have been possible if this was in a barren region? Probably not. How did the surrounding resources actually inform how human civilization developed.

And third, remember the emergence of empire. Powerful societies sprouted here. This meant extreme cultural exchange across a vast amount of space. But it also meant the development of culture and science, especially astronomy.

With that said, take a look at this example essay question from the AP® World History Course and Exam Guide (page 94):

Which of the following occurred as a result of the development of agriculture in societies that previously relied on hunting and gathering?

(A) Conditions for women improved. (B) The incidence of disease declined. (C) Population density increased. (D) Degradation of the environment lessened.

One thing that is nice about studying something as broad as Mesopotamia is that it covers a number of topics and time periods. So, by reading through this AP® World History review on Mesopotamia, you should know quite a bit about the Agricultural Revolution.

As we covered in this AP® World History Crash Course review, better access to nutrient rich land meant better ability to farm and better ability to farm resulted in the consolidation of peoples that led to the emergence of large cities and even empire in the region. In other words, the answer is C.

And now, take what you’ve learned from this AP® World History review and good luck getting that 5 on your upcoming AP® World History Exam!

Let’s put everything into practice. Try this AP® World History practice question:

Looking for more AP® World History practice?

Check out our other articles on  AP® World History .

You can also find thousands of practice questions on Albert.io. Albert.io lets you customize your learning experience to target practice where you need the most help. We’ll give you challenging practice questions to help you achieve mastery of AP® World History.

Start practicing here .

Are you a teacher or administrator interested in boosting AP® World History student outcomes?

Learn more about our school licenses here .

Interested in a school license?​

Popular posts.

AP® Score Calculators

Simulate how different MCQ and FRQ scores translate into AP® scores

AP® Review Guides

The ultimate review guides for AP® subjects to help you plan and structure your prep.

Core Subject Review Guides

Review the most important topics in Physics and Algebra 1 .

SAT® Score Calculator

See how scores on each section impacts your overall SAT® score

ACT® Score Calculator

See how scores on each section impacts your overall ACT® score

Grammar Review Hub

Comprehensive review of grammar skills

AP® Posters

Download updated posters summarizing the main topics and structure for each AP® exam.

Mesopotamian Civilization Essay

• To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
• As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
• As a template for you assignment

Introduction

The word Mesopotamia is derived from an ancient Greek work, which translates to “(land) between rivers.” The earliest known usage of the term has been recorded to be in the second century when it was used to refer to the land that sits on the east of the Euphrates River in Syria.

This was coined by Anabasis Alexandri. It was not until much later when the name Mesopotamia was used to refer to the whole region that lies between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Mesopotamia lay in what is today known as Syria, Iraq, and Turkey.

The region can be further divided into two regions. The Northern Mesopotamia is also referred to as Jezirah and is the land that lies between the two rivers from their sources down to Baghdad (Heine and Nissen 45).

The history of the region can be traced to the rise of urban societies throughout the Ubaid period, which occurred around 5300BC. Mesopotamia can also be found in the history of the Ancient Near East beginning in the lower Paleolithic period.

The Ancient Near East is suspected to have collapsed after the arrival of the Achaemenid Empire. This was during the late 6 th century and some researchers say it happened during the Conquest of Mesopotamia by the Arabs. Some of the world’s most advanced states in the ancients times can be found in the Mesopotamian region.

Mesopotamia is famous for being one of the regions where writing was invented and advanced. The other places include the Nile valley and the Yellow River Valley. The greatest cities that were ever built in Mesopotamia include Nippur, Uruk and Babylon.

The other states that lay on the outskirts and territory of Mesopotamia include Ma-aesesblu. Several dynasties were formed in Mesopotamia and included Ur Kingdom, Akkadian Dynasty and the Assyrian Empire. Mesopotamia also saw great leaders emerge from the cities and states.

They included Hammurabi, Sargon and Ashur-Uballit II who was instrumental in setting up the Assyrian Empire (Fiero 110). The history of this great land can be traced through looking at the history of different people who occupied it who included the Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Amorites, the Hitites, the Kassites, the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans (Kramer 75).

The Sumerian: They reigned from 3500-1800 B.C.

The Sumerians are among the first and earliest civilization in Mesopotamia and are suspected to have built the civilization around 3000 BC when they began building large city-states. Besides running the cities, the natives were involved in conquering and controlling the large areas around them.

Some of these city-states included Ur, Lagash, and Eridu. The Sumerians were a warring people and fought among themselves and with other people for control of watering holes. The wars led to people building large city-states which were used later to conquer the smaller ones.

When the Sumerians went to war with the Akkadians they eventually lost control of their city-states, which were now being controlled by the Akkadian empire from, Akkad, a city that would later become Babylon. In 2125, the Sumerians residing in the city of Ur fought the Akkadians and took control of the city-states in the southern Mesopotamia region (Kramer 98).

One the greatest thing from this period is the invention of writing. The early writing was done through use of pictograms and rough sketches of the words they were supposed to represent. They used to do their writing on wet clay using reeds as the writing instrument and this was effective in storage of information.

The Sumerians also invented some of the earliest application of mathematics including abstract mathematics. They are also accredited for being the inventors of astrology, where they tried to learn about the heaven as they sought answers regarding their gods.

The most important creation from the Sumerian is considered to the law. Although not much is known about the Sumerian law scholars are for the opinion that the Code of Hammurabi, which was written by the Babylonian monarch, gives us a peek into how the Sumerian law was like.

The Hammurabi code as used in the law exacts that revenge should be used when solving of cases. This is also known as the lex talionis law that governs that that you should reciprocate therefore, an eye for an eye.

The law also recognized class distinction and people were judged according to the class they came from. The laws set marked a basis for many of the following Semitic conquerors including the Babylonians and the Assyrians.

The Akkadians: they reigned from 2340-2125 B.C.

The history of the Akkadians before they conquered the Sumerians is not well known though they are known to have migrated to the North. In the year 2340, the Akkadian built their empire under the leadership of Sargon. The capital city they built, Akkad, was later renamed to Babylon by those who conquered it later.

The city was used as a commercial hub in the Mediterranean region and was used for close to 200 years for this purpose. The Akkadian empire under the leadership of Sargon was short lived because in 2125, the Sumerians in the city of Ur revolted against his rule and set pace for the renewal of other Sumerian cities (Heine and Nissen 89).

The Amorites reigned from 1800 to1530 B.C.

When the Sumeriam kingdom fell, Mesopotamia witnessed many battles that lasted for almost a century until the Amorites grouped and formed a Kingdom that had a centralized form of government. They based the capital of the government in the city of Babylon and this gives the Amorites the name Old Babylonians (Heine and Nissen 110).

The Amorite dynasty lasted from 1900 to 1600 BC and it is referred to as the Old Babylonian period. In this period, the Old Babylonians believed that the monarch was a god and his word was the law. The all-powerful monarch devised new ways of administering the states and the resources.

He introduced taxation and involuntary military service. The greatest achievement made by the Amorites was centralization, unlike the Sumerian empire that had many autonomous and independent city-states the Old Babylonian was ruled from Babylon and consisted of several cities.

To achieve control and dominance of these cities the monarch took away the power and autonomy of most of them. The Amorites also adopted the code of Hammurabi and most of the crimes in the empire were punishable by death. The Amorites believed in many gods and took Marduk as the most powerful of all the gods (Somervill 156).

The Hitites: they reigned from 1600 to 717 B.C.

The Hitites are not known from where they came from but their empire was spread out across Mesopotamia to Palestine and Syria. The invasion of the Hitites marked the end of the Amorite dynasty and like those before them; they adopted the ways and culture of the natives thus continuing the heritage and tradition of the Sumerians.

The empire is cited to have been greatest between 1600 and 1200 BC and even during the invasion of by the Assyrians in 1300 BC, most of the Hitites cities grew independently until 717 BC when they were finally occupied by the Assyrians and other enemies.

The Hitites were traders and are responsible for spreading Mesopotamian law thought, political structure etc to the rest of the Mediterranean (Somervill 162).

The Kassites: 1530-1170 B.C.

The Hitites were among the most successful Indo-European invaders to conquer Mesopotamia, but their rule did not last long. When the Kassites conquered and controlled Mesopotamia, they renamed the Babylon city to Karanduniash.

They set the capital city of their empire in a new city they built known as Dorkurigalzu. During the reign of the empire, the Mesopotamia region witnessed many wars and this attributed to the short life of the Kassites Empire. The Kassites are referred to as barbarians and savages by the Assyrians who would later conquer them (Somervill 82).

The Assyrians: Their Reign was from 1170 to 612 B.C.

The Assyrians are depicted in most of the history of Mesopotamia as being ruled rather than ruling. They tried to create their own empire under the rule of Shamshi-Adad though this was short lived after the dream was crashed by Hammurabi. Control of the Assyrian cities over the centuries changed hands from the Assyrians and the southern people.

The various times the region was under the rule of the Assyrians includes 1235-1198 BC under Tukulti-Ninurta, 116-1090 BC under Tiglat-Pileser, 883-824 under Ashurnarziparl II and Shalmeneser III who spread the reach of the kingdom to Syria and Babylon.

It is also during the reign of this dynasty that saw the Jewish diaspora when Sargon II (721-705 BC), deported the Jews after conquering Israel. The Assyrian empire was built through wars, invasions, and conquests. The empire is accredited with innovation in the mathematics field. They were also the first to apply longitudes and latitude in geographical maps (Somervill 62).

The Chaldeans: Also Known As Neo Babylon from reigned from 612 to 539 BC

They are the last people who are Semites to rule Mesopotamia after the Assyrian Kingdom fell. After much suffering in the hands of the Assyrians Babylon revolted against them and they burnt down the capital city of the Assyrian empire Nineveh.

The leader of the Babylonians was Nabopolassar and was succeeded by Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC) who protected his empire from being conquered by the Egyptians and Syria. Under Nebuchadnezzar the capital city Babylon was rebuilt and upon its completion, it was the most splendid city in the Middle East.

The whole period the empire was under the Babylonian there were many wars and this resulted to the empire ending in 555 BC after the rule of the empire fell to a king who was loyal to the Assyrians.

He defiled Marduk the Babylonian god and this resulted to the priests welcoming the occupation of the region by Cyrus the Conqueror of Persia. This marked the end of the region dominance by the Semites (Heine and Nissen 120).

Works Cited

Fiero, Gloria. Landmarks in Humanities. Boston : McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print.

Heine, Peter and Nissen, Hans. From Mesopotamia to Iraq: a concise history . The University of Chicago Press, 2009. Print.

Kramer, Samuel. The Sumerians: their history, culture, and character. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963. Print.

Somervill, Barbara. Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia: Great Empires of the Past . New York: Chelsea House, 2010. Print.

• Ancient Societies In Asia
• Ancient Greek Democracy That Still Makes People Strive for Perfection
• Assyrians and Persians' Approaches to Invasions
• The Ancient Greek Culture Impact on Western Civilization
• Art: Standard of Ur, Nefertiti Bust and Nok Head
• History of Athenian Democracy
• The Kings of Ancient Egypt
• Factors That Influenced Development on Human Civilization
• The Histories: Greek Identity
• The Pyramids of Giza
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2019, March 28). Mesopotamian Civilization. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mesopotamian-civilization/

"Mesopotamian Civilization." IvyPanda , 28 Mar. 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/mesopotamian-civilization/.

IvyPanda . (2019) 'Mesopotamian Civilization'. 28 March.

IvyPanda . 2019. "Mesopotamian Civilization." March 28, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mesopotamian-civilization/.

1. IvyPanda . "Mesopotamian Civilization." March 28, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mesopotamian-civilization/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Mesopotamian Civilization." March 28, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/mesopotamian-civilization/.

3.2 Ancient Mesopotamia

Learning objectives.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

• Identify characteristics of civilization in Ancient Mesopotamia
• Discuss the political history of Mesopotamia from the early Sumerian city-states to the rise of Old Babylon
• Describe the economy, society, and religion of Ancient Mesopotamia

In the fourth millennium BCE, the world’s first great cities arose in southern Mesopotamia , or the land between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, then called Sumer . The ancient Sumerians were an inventive people responsible for a host of technological advances, most notably a sophisticated writing system. Even after the Sumerian language ceased to be spoken early in the second millennium BCE, Sumerian literary works survived throughout the whole of Mesopotamia and were often collected by later cities and stored in the first libraries.

The Rise and Eclipse of Sumer

The term Mesopotamia , or “the land between the rivers” in Greek, likely originated with the Greek historian Herodotus in the fifth century BCE and has become the common name for the place between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is now Iraq. The rivers flow north to south, from the Taurus Mountains of eastern Turkey to the Persian Gulf, depositing fertile soil along their banks. Melting snow and rain from the mountains carry this topsoil to the river valleys below. In antiquity, the river flow was erratic, and flooding was frequent but unpredictable. The need to control it and manage the life-giving water led to the building of cooperative irrigation projects.

Agricultural practices reached Mesopotamia by around 8000 BCE, if not earlier. However, for about two millennia afterward, populations remained quite small, typically living in small villages of between one hundred and two hundred people. Beginning around 5500 BCE, some had begun to establish settlements in southern Mesopotamia, a wetter and more forbidding environment. It was here that the Sumerian civilization emerged ( Figure 3.8 ). By around 4500 BCE, some of the once-small farming villages had become growing urban centers, some with thousands of residents. During the course of the fourth millennium BCE (3000s BCE), urbanization exploded in the region. By the end of the millennium, there were at least 124 villages with about one hundred residents each, twenty towns with as many as two thousand residents, another twenty small urban centers of about five thousand residents, and one large city, Uruk , with a population that may have been as high as fifty thousand. This growth helped make Sumer the earliest civilization to develop in Mesopotamia.

The fourth millennium BCE in Sumer was also a period of technological innovation. One important invention made after 4000 BCE was the process for manufacturing bronze, an alloy of tin and copper, which marked the beginning of the Bronze Age in Mesopotamia. In this period, bronze replaced stone as the premier material for tools and weapons and remained so for nearly three thousand years. The ancient Sumerians also developed the plow, the wheel, and irrigation techniques that used small channels and canals with dikes for diverting river water into fields. All these developments allowed for population growth and the continued rise of cities by expanding agricultural production and the distribution of agricultural goods. In the area of science, the Sumerians developed a sophisticated mathematical system based on the numbers sixty, ten, and one.

One of the greatest inventions of this period was writing. The Sumerians developed cuneiform , a script characterized by wedge-shaped symbols that evolved into a phonetic script, that is, one based on sounds, in which each symbol stood for a syllable ( Figure 3.9 ). They wrote their laws, religious tracts, and property transactions on clay tablets, which became very durable once baked, just like the clay bricks the Sumerians used to construct their buildings. The clay tablets held records of commercial exchanges, including contracts and receipts as well as taxes and payrolls. Cuneiform also allowed rulers to record their laws and priests to preserve their rituals and sacred stories. In these ways, it helped facilitate both economic growth and the formation of states.

Dueling Voices

The invention of writing in sumer.

Writing developed independently in several parts of the world, but the earliest known evidence of its birth has been found in Sumer, where cuneiform script emerged as a genuine writing system by around 3000 BCE, if not earlier. But questions remain about how and why ancient peoples began reproducing their spoken language in symbolic form.

Archaeologist Denise Schmandt-Besserat argued in the 1990s that small clay representations of numbers and objects, often called “tokens,” date from thousands of years before the development of cuneiform writing and were its precursor. These tokens, she believed, were part of an accounting system, and each type represented a different good: livestock, grains, and oils. Some were found within hollow baseball-sized clay balls now called “bullae,” which were marked with pictures of the tokens inside. Schmandt-Besserat believed the pictures portray the type of transaction in which the goods represented by the tokens were exchanged, and thus they were a crucial step toward writing. Over time, she suggested, the marked bullae gave way to flat clay tablets recording the transactions, and the first truly written records emerged ( Figure 3.10 ).

Schmandt-Besserat’s linear interpretation is still one of the best-known explanations for the emergence of writing. But it is hardly the only one. One scholar who offers a different idea is the French Assyriologist Jean-Jacques Glassner. Glassner believes that rather than being an extension of accounting techniques, early writing was a purposeful attempt to render the Sumerian language in script. He equates the development of writing, which gives meaning to a symbol, to the process by which Mesopotamian priests interpreted omens for divining the future. Writing allowed people to place language, a creation of the gods, under human control. Glassner’s argument is complex and relies on ancient works of literature and various theoretical approaches, including that of postmodernist philosopher Jacques Derrida.

Many disagree with Glassner’s conclusions, and modern scholars concede that tokens likely played an important role, but probably not in the linear way Schmandt-Besserat proposed. Uncertainty about the origin of writing in Sumer still abounds, and the scholarly debate continues.

• Why do you think Schmandt-Besserat’s argument was once so appealing?
• If you lived in a society with no writing, what might prompt you to develop a way to represent your language in symbolic form?

Cuneiform was a very complex writing system, and literacy remained the monopoly of an elite group of highly trained writing specialists, the scribes. But the script was also highly flexible and could be used to symbolize a great number of sounds, allowing subsequent Mesopotamian cultures such as the Akkadians, Babylonians, and many more to adapt it to their own languages. Since historians deciphered cuneiform in the nineteenth century, they have read the thousands of clay tablets that survived over the centuries and learned much about the history, society, economy, and beliefs of the ancient Sumerians and other peoples of Mesopotamia.

The Sumerians were polytheists , people who revered many gods. Each Sumerian city had its own patron god, however, one with whom the city felt a special connection and whom it honored above the others. For example, the patron god of Uruk was Inanna, the goddess of fertility; the city of Nippur revered the weather god Enlil; and Ur claimed the moon god Sin. Each city possessed an immense temple complex for its special deity, which included a site where the deity was worshipped and religious rituals were performed. This site, the ziggurat , was a stepped tower built of mud-brick with a flat top ( Figure 3.11 ). At its summit stood a roofed structure that housed the sacred idol or image of the temple’s deity. The temple complex also included the homes of the priests, workshops for artisans who made goods for the temple, and storage facilities to meet the needs of the temple workers.

Sumerians were clearly eager to please their gods by placing them at the center of their society. These gods could be fickle, faithless, and easily stirred to anger. If displeased with the people, they might bring famine or conquest. Making sure the gods were praised and honored was thus a way of ensuring prosperity. Praising them, however, implied different things for different social tiers in Sumer . For common people, it meant living a virtuous life and giving to the poor. For priests and priestesses, it consisted of performing the various rituals at the temple complexes. And for rulers honoring the gods, it meant ensuring that the temples were properly funded, maintained, and regularly beautified and enlarged if possible.

By the Early Dynastic Period (c. 2650 BCE–2400 BCE), powerful dynasties of kings called lugals had established themselves as rulers of the cities. In each city, the lugals rose to power primarily as warlords, since the Sumerian cities often waged war against each other for control of farmland and access to water as well as other natural resources. Lugals legitimized their authority through the control of the religious institutions of the city. For example, at Ur, the daughter of the reigning lugal always served as the high priestess of the moon god Sin, the chief deity at Ur.

The lugals at Ur during this period, the so-called First Dynasty of Ur, were especially wealthy, as reflected in the magnificent beehive-shaped tombs in which they were buried. In these tombs, precious goods such as jewelry and musical instruments were stored, along with the bodies of servants who were killed and placed in the tomb to accompany the rulers to the Land of the Dead. One of the more spectacular tombs belonged to a woman of Ur called Pu-Abi, who was buried wearing an elaborate headdress and might have been a queen ( Figure 3.12 ). The most famous lugal in all Sumer in this early period was Gilgamesh of Uruk, whose legendary exploits were recounted later in fantastical form in the Epic of Gilgamesh .

Link to Learning

The Epic of Gilgamesh is one of the world’s earliest examples of epic literature. To understand this ancient tale, first written down in the form we know today around 2100 BCE, read the overview of the Epic of Gilgamesh provided by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, which has a notable collection of ancient Mesopotamian artifacts.

The Rise of the World’s First Empire

Around 2300 BCE, the era of the independent Sumerian city-state , a political entity consisting of a city and surrounding territory that it controls, came to an end. Sumer and indeed all of Mesopotamia was conquered by Sargon of Akkad , who created the first-known empire, in this case, a number of regional powers under the control of one person. The word “Akkad” in his name was a reference to the Akkadians, a group that settled in central Mesopotamia, north of Sumer, around the ancient city of Kish. Over time, the Akkadians adopted Sumerian culture and adapted cuneiform to their own language, a language of the Semitic family that includes the Arabic and Hebrew spoken today. They also identified their own gods with the gods of the Sumerians and adopted Sumerian myths. For example, the Akkadians identified the fertility goddess Inanna with their own goddess Ishtar.

Sargon conquered not only Sumer but also what is today northern Iraq, Syria, and southwestern Iran. While the precise details of his origin and rise to power are not known, scholars believe the story Sargon told about himself, at least, has likely been accurately preserved in the Legend of Sargon , written two centuries after his death as a purported autobiography. It is a familiar story of a scrappy young hero born in humble circumstances and rising on his own merits to become a great leader. The Legend relates how, when Sargon was a baby, his unwed mother put him in a basket and cast it on the Euphrates River. A farmer found and raised him, and Ishtar loved Sargon and elevated him from a commoner to a great king and conqueror.

This interesting tale would have certainly been a powerful piece of propaganda justifying Sargon’s rule and endearing him to the common people, and some of it may even be true. But from what historians can tell, Sargon’s rise to power likely occurred during a period of turmoil as his kingdom of Kish, of which he had likely seized control, came under attack by another king named Lugalzagesi. Sargon’s eventual defeat of Lugalzagesi and conquest of all of Sumer proved to be the beginning of a larger conquest of Mesopotamia. The Akkadian Empire that Sargon created lasted for about a century and a half, officially coming to an end in the year 2193 BCE ( Figure 3.13 ).

One of the rivals of the Akkadian Empire was the city-state of Ebla, located in northwestern Syria. At some point, its people had adapted Sumerian cuneiform to their own language, which, like Akkadian, belonged to the Semitic family of languages, and archaeologists have discovered thousands of cuneiform tablets at the site. These tablets reveal that Ebla especially worshipped the storm god Adad, who was honored with the title “Ba‘al” or lord. More than one thousand years later in the Iron Age, people in this region still worshipped Baal, who was the main rival of Yahweh for the affections of the ancient Israelites.

Other rivals of the Akkadians were the Elamites , who inhabited the region to the immediate southeast of Mesopotamia in southwest Iran and whose city of Susa arose around 4000 BCE. The art and architecture of the Elamites suggest a strong Sumerian influence. They developed their own writing system around 3000 BCE, even though they adapted Sumerian cuneiform to their language later in the third millennium BCE. The Elamites also worshipped their own distinct deities, such as Insushinak, the Lord of the Dead. Both Elam and Ebla eventually suffered defeat at the hands of the Akkadians.

In the year 2193 BCE, however, the Akkadian Empire collapsed. The precise reason is not entirely clear. However, some ancient accounts point to the incursions of the nomadic Guti tribes, whose original homes were located in the Zagros Mountains of northwestern Iran, northwest of Mesopotamia. These Guti were originally pastoralists , who lived off their herds of livestock and moved from place to place to find pasture for their animals. While the Guti tribes certainly did move into the Akkadian Empire toward its end, modern scholarship suggests that the empire was likely experiencing internal decline and famine before this. The Guti appear to have exploited this weakness rather than triggering it. Regardless, for around a century, the Guti ruled over Sumer and adopted its culture as their own. Around 2120 BCE, however, the Sumerians came together under the leadership of the cities of Uruk and Ur and expelled the Guti from their homeland.

Later Empires in Mesopotamia

While Sargon’s empire lasted only a few generations, his conquests dramatically transformed politics in Mesopotamia. The era of independent city-states waned, and over the next few centuries, a string of powerful Mesopotamian rulers were able to build their own empires, often using the administrative techniques developed by Sargon as a model. For example, beginning about 2112 BCE, all Sumer was again united under the Third Dynasty of Ur as the Guti were driven out. The rulers of this dynasty held the title of lugal of all Sumer and Akkad, and they were also honored as gods. They built temples in the Sumerian city of Nippur, which was sacred to the storm god Enlil, the ruler of the gods in the Sumerian pantheon. The most famous lugal of this dynasty was Ur-Nammu (c. 2150 BCE), renowned for his works of poetry as well as for the law code he published.

At its height, the Third Dynasty extended its control over both southern and northern Mesopotamia. But by the end of the third millennium, change was on the horizon. Foreign invaders from the north, east, and west put tremendous pressure on the empire, and its rulers increased their military preparedness and even constructed a 170-mile fortification wall to keep them out. While these strategies were somewhat effective, they appear to have only postponed the inevitable as Amorites, Elamites, and other groups eventually poured in and raided cities across the land. By about 2004 BCE, Sumer had crumbled, and even Ur was violently sacked by the invaders.

The sack of Ur by the Elamites and others was the inspiration for a lament or song of mourning that became a classic of Sumerian literature. Read The Lament for Urim and pay attention to the way the writer attributes the destruction to the caprice of the gods; the actual invaders are merely tools. For descriptions of the destruction itself, focus on lines 161–229.

In the centuries after 2004 BCE, the migration of Amorites into Mesopotamia resulted in the gradual disappearance of Sumerian as a spoken language. People in the region came to speak Amorite, which belonged to the family of Semitic languages. Nonetheless, scribes continued to preserve and write works in Sumerian and Akkadian cuneiform. Sumerian and Akkadian became the languages of religious rituals, hymns, and prayers, as well as classic literary works such as the Epic of Gilgamesh . Consequently, the literary output of these earlier cultures was preserved and transmitted to the new settlers. When nomadic Amorite tribes settled in Mesopotamia, they eventually established new cities such as Mari, Asshur, and Babylon, and they adopted much of the culture they encountered. The ancient Sumerian cities of Larsa and Isin of this era also preserved these cultural traditions, even as they came under the rule of Amorite kings.

Hammurabi , the energetic ruler of Babylon during the first half of the eighteenth century BCE, defeated the kings of the rival cities of Mari and Larsa and created an empire that encompassed nearly all of Mesopotamia. To unify this new empire, Hammurabi initiated the construction of irrigation projects, built new temples at Nippur, and published his legal edicts throughout his realm. Hammurabi had these edicts inscribed on stone pillars erected in different places in the empire to inform his subjects about proper behavior and the laws of the land. Being especially clear, the Code of Hammurabi far outlived the king who created it. It also provides us with a fascinating window into how Mesopotamian society functioned at this time.

In Their Own Words

The law in old babylon.

Remarkable for its clarity, the Code of Hammurabi may have introduced concepts like the presumption of innocence and the use of evidence. It informed legal systems in Mesopotamia for many centuries after Hammurabi’s death ( Figure 3.14 ).

The Code of Hammurabi promoted the principle that punishment should fit the crime, but penalties often depended on social class:

199. If [a man] put out the eye of a man’s slave, or break the bone of a man’s slave, he shall pay one-half of its value. 202. If any one strike the body of a man higher in rank than he, he shall receive sixty blows with an ox-whip in public. Many edicts concern marriage, adultery, children, and marriage property. 129. If a man’s wife be surprised with another man, both shall be tied and thrown into the water, but the husband may pardon his wife and the king his slaves. 150. If a man give his wife a field, garden, and house and a deed therefor, if then after the death of her husband the sons raise no claim, then the mother may bequeath all to one of her sons whom she prefers, and need leave nothing to his brothers.

A good number of the code’s edicts concern the settling of commercial disputes:

9. If anyone lose an article, and find it in the possession of another [who says] “A merchant sold it to me, I paid for it before witnesses,” . . . The judge shall examine their testimony—both of the witnesses before whom the price was paid, and of the witnesses who identify the lost article on oath. The merchant is then proved to be a thief and shall be put to death. The owner of the lost article receives his property, and he who bought it receives the money he paid from the estate of the merchant. 48. If anyone owe a debt for a loan, and a storm prostrates the grain, or the harvest fail, or the grain does not grow for lack of water; in that year he need not give his creditor any grain, he washes his debt-tablet in water and pays no rent for this year. —"Hammurabi’s Code of Laws,” c. 1780 BCE, translated by L.W. King

• What do these edicts suggest about the different social tiers in Babylonian society? How were they organized?
• Was marriage similar to or different from marriage today?
• Do the edicts for resolving economic disputes seem fair to you? Why or why not?

While Hammurabi’s empire lasted a century and a half, much of the territory he conquered began falling away from Babylon’s control shortly after he died. The empire continued to dwindle in size until 1595 BCE, when an army of Hittites from central Anatolia in the north (modern Turkey) sacked the city of Babylon. Shortly thereafter, Kassites from the Zagros Mountains of northwestern Iran conquered Babylon and southern Mesopotamia and settled there, unlike the Hittites who had returned to their Anatolian home. The Kassites established a dynasty that ruled over Babylon for nearly five hundred years, to the very end of the Bronze Age . Like the Guti and the Amorites before them, over time, the Kassite rulers adopted the culture of their Mesopotamian subjects.

Society and Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia

Thanks to the preservation of cuneiform clay tablets and the discovery and translation of law codes and works of literature, historians have at their disposal a wealth of information about Mesopotamian society. The study of these documents and the archaeological excavations carried out in Mesopotamia have allowed them to reconstruct the empire’s economy.

We know now that temples and royal palaces were not merely princely residences and places for religious rituals; they also functioned as economic redistribution centers. For example, agricultural goods were collected from farmers as taxes by civic and religious officials, who then stored them to provide payments to the artisans and merchants they employed. Palaces and temples thus needed to possess massive storage facilities. Scribes kept records in cuneiform of all the goods collected and distributed by these institutions. City gates served as areas where farmers, artisans, and merchants could congregate and exchange goods. Precious metals such as gold often served as a medium of exchange, but these goods had to be weighed and measured during commercial exchanges, since coinage and money as we understand it today did not emerge until the Iron Age, a millennium later.

Society in southern Mesopotamia was highly urban. About 70 to 80 percent of the population lived in cities, but not all were employed as artisans, merchants, or other traditional urban roles. Rather, agriculture and animal husbandry accounted for a majority of a city’s economic production. Much of the land was controlled by the temples, kings, or other powerful landowners and was worked by semi-free peasants who were tied to the land. The rest of the land included numerous small plots worked by the free peasants who made up about half the population. A much smaller portion was made up of enslaved people, typically prisoners of war or persons who had committed crimes or gone into debt. A man could sell his own children into slavery to cover a debt.

Much of the hard labor performed in the fields was done by men and boys, while the wives, mothers, and daughters of merchants and artisans were sometimes fully engaged in running family businesses. Cuneiform tablets tell us that women oversaw the business affairs of their families, especially when husbands were merchants who often traveled far from home. For example, cuneiform tablets from circa 1900 BCE show that merchants from Ashur in northern Mesopotamia conducted trade with central Anatolia and wrote letters to their female family members back home. Women were also engaged in the production of textiles like wool and linen. They not only produced these textiles in workshops with their own hands, but some appear to have held managerial positions within the textile industry.

Free peasant farmers, artisans, and merchants were all commoners. This put them in a higher social position than the semi-free peasants and slaves but lower than the elite nobility, who made up a very small percentage of the population and whose ranks included priests, official scribes, and military leaders. This aristocratic elite often received land in payment for their services to the kings and collected rents in kind from their peasant tenants. Social distinctions were also reflected in the law. For example, aspects of Hammurabi’s law code called for punishments for causing physical harm to another to be equal to the harm inflicted. This principle is best summarized in the line “an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.” However, the principle applied only to victims and perpetrators of the same social class. An aristocrat convicted of the murder of a fellow noble paid with their life, while an aristocrat who harmed or murdered a commoner might be required only to pay a fine.

Men and women were not equal under the Code of Hammurabi . A man was free to have multiple wives and divorce a wife at will, whereas a woman could divorce her husband only if she could prove he had been unkind to her without reason. However, a woman from a family of means could protect her position in a marriage if her family put up a dowry, which could be land or goods. Upon marriage, the husband obtained the dowry, but if he divorced or was unkind to his wife, he had to return it to her and her family.

Cuneiform tablets have also allowed historians to read stories about the gods and heroes of Mesopotamian cultures. Mesopotamians revered many different gods associated with forces of nature. These were anthropomorphic deities who not only had divine powers but also frequently acted on very human impulses like anger, fear, annoyance, and lust. Examples include Utu, the god of the sun ( Figure 3.15 ); Inanna (known to the Akkadians as Ishtar), the goddess of fertility; and Enlil (whose equivalent in other Mesopotamian cultures was Marduk), the god of wind and rain. The ancient Mesopotamians held that the gods were visible in the sky as heavenly bodies like stars, the moon, the sun, and the planets. This belief led them to pay close attention to these bodies, and over time, they developed a sophisticated understanding of their movement. This knowledge allowed them to predict astronomical events like eclipses and informed their development of a twelve-month calendar.

People in Mesopotamia believed human beings were created to serve the gods ( Figure 3.16 ). They were expected to supply the gods with food through the sacrifice of sheep and cattle in religious rituals, and to honor them with temples, religious songs or hymns, and expensive gifts. People sought divine support from their gods. But they also feared that their worship might be insufficient and anger the deity. When that happened, the gods could bring death and devastation through floods and pestilence. Stories of gods wreaking great destruction, sometimes for petty reasons, are common in Mesopotamian myths. For example, in one Sumerian myth, the storm god Enlil nearly destroyed the entire human race with a flood when the noise made by humans annoyed him and kept him from sleep.

The ancient Mesopotamians’ belief that the gods were fickle, destructive, and easily stirred to anger is one reason many historians believe they had a generally pessimistic worldview. From the literature they left behind, we can see that while they hoped for the best, they were often resigned to accept the worst. Given the environment in which Mesopotamian civilization emerged, this pessimism is somewhat understandable. River flooding was common and could often be unpredictable and destructive. Wars between city-states and the destruction that comes with conflict were also common. Life was difficult in this unforgiving world, and the profiles of the various gods of the Mesopotamians reflect this harsh reality.

Evidence of Mesopotamians’ pessimism is also present in their view of the afterlife. In their religion, after death all people spent eternity in a shadowy underworld sometimes called “the land of no return.” Descriptions of this place differ somewhat in the details, but the common understanding was that it was a gloomy and frightening place where the dead were consumed by sorrow, eating dust and clay and longing pitifully and futilely to return to the land of the living.

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/1-introduction

• Authors: Ann Kordas, Ryan J. Lynch, Brooke Nelson, Julie Tatlock
• Publisher/website: OpenStax
• Book title: World History Volume 1, to 1500
• Publication date: Apr 19, 2023
• Location: Houston, Texas
• Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/1-introduction
• Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/world-history-volume-1/pages/3-2-ancient-mesopotamia

© Jul 3, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.

• History & Society
• Science & Tech
• Biographies
• Animals & Nature
• Geography & Travel
• Arts & Culture
• Games & Quizzes
• On This Day
• One Good Fact
• New Articles
• Lifestyles & Social Issues
• Philosophy & Religion
• Politics, Law & Government
• World History
• Health & Medicine
• Browse Biographies
• Birds, Reptiles & Other Vertebrates
• Bugs, Mollusks & Other Invertebrates
• Environment
• Fossils & Geologic Time
• Entertainment & Pop Culture
• Sports & Recreation
• Visual Arts
• Demystified
• Image Galleries
• Infographics
• Top Questions
• Britannica Kids
• Saving Earth
• Space Next 50
• Student Center
• Introduction
• The character and influence of ancient Mesopotamia
• The achievements of ancient Mesopotamia
• The classical and medieval views of Mesopotamia; its rediscovery in modern times
• Modern archaeological excavations
• The emergence of cultures
• Mesopotamian protohistory
• Literary and other historical sources
• First historical personalities
• Emergent city-states
• Territorial states
• Sargon’s reign
• Ascendancy of Akkad
• The end of the dynasty
• Administration
• Ethnic, geographic, and intellectual constituents
• Ur III in decline
• Political fragmentation
• Literary texts and increasing decentralization
• Early history of Assyria
• Political fortunes
• Babylonian law
• Babylonian literature
• The Hurrians
• The Kassites in Babylonia
• The Hurrian and Mitanni kingdoms
• The rise of Assyria
• Babylonia under the 2nd dynasty of Isin
• Assyria between 1200 and 1000 bce
• Assyria and Babylonia until Ashurnasirpal II
• Shalmaneser III and Shamshi-Adad V of Assyria
• Adad-nirari III and his successors
• Tiglath-pileser III and Shalmaneser V
• Sargon II (721–705) and Marduk-apal-iddina of Babylonia
• Sennacherib
• Ashurbanipal (668–627) and Shamash-shum-ukin (668–648)
• Decline of the Assyrian empire
• Nebuchadrezzar II
• The last kings of Babylonia
• Mesopotamia under the Persians
• The Seleucid period
• The Parthian period
• The Sasanian period

history of Mesopotamia

Our editors will review what you’ve submitted and determine whether to revise the article.

• Ancient Origins - Mesopotamia, History and The Rise Of Civilisation
• McClintock and Strong Biblical Cyclopedia - Mesopotamia
• The Guardian - Mesopotamia: Birthplace of civilisation
• Khan Academy - Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations
• The History Files - Mesopotamia
• LiveScience - Mesopotamia: The Land Between Two Rivers
• Getty - Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins
• World History Encyclopedia - Mesopotamia
• University of Cambridge - Department of Archaeology - Ancient Mesopotamia - an overview
• Mesopotamia - Children's Encyclopedia (Ages 8-11)
• Mesopotamia - Student Encyclopedia (Ages 11 and up)
• Table Of Contents

• What were the major civilizations that flourished in ancient Mesopotamia?
• How did the development of agriculture and irrigation systems impact Mesopotamian society?
• What were some of the most significant inventions and innovations that originated in Mesopotamia?
• How did the political structure and governance evolve in Mesopotamian city-states?
• What role did religion and mythology play in Mesopotamian culture?
• What were the main writing systems used in ancient Mesopotamia, and how did they evolve?
• How did the geography of Mesopotamia influence its history and development?
• How did the social structure in Mesopotamian societies differ from other ancient civilizations?
• What were some of the most important architectural achievements of ancient Mesopotamia?

history of Mesopotamia , history of the region in southwestern Asia where the world’s earliest civilization developed. The name comes from a Greek word meaning “between rivers,” referring to the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers , but the region can be broadly defined to include the area that is now eastern Syria , southeastern Turkey , and most of Iraq . The region was the centre of a culture whose influence extended throughout the Middle East and as far as the Indus valley, Egypt , and the Mediterranean.

This article covers the history of Mesopotamia from the prehistoric period up to the Arab conquest in the 7th century ce . For the history of the region in the succeeding periods, see Iraq, history of . For a discussion of the religions of ancient Mesopotamia, see Mesopotamian religion . See also art and architecture, Mesopotamian .

Mesopotamia to the end of the Old Babylonian period

The origins of mesopotamian history, the background.

In the narrow sense, Mesopotamia is the area between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers , north or northwest of the bottleneck at Baghdad, in modern Iraq; it is Al-Jazīrah (“The Island”) of the Arabs. South of this lies Babylonia , named after the city of Babylon . However, in the broader sense, the name Mesopotamia has come to be used for the area bounded on the northeast by the Zagros Mountains and on the southwest by the edge of the Arabian Plateau and stretching from the Persian Gulf in the southeast to the spurs of the Anti-Taurus Mountains in the northwest. Only from the latitude of Baghdad do the Euphrates and Tigris truly become twin rivers, the rāfidān of the Arabs, which have constantly changed their courses over the millennia. The low-lying plain of the Kārūn River in Persia has always been closely related to Mesopotamia, but it is not considered part of Mesopotamia as it forms its own river system.

Mesopotamia, south of Al-Ramādī (about 70 miles, or 110 kilometres, west of Baghdad) on the Euphrates and the bend of the Tigris below Sāmarrāʾ (about 70 miles north-northwest of Baghdad), is flat alluvial land. Between Baghdad and the mouth of the Shaṭṭ al-ʿArab (the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates, where it empties into the Persian Gulf) there is a difference in height of only about 100 feet (30 metres). As a result of the slow flow of the water, there are heavy deposits of silt, and the riverbeds are raised. Consequently, the rivers often overflow their banks (and may even change their course) when they are not protected by high dikes. In recent times they have been regulated above Baghdad by the use of escape channels with overflow reservoirs. The extreme south is a region of extensive marshes and reed swamps, hawr s, which, probably since early times, have served as an area of refuge for oppressed and displaced peoples. The supply of water is not regular; as a result of the high average temperatures and a very low annual rainfall, the ground of the plain of latitude 35° N is hard and dry and unsuitable for plant cultivation for at least eight months in the year. Consequently, agriculture without risk of crop failure, which seems to have begun in the higher rainfall zones and in the hilly borders of Mesopotamia in the 10th millennium bce , began in Mesopotamia itself, the real heart of the civilization, only after artificial irrigation had been invented, bringing water to large stretches of territory through a widely branching network of canals. Since the ground is extremely fertile and, with irrigation and the necessary drainage, will produce in abundance, southern Mesopotamia became a land of plenty that could support a considerable population. The cultural superiority of north Mesopotamia, which may have lasted until about 4000 bce , was finally overtaken by the south when the people there had responded to the challenge of their situation.

The present climatic conditions are fairly similar to those of 8,000 years ago. An English survey of ruined settlements in the area 30 miles around ancient Hatra (180 miles northwest of Baghdad) has shown that the southern limits of the zone in which agriculture is possible without artificial irrigation has remained unchanged since the first settlement of Al-Jazīrah.

The availability of raw materials is a historical factor of great importance, as is the dependence on those materials that had to be imported. In Mesopotamia, agricultural products and those from stock breeding, fisheries, date palm cultivation, and reed industries—in short, grain, vegetables, meat, leather, wool, horn, fish , dates, and reed and plant-fibre products—were available in plenty and could easily be produced in excess of home requirements to be exported. There are bitumen springs at Hīt (90 miles northwest of Baghdad) on the Euphrates (the Is of Herodotus). On the other hand, wood, stone, and metal were rare or even entirely absent. The date palm—virtually the national tree of Iraq—yields a wood suitable only for rough beams and not for finer work. Stone is mostly lacking in southern Mesopotamia, although limestone is quarried in the desert about 35 miles to the west and “Mosul marble” is found not far from the Tigris in its middle reaches. Metal can only be obtained in the mountains, and the same is true of precious and semiprecious stones. Consequently, southern Mesopotamia in particular was destined to be a land of trade from the start. Only rarely could “empires” extending over a wider area guarantee themselves imports by plundering or by subjecting neighbouring regions.

The raw material that epitomizes Mesopotamian civilization is clay : in the almost exclusively mud-brick architecture and in the number and variety of clay figurines and pottery artifacts , Mesopotamia bears the stamp of clay as does no other civilization, and nowhere in the world but in Mesopotamia and the regions over which its influence was diffused was clay used as the vehicle for writing . Such phrases as cuneiform civilization, cuneiform literature, and cuneiform law can apply only where people had had the idea of using soft clay not only for bricks and jars and for the jar stoppers on which a seal could be impressed as a mark of ownership but also as the vehicle for impressed signs to which established meanings were assigned—an intellectual achievement that amounted to nothing less than the invention of writing.

• History Classics
• Your Profile
• Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window)
• Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window)
• This Day In History
• History Podcasts
• History Vault

Mesopotamia

By: History.com Editors

Updated: April 24, 2023 | Original: November 30, 2017

Mesopotamia is a region of southwest Asia in the Tigris and Euphrates river system that benefitted from the area’s climate and geography to host the beginnings of human civilization. Its history is marked by many important inventions that changed the world, including the concept of time, math, the wheel, sailboats, maps and writing. Mesopotamia is also defined by a changing succession of ruling bodies from different areas and cities that seized control over a period of thousands of years.

Where is Mesopotamia?

Mesopotamia is located in the region now known as the Middle East, which includes parts of southwest Asia and lands around the eastern Mediterranean Sea. It is part of the Fertile Crescent , an area also known as “Cradle of Civilization” for the number of innovations that arose from the early societies in this region, which are among some of the earliest known human civilizations on earth.

The word “mesopotamia” is formed from the ancient words “meso,” meaning between or in the middle of, and “potamos,” meaning river. Situated in the fertile valleys between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the region is now home to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey and Syria .

Mesopotamian Civilization

Humans first settled in Mesopotamia in the Paleolithic era. By 14,000 B.C., people in the region lived in small settlements with circular houses.

Five thousand years later, these houses formed farming communities following the domestication of animals and the development of agriculture, most notably irrigation techniques that took advantage of the proximity of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.

Agricultural progress was the work of the dominant Ubaid culture, which had absorbed the Halaf culture before it.

How Mesopotamia Became the Cradle of Civilization

Environmental factors helped agriculture, architecture and eventually a social order emerge for the first time in ancient Mesopotamia.

The Earliest Known Author Was a Woman from Mesopotamia

A priestess named Enheduanna claimed authorship to poetry and other texts—sometimes in first‑person—more than a millennium before Homer.

9 Ancient Sumerian Inventions That Changed the World

The Sumerian people of Mesopotamia had a flair for innovation. Here's how they left their mark.

Ancient Mesopotamia

These scattered agrarian communities started in the northern part of the ancient Mesopotamian region and spread south, continuing to grow for several thousand years until forming what modern humans would recognize as cities, which were considered the work of the Sumer people.

Uruk was the first of these cities, dating back to around 3200 B.C. It was a mud brick metropolis built on the riches brought from trade and conquest and featured public art, gigantic columns and temples. At its peak, it had a population of some 50,000 citizens.

Sumerians are also responsible for the earliest form of written language, cuneiform, with which they kept detailed clerical records.

By 3000 B.C., Mesopotamia was firmly under the control of the Sumerian people. Sumer contained several decentralized city-states—Eridu, Nippur, Lagash, Uruk, Kish and Ur.

The first king of a united Sumer is recorded as Etana of Kish. It’s unknown whether Etana really existed, as he and many of the rulers listed in the Sumerian King List that was developed around 2100 B.C. are all featured in Sumerian mythology as well.

Etana was followed by Meskiaggasher, the king of the city-state Uruk. A warrior named Lugalbanda took control around 2750 B.C.

Gilgamesh, the legendary subject of the Epic of Gilgamesh , is said to be Lugalbanda’s son. Gilgamesh is believed to have been born in Uruk around 2700 B.C.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is considered to be the earliest great work of literature and the inspiration for some of the stories in the Bible. In the epic poem, Gilgamesh goes on an adventure with a friend to the Cedar Forest, the land of the Gods in Mesopotamian mythology. When his friend is slain, Gilgamesh goes on a quest to discover the secret of eternal life, finding: "Life, which you look for, you will never find. For when the gods created man, they let death be his share, and life withheld in their own hands."

King Lugalzagesi was the final king of Sumer, falling to Sargon of Akkad, a Semitic people, in 2334 B.C. They were briefly allies, conquering the city of Kish together, but Lugalzagesi’s mercenary Akkadian army was ultimately loyal to Sargon.

HISTORY Vault: Ancient History

From the Sphinx of Egypt to the Kama Sutra, explore ancient history videos.

Sargon and the Akkadians

The Akkadian Empire existed from 2234-2154 B.C. under the leadership of the now-titled Sargon the Great. It was considered the world’s first multicultural empire with a central government.

Little is known of Sargon’s background, but legends give him a similar origin to the Biblical story of Moses. He was at one point an officer who worked for the king of Kish, and Akkadia was a city that Sargon himself established. When the city of Uruk invaded Kish, Sargon took Kish from Uruk and was encouraged to continue with conquest.

Sargon expanded his empire through military means, conquering all of Sumer and moving into what is now Syria. Under Sargon, trade beyond Mesopotamian borders grew, and architecture became more sophisticated, notably the appearance of ziggurats, flat-topped buildings with a pyramid shape and steps.

The final king of the Akkadian Empire, Shar-kali-sharri, died in 2193 B.C., and Mesopotamia went through a century of unrest, with different groups struggling for control.

Among these groups were the Gutian people, barbarians from the Zagros Mountains. The Gutian rule is considered a disorderly one that caused a severe downturn in the empire’s prospects.

In 2100 B.C. the city of Ur attempted to establish a dynasty for a new empire. The ruler of Ur-Namma, the king of the city of Ur, brought Sumerians back into control after Utu-hengal, the leader of the city of Uruk, defeated the Gutians.

Under Ur-Namma, the first code of law in recorded history, The Code of Ur-Nammu, appeared. Ur-Namma was attacked by both the Elamites and the Amorites and defeated in 2004 B.C.

The Babylonians

Choosing Babylon as the capital, the Amorites took control and established Babylonia .

Kings were considered deities and the most famous of these was Hammurabi , who ruled 1792–1750 B.C. Hammurabi worked to expand the empire, and the Babylonians were almost continually at war.

Hammurabi’s most famous contribution is his list of laws, better known as the Code of Hammurabi , devised around 1772 B.C.

Hammurabi’s innovation was not just writing down the laws for everyone to see, but making sure that everyone throughout the empire followed the same legal codes, and that governors in different areas did not enact their own. The list of laws also featured recommended punishments to ensure that every citizen had the right to the same justice.

In 1750 B.C. the Elamites conquered the city of Ur. Together with the control of the Amorites, this conquest marked the end of Sumerian culture.

The Hittites

The Hittites, who were centered around Anatolia and Syria, conquered the Babylonians around 1595 B.C.

Smelting was a significant contribution of the Hittites, allowing for more sophisticated weaponry that lead them to expand the empire even further. Their attempts to keep the technology to themselves eventually failed, and other empires became a match for them.

The Hittites pulled out shortly after sacking Babylon, and the Kassites took control of the city. Hailing from the mountains east of Mesopotamia, their period of rule saw immigrants from India and Europe arriving, and travel sped up thanks to the use of horses with chariots and carts.

The Kassites abandoned their own culture after a couple of generations of dominance, allowing themselves to be absorbed into Babylonian civilization.

The Assyrians

The Assyrian Empire under the leadership of Ashur-uballit I rose around 1365 B.C. in the areas between the lands controlled by the Hittites and the Kassites.

Around 1220 B.C., King Tukulti-Ninurta I aspired to rule all of Mesopotamia and seized Babylon. The Assyrian Empire continued to expand over the next two centuries, moving into modern-day Palestine and Syria.

Under the rule of Ashurnasirpal II in 884 B.C., the empire created a new capitol, Nimrud, built from the spoils of conquest and brutality that made Ashurnasirpal II a hated figure.

His son Shalmaneser spent the majority of his reign fighting off an alliance between Syria, Babylon and Egypt, and conquering Israel . One of his sons rebelled against him, and Shalmaneser sent another son, Shamshi-Adad, to fight for him. Three years later, Shamshi-Adad ruled.

A new dynasty began in 722 B.C. when Sargon II seized power. Modeling himself on Sargon the Great, he divided the empire into provinces and kept the peace.

His undoing came when the Chaldeans attempted to invade and Sargon II sought an alliance with them. The Chaldeans made a separate alliance with the Elamites, and together they took Babylonia.

Sargon II lost to the Chaldeans but switched to attacking Syria and parts of Egypt and Gaza, embarking on a spree of conquest before eventually dying in battle against the Cimmerians from Russia.

Sargon II’s grandson Esarhaddon ruled from 681 to 669 B.C. and went on a destructive campaign of conquest through Ethiopia, Palestine and Egypt, destroying cities he rampaged through after looting them. Esarhaddon struggled to rule his expanded empire. A paranoid leader, he suspected many in his court of conspiring against him and had them killed.

His son Ashurbanipal is considered to be the final great ruler of the Assyrian empire. Ruling from 669 to 627 B.C., he faced a rebellion in Egypt, losing the territory, and from his brother, the king of Babylonia, whom he defeated. Ashurbanipal is best remembered for creating Mesopotamia’s first library in what is now Nineveh, Iraq. It is the world’s oldest known library, predating the Library of Alexandria by several hundred years.

Nebuchadnezzar

In 626 B.C. the throne was seized by Babylonian public official Nabopolassar, ushering in the rule of the Semitic dynasty from Chaldea. In 616 B.C. Nabopolassar attempted to take Assyria but failed.

His son Nebuchadnezzar reigned over the Babylonian Empire following an invasion effort in 614 B.C. by King Cyaxares of Media that pushed the Assyrians further away.

Nebuchadnezzar is known for his ornate architecture, especially the Hanging Gardens of Babylon , the Walls of Babylon and the Ishtar Gate. Under his rule, women and men had equal rights.

Nebuchadnezzar is also responsible for the conquest of Jerusalem , which he destroyed in 586 B.C., taking its inhabitants into captivity. He appears in the Old Testament because of this action.

The Persian Empire

Persian Emperor Cyrus II seized power during the reign of Nabonidus in 539 B.C. Nabonidus was such an unpopular king that Mesopotamians did not rise to defend him during the invasion.

Babylonian culture is considered to have ended under Persian rule, following a slow decline of use in cuneiform and other cultural hallmarks.

By the time Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire in 331 B.C., most of the great cities of Mesopotamia no longer existed and the culture had been long overtaken. Eventually, the region was taken by the Romans in A.D. 116 and finally Arabic Muslims in A.D. 651.

Mesopotamian Gods

Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic, with followers worshipping several main gods and thousands of minor gods. The three main gods were Ea (Sumerian: Enki), the god of wisdom and magic, Anu (Sumerian: An), the sky god, and Enlil (Ellil), the god of earth, storms and agriculture and the controller of fates. Ea is the creator and protector of humanity in both the Epic of Gilgamesh and the story of the Great Flood. 

In the latter story, Ea made humans out of clay, but the God Enlil sought to destroy humanity by creating a flood. Ea had the humans build an ark and mankind was spared. If this story sounds familiar, it should; foundational Mesopotamian religious stories about the Garden of Eden, the Great Flood, and the Creation of the Tower of Babel found their way into the Bible, and the Mesopotamian religion influenced both Christianity and Islam.

Each Mesopotamian City had its own patron god or goddess, and most of what we know of them has been passed down through clay tablets describing Mesopotamian religious beliefs and practices. A painted terracotta plaque from 1775 B.C. gives an example of the sophistication of Babylonian art, portraying either the goddess Ishtar or her sister Ereshkigal, accompanied by night creatures.

Mesopotamian Art

While making art predates civilization in Mesopotamia, the innovations there include creating art on a larger scale, often in the context of their grandiose and complex architecture, and frequently employing metalwork.

One of the earliest examples of metalwork in art comes from southern Mesopotamia, a silver statuette of a kneeling bull from 3000 B.C. Before this, painted ceramics and limestone were the most common art forms.

Another metal-based work, a goat standing on its hind legs and leaning on the branches of a tree, featuring gold and copper along with other materials, was found in the Great Death Pit at Ur and dates to 2500 B.C.

Mesopotamian art often depicted its rulers and the glories of their lives. Also created around 2500 B.C. in Ur is the intricate Standard of Ur, a shell and limestone structure that features an early example of complex pictorial narrative, depicting a history of war and peace.

In 2230 B.C., Akkadian King Naram-Sin was the subject of an elaborate work in limestone that depicts a military victory in the Zagros Mountains and presents Naram-Sin as divine.

Among the most dynamic forms of Mesopotamian art are the reliefs of the Assyrian kings in their palaces, notably from Ashurbanipal’s reign around 635 B.C. One famous relief in his palace in Nimrud shows him leading an army into battle, accompanied by the winged god Assur.

Ashurbanipal is also featured in multiple reliefs that portray his frequent lion-hunting activity. An impressive lion image also figures into the Ishtar Gate in 585 B.C., during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II and fashioned from glazed bricks.

Mesopotamian art returned to the public eye in the 21st century when museums in Iraq were looted during conflicts there. Many pieces went missing, including a 4,300-year-old bronze mask of an Akkadian king, jewelry from Ur, a solid gold Sumerian harp, 80,000 cuneiform tablets and numerous other irreplaceable items.

Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization. Paul Kriwaczek . Ancient Mesopotamia. Leo Oppenheim . Ancient Mesopotamia: This History, Our History. University of Chicago . Mesopotamia 8000-2000 B.C. Metropolitan Museum of Art . 30,000 Years of Art. Editors at Phaidon . Ancient Mesopotamian Gods and Goddesses. UPenn.edu .

Sign up for Inside History

Get HISTORY’s most fascinating stories delivered to your inbox three times a week.

By submitting your information, you agree to receive emails from HISTORY and A+E Networks. You can opt out at any time. You must be 16 years or older and a resident of the United States.

More details : Privacy Notice | Terms of Use | Contact Us

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia is thought to be one of the places where early civilization developed. It is a historic region of West Asia within the Tigris-Euphrates river system. In fact, the word Mesopotamia means "between rivers" in Greek. Home to the ancient civilizations of Sumer, Assyria, and Babylonia these peoples are credited with influencing mathematics and astronomy. Use these classroom resources to help your students develop a better understanding of the cradle of civilization.

Anthropology, Archaeology

Key Pages: Home Announcements Course Description Course requirements Practicalities Assignments Exam Essay Questions Tips for Writing Papers Weekly schedule Lecture notes --> Discussion Presentation Resources Maps Bibliography Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology

Joukowsky Institute for Archaeology & the Ancient World Brown University Box 1837 / 60 George Street Providence, RI 02912 Telephone: (401) 863-3188 Fax: (401) 863-9423 [email protected]

Mid-term Take-home Essay Questions

Please write an essay of 3-4 pages (12 font double-spaced) on one of the following topics. You are encouraged to use all class notes, readings, wiki website content. Usually further research is not expected, but you are again strongly recommended to use reference books placed on reserve for our class and listed on the back of your syllabus. When writing your essay, please make careful use of appropriate referencing to the sources you have used.

1. With the first archaeological excavations during the 19th century as part of the colonialist enterprise in the Near East, Europeans were introduced to the ancient cultures of Mesopotamia. Discuss the ways in which the Mesopotamian civilizations were represented at that time, and how they were incorporated into the narratives of world history. Narrative is defined by scholars as a form of telling, where the knowledge of the author becomes a form of political power. Can we suggest such narrativity in the writing of world history? What was the role that was played by archaeology and archaeological museums in this process? How were the historical geographical terms such as Near East and Fertile Crescent formed?

2. Discuss various definitions of social complexity in archaeological literature. What are the different political, economic and cultural features of a complex society? Address specifically how social complexity is associated with particular aspects of material culture, urbanization, emergence of writing and craft production in Early Mesopotamia. Give examples to how archaeological evidence may or may not present evidence of social complexity in Mesopotamia.

3. Discuss domestic, symbolic and cultic components of architecture in Neolithic sites you have seen in class (such as Çatalhöyük, Nevalı Çori, Göbeklitepe). What are the similarities and differences between these sites in terms of the use and articulation of space? What are the various interpretations of such spaces presented by scholars that you have read?

4. What are the outstanding architectural technologies among Uruk period buildings and the Early Dynastic structures we have studied in a comparative perspective?. Point out the continuities and discontinuities in the techniques of wall decoration, use of particular architectural materials, aspects of monumentality, inclusion of pictorial imagery on the monuments and the like. How do you thing such material evidence is useful in talking about social and cultural history in early Mesopotamia?

5. Refined archaeological field techniques such as archaeobotany, climatology, pollen-core analysis, micromorphology, osteoarchaeology, ethnoarchaeology, dendrochronology are being used more and more in contemporary archaeological projects. In what ways do you think such methodologies are advancing our understanding of ancient cultures? Discuss and compare archaeological cases in which such techniques were used to arrive complex interpretations versus earlier excavations where they were not available. What is missed, what is gained?

Due: Friday October 20th, 2006 in class.

Study Of Mesopotamia Essays

Comparative study of mesopotamia and ancient egypt, popular essay topics.

• American Dream
• Artificial Intelligence
• Black Lives Matter
• Bullying Essay
• Career Goals Essay
• Causes of the Civil War
• Child Abusing
• Civil Rights Movement
• Community Service
• Cultural Identity
• Cyber Bullying
• Death Penalty
• Depression Essay
• Domestic Violence
• Freedom of Speech
• Global Warming
• Gun Control
• Human Trafficking
• I Believe Essay
• Immigration
• Importance of Education
• Israel and Palestine Conflict
• Leadership Essay
• Legalizing Marijuanas
• Mental Health
• National Honor Society
• Police Brutality
• Pollution Essay
• Racism Essay
• Romeo and Juliet
• Same Sex Marriages
• Social Media
• The Great Gatsby
• The Yellow Wallpaper
• Time Management
• To Kill a Mockingbird
• Violent Video Games
• What Makes You Unique
• Why I Want to Be a Nurse
• Send us an e-mail

24/7 writing help on your phone

To install StudyMoose App tap and then “Add to Home Screen”

Mesopotamia - Free Essay Examples and Topic Ideas

Mesopotamia is a historical region located in the Middle East, between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It was home to some of the earliest civilizations in human history, including the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians. Mesopotamia was known for its advanced agriculture, complex irrigation systems, and remarkable achievements in science, mathematics, and literature. The region’s strategic location also made it a center of trade and commerce, connecting the East and West. Mesopotamia’s legacy can still be seen today in modern-day Iraq, where much of the ancient ruins and artifacts have been preserved for future generations to explore and learn from.

• 📘 Free essay examples for your ideas about Mesopotamia
• 🏆 Best Essay Topics on Mesopotamia
• ⚡ Simple & Mesopotamia Easy Topics
• 🎓 Good Research Topics about Mesopotamia
• ❓ Questions and Answers

Essay examples

Essay topic.

Save to my list

Remove from my list

• A Comparison of Ancient Egyptian and Mesopotamian Societies
• Geography’s Impact on Mesopotamia and Egypt
• Mesopotamia VS Egypt
• Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Indus Valley
• Urban Society in Mesopotamia
• Babylonian Mathematics
• The Comparative Essay: Early Civilizations
• Effects of ancient civilization’s achievments
• Comparison and contrast of Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley
• Ancient Mesopotamia and Greek inventions
• Compare and Contrast Mesopotamia and Egypt
• Mesopotamia and Egypt Civilization Comparison
• Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia
• Egypt and Mesopotamia
• Ancient Egypt and Ancient Mesopotamia Comparison and Contrast
• Compare and contrast Egypt and Mesopotamia
• Egypt & Mesopotamia Comparison
• Culture and Religion of Mesopotamia in Epic of Gilgamesh
• Research Related to Comparing Mesopotamia and Rome
• Epic of Gilgamesh Themes Echoing Life in Mesopotamia

FAQ about Mesopotamia

👋 Hi! I’m your smart assistant Amy!

Don’t know where to start? Type your requirements and I’ll connect you to an academic expert within 3 minutes.

Essays on Mesopotamia

Faq about mesopotamia.

First-Year Requirements

In addition to your UC application, we take both your academic record and your personal experiences into consideration during the review process . At UCLA, we seek students who have excelled academically and gained valuable perspective from the personal experiences that have helped shape their lives.

Read on to find out more.

The Criteria We Consider

When reviewing an application, we implement a holistic review process, which includes looking at some of the following criteria:

• Achievement in high school or college coursework
• Personal qualities
• Likely contributions to the intellectual and cultural vitality of our campus
• Achievement in academic enrichment programs
• Other achievements in any field of intellectual or creative endeavor, including the performing arts, athletics, community service, etc.

Academic Preparation

You must complete 15 A-G courses with at least 11 courses finished prior to the beginning of your last year of high school. To be competitive in the UCLA admission process, applicants should present an academic profile much stronger than any minimum UC admission requirements.  See below for a listing of the A-G requirements:

• 2 years history/social science
• 4 years of college-preparatory English
• 3 years of mathematics (4 years recommended)
• 2 years of laboratory science (3 years recommended)
• 2 years of language other than English (3 years recommended)
• 1 year of visual and performing arts (if available)
• 1 year of college-preparatory elective

Keep in mind that there is no single academic path we expect all students to follow. However, competitive applicants earn high marks in the most rigorous curriculum available to them.   Each application for admission is reviewed within the context of courses available to that student. If a particular required subject is not available, we’ll consider your application without it.

Standardized Testing (SAT/ACT)

UCLA will not consider SAT or ACT scores for admission or scholarship purposes.

If you choose to submit test scores as part of your application, they may be used as an alternative method of fulfilling minimum requirements for eligibility or for course placement after you enroll.

UCLA’s ACT number: 0448 UCLA’s College Board (SAT) number: 4837

Personal Insight Questions

These personal questions are just that — personal. This is your chance to augment the information elsewhere in your application and give us more insight into you during the review process.  Our hope is to hear your true, authentic voice in your responses.   As a first-year applicant, you may respond to four of eight questions. Each response is limited to a maximum of 350 words. Which questions you choose to answer is entirely up to you. You should select questions that are most relevant to your experience and that best reflect your individual circumstances.

Frequently Asked Questions

Because we receive more applicants than we have room to accept, admitted students usually have academic achievements far higher than the minimum requirements. So, to be “competitive” is to be among the strongest achieving students to apply.

We look for students who take advantage of the academic opportunities available to them. If you have advanced courses, we encourage you to take advantage of them. The University of California adds extra weight to grades received in UC-certified honors, AP, IB and transferable college courses.

We do not require or accept letters of recommendation in our process and we do not collect transcripts at the point of application . However, once admitted, students are required to submit official transcripts f rom any high school or college they have attended . Some professional schools may request a letter of recommendation as part of their supplemental application process.

We do not offer admission interviews. Applicants are considered for admission based upon the information they submit in the UC application . However, some majors in our  specialty schools require a supplemental application as part of their admission process. Supplemental applications may involve an audition, portfolio submission and/or letters of recommendation. Find out more from the supplemental applications page.

Supplemental Applications

Of course, a strong academic performance combined with sustained, meaningful involvement in extracurricular activities is the ideal. But if it comes down to a choice between excelling in your coursework or your extracurricular activities, choose your academics.

UCLA will honor full IGETC certification from a first-year student if the requirements were completed before entering UC. Partial IGETC, however, will not be accepted from entering first-years at any UC campus and IGETC is not recommended for applicants to the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.

Home — Essay Samples — History — Ancient Mesopotamia — The History of Ancient Mesopotamia

The History of Ancient Mesopotamia

• Categories: Ancient Civilizations Ancient Mesopotamia

About this sample

Words: 3202 |

17 min read

Published: Sep 19, 2019

Words: 3202 | Pages: 7 | 17 min read

Works Cited

• Bhugra, D. (2015). The Babylonians, Assyrians, and Sumerians. The History of Mental Illness, 17–23.
• Dawkins, R. (2014). The Magic of Reality: How We Know What's Really True. Simon and Schuster.
• Snowden, J. (2015). The history of the wheel: Evolution or intelligent design?. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part C: Journal of Mechanical Engineering Science, 229(12), 2136-2145.
• Snowden, J. (2016). Why wheels? The evolution of a curious form of transport. Engineering Science and Education Journal, 25(5), 201-209.
• Stanley, J. M. (1995). Agriculture in ancient Mesopotamia. The Biblical Archaeologist, 58(1), 16-28.
• Stanton, C. A. (2008). Wheel, axle and pulley. Wiley Encyclopedia of Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
• Tadmor, H. (2015). The social and economic organization of ancient Mesopotamian states. Annual Review of Anthropology, 44, 27-43.
• Van De Mieroop, M. (2004). The Mesopotamian city. Oxford University Press.
• Yoffee, N. (2015). Myths of the archaic state: Evolution of the earliest cities, states, and civilizations. Cambridge University Press.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Prof. Kifaru

Verified writer

• Expert in: History

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1268 words

3 pages / 1234 words

2 pages / 728 words

2 pages / 726 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia, often heralded as the "cradle of civilization," is a geographical region located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, corresponding mostly to modern-day Iraq. The civilization that arose in this fertile area is [...]

Mesopotamia, commonly referred to as the "cradle of civilization," was located in the region of modern-day Iraq and parts of Syria, Turkey, and Iran. Its unique climate and geography played a significant role in shaping the [...]

Have you ever wondered about the striking similarities between two ancient civilizations separated by vast distances and time periods? Mesoamerica and Mesopotamia, despite their geographical and chronological differences, share [...]

Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia are two of the earliest known civilizations in human history, each with unique contributions to the development of human society. Located in northeastern Africa, Egypt flourished along the fertile [...]

The roles of women and families of an Egyptian and Mesopotamian culture share some similarities and differences. Women in both cultures take good care of their family as the center piece of a family; a mother and wife. In [...]

Education is the strongest tool to make and change peoples' minds more different in the field of understanding of future life. As evidence, education has been maintaining its power from the past to nowadays in the way of [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Is India a Safe Place for Women? Another Brutal Killing Raises the Question.

The rape and murder of a trainee doctor at her own hospital has brought up, once again, uncomfortable truths about a country that wants to be a global leader.

By Anupreeta Das and Sameer Yasir

In December 2012, a 23-year-old physiotherapy student boarded a bus in New Delhi a little after 9 p.m., expecting it would take her home. Instead, she was gang-raped and assaulted so viciously with an iron rod that her intestines were damaged. She died days later as India erupted in rage.

Nearly 12 years later, the nation is convulsing with anger once again — this time, over the ghastly rape and murder of a 31-year-old trainee doctor in a Kolkata hospital, as she rested in a seminar room after a late-night shift. Since the Aug. 9 killing, thousands of doctors have gone on strike to demand a safer work environment and thousands more people have taken to the streets to demand justice.

For a country desperate to be seen as a global leader, repeated high-profile cases of brutal sexual assaults highlight an uncomfortable truth: India, by many measures , remains one of the world’s most unsafe places for women. Rape and domestic violence are relatively common, and conviction rates are low.

This week, the Supreme Court of India took up the Kolkata case as one of fundamental rights and safety, questioning how hospital administrators and police officers had handled it and saying new protective measures were needed. “The nation cannot wait for another rape and murder for real changes on the ground,” Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud said.

Gender-related violence is hardly unique to India. But even as millions of Indian women have joined the urban work force in the past decade, securing their financial independence and helping to fuel the country’s rapid growth, they are still often left to bear the burden of their own safety.

Longstanding customs that both repress women and in many cases confine them to the home have made their safety in public spaces an afterthought. It can be dangerous for a woman to use public transportation, especially at night, and sexual harassment occurs frequently on the streets and in offices. Mothers tell their daughters to be watchful. Brothers and husbands drop their sisters and wives off at work.

We are having trouble retrieving the article content.

Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and  log into  your Times account, or  subscribe  for all of The Times.

Thank you for your patience while we verify access.

Already a subscriber?  Log in .

Want all of The Times?  Subscribe .