Mesopotamia was the site of some of the earliest human civilizations, with major Sumerian city-states rising to power in the Early Dynastic period beginning around 2900 BC. Notable early rulers included Gilgamesh of Uruk and King Eannatum of Lagash. The Akkadian Empire then dominated the region under rulers such as Sargon of Akkad in the 22nd century BC. The Third Dynasty of Ur briefly reestablished unity under kings like Ur-Nammu before falling to Amorite tribes. Babylon emerged as a major power under the long reign of Hammurabi in the 18th century BC, who conquered much of Mesopotamia and fought Assyria for

1. MESOPOTAMIA

2. Mesopotamiancivilizationisknownforitsprosperity,citylife,its
voluminousandrichliteratureanditsmathematics andastronomy.
 Mesopotamia’swritingsystemandliteraturespreadtotheeastern
Mediterranean,northernSyria,andTurkeyafter2000BCE,sothatthe
kingdomsofthatentireregionwerewritingtooneanother,andtothe
PharaohofEgyptinthelanguageandscriptofMesopotamia.

3. Mesopotamiaisthesiteoftheearliestdevelopmentsof
theNeolithicRevolutionfromaround10,000BC.
Ithasbeenidentifiedashaving"inspiredsomeofthemost
importantdevelopmentsinhumanhistory,includingtheinvention
ofthewheel,theplantingofthefirstcereal crops,andthe
developmentofcursive script,mathematics, astronomy,
andagriculture".

4. MesopotamiaanditsGeography
 Mesopotamiaisahistoricalregionof WesternAsia situatedwithintheTigris–Euphrates river
system[both ofwhichhave theirheadwaters inthe TaurusMountains], inthenorthern partof
theFertile Crescent, inmodern days roughlycorresponding tomost ofIraq,Kuwait, the
eastern partsof Syria, Southeastern Turkey, andregions alongthe Turkish–SyrianandIran–
Iraqborders.

5.  Theclimateoftheregionissemi-aridwithavast desertexpanseinthenorthwhichgiveswaytoa
15,000-square-kilometre(5,800sqmi)regionofmarshes,lagoons, mudflats,andreedbanks inthe
south.Intheextremesouth,theEuphratesandtheTigrisuniteandemptyintothe PersianGulf.
 Inthenorth-eastliegreen,undulating plains,gradually risingtotree-coveredmountain rangeswith
clearstreamsandwildflowers,withenough rainfalltogrowcrops.Here,agriculturebeganbetween
7000and6000BCE.Inthenorth,thereisastretchofupland calledasteppe,whereanimalherding
offerspeopleabetterlivelihoodthan agriculture.
 AftertheEuphrateshas enteredthedesert,itswaterflowsoutintosmallchannels.Thesechannels
floodtheirbanks and,inthepast, functionedasirrigationcanals:watercouldbeletintothefieldsof
wheat,barley,peasorlentilswhennecessary.Ofallancientsystems,itwastheagricultureofsouthern
Mesopotamiathatwasthemostproductive,eventhough theregiondidnothavesufficientrainfallto
growcrops.

7. History
•TheSumeriansandAkkadians(includingAssyriansandBabyloni
ans) dominatedMesopotamiafromthebeginningof written
history(c. 3100BC)tothefallofBabylonin539BC,whenitwas
conqueredbytheAchaemenidEmpire.ItfelltoAlexanderthe
Greatin332BC,andafterhisdeath,itbecamepartofthe
GreekSeleucidEmpire.

8.  Mesopotamiahoused
historicallyimportantcities
suchasUruk,Nippur,Nineveh,
AshurandBabylon,aswellas
majorterritorialstatessuch
asthecityof Eridu,the
Akkadiankingdoms, theThird
DynastyofUr,andthevarious
Assyrianempires.
 TheearliestcitiesinMesopotamiadatebacktothebronzeage,c.3000 BCE.

9. Inthebeginningof
recordedhistory,theland,
mainlyInthebeginning of
recordedhistory,theland,
mainlytheurbanized
southwascalled Sumer
andAkkad.

10. SUMER
Sumerwasfirstsettledbyhumansfrom4500to4000B.C.,thoughitisprobablethat
somesettlersarrivedmuchearlier.
TheSumeriancity-statesrosetopowerduringtheprehistoricUbaid[6500–4100 BC
(PotteryNeolithictoChalcolithic)]andUruk[4100–2900 BC(LateChalcolithictoEarly
BronzeAgeI)]periods.
Pottery jar from Late Ubaid Period The king-priest and his acolyte feeding the sacred herd. Uruk period, ca. 3200 BCE.

11.  Theirculturewascomprisedofagroupofcity-states, including Eridu,
Nippur,Lagash,Kish,Urandtheveryfirsttruecity,Uruk.
 Atitspeakaround2800BC,thecityhadapopulationbetween 40,000and
80,000peopleliving betweenitssixmiles ofdefensive walls,makingita
contenderforthelargestcityintheworld.
 EachCitywascentered onatemple dedicated totheparticularpatrongod
orgoddessofthecityandruledoverbyapriestlygovernor(ensi)orbya
king(lugal)whowasintimately tiedtothecity'sreligious rites.

12. Early Dynastic kingdoms and rulers
Thedynasticperiodbeginsc.2900 BCandwasassociated
withashiftfromthetempleestablishmentheadedby
councilofeldersledbyapriestly"En“towardsamore
secularLugalandincludessuchlegendarypatriarchal
figuresasEnmerkar,LugalbandaandGilgamesh.

13. Sumerian King List
 The very first ruling body of Sumer
that has historical verification is the
First Dynasty of Kish.
 The earliest dynastic king on the
Sumerian king list whose name is
known from any other legendary
source is Etana, 13th king of the first
dynasty of Kish.
 The earliest king authenticated
through archaeological evidence
is Enmebaragesi of Kish (c. 26th
century BC), whose name is also
mentioned in the Gilgamesh epic.
The Weld-Blundell Prism, inscribed with the
Sumerian King List

14. First rulers of Uruk
Enmerkar isalegendarykinglisted asthebuilderoftheSumeriancity
ofUruk.Hewassaidtohavereignedfor"420years“.
Enmerkarisassociated withtheorganisationofthefirsttradeofSumer.
LugalbandaisacharacterfoundinSumerianmythologyandliterature.
Lugalbandaislisted intheSumerianKingListasthesecondkingofUruk,
sayingheruledfor1,200years,andprovidinghimwiththeepithet of the
Shepherd.

15. Gilgamesh
MosthistoriansgenerallyagreethatGilgamesh
wasahistoricalkingoftheSumeriancity-state
ofUruk.
Hisruleprobablywouldhavetakenplace
sometimebetween2800and2500BC,thoughhe
becameamajorfigureinSumerianlegend
duringtheThird DynastyofUr.

16. • TheEpicof Gilgamesh, whichwas written ontwelve tabletsis themost
complete account ofGilgamesh’s fictional adventures, was composed in
AkkadianduringtheMiddle BabylonianPeriod(c. 1600 –c.1155BC).
Enkidu, Gilgamesh's friend
A Fragment of Tablet II of the Epic of Gilgamesh

17. Ist Dynasty of Lagash[c. 2500–
2270 BC]
The dynasty of Lagash, though omitted
from the king list, is well attested through
several important monuments and many
archaeological finds.
Although short-lived, one of the first
empires known to history was that of
Eannatum of Lagash, who annexed
practically all of Sumer, including Kish,
Uruk, Ur, and Larsa, and reduced to tribute
the city-state of Umma, arch-rival of
Lagash. In addition, his realm extended to
parts of Elam and along the Persian Gulf.
FragmentofEannatum'sSteleoftheVultures
Eannatum, King of Lagash, riding a war chariot

18. Later, Lugal-Zage-Si, the priest-
king of Umma, overthrew the
primacy of the Lagash dynasty
in the area, then conquered
Uruk, making it his capital, and
claimed an empire extending
from the Persian Gulf to the
Mediterranean. He was the last
ethnically Sumerian king before
Sargon of Akkad.
Prisoner in a cage, probably king Lugalzagesi
of Uruk due to his oversize figure, being hit on
the head with a mace by Sargon of Akka

19. Akkadian Empire
TheAkkadianEmpire wasthesecondancientempireofMesopotamia,afterthe
long-livedcivilizationofSumer.ItwascenteredinthecityofAkkadandits
surroundingregion. TheempireunitedAkkadian(AssyrianandBabylonian)and
Sumerianspeakersunderonerule.
 Akkadian,anEastSemiticlanguage,graduallyreplacedSumerianasaspoken
languagesomewherebetweenthe3rdandthe2ndmillenniaBC.
TheAkkadianEmpire reacheditspoliticalpeakbetweenthe24th and22nd
centuriesBC,followingtheconquestsbyitsfounderSargonofAkkad.

20.  Sargon of Akkad defeated and captured Lugal-
zage-si in the Battle of Uruk and conquered his
empire.
 He was the founder of the "Sargonic" or "Old
Akkadian" dynasty, which ruled for about a
century after his death until the Gutian conquest
of Sumer.
"Mask of Sargon"
Prisoners escorted by a soldier,
on a victory stele of Sargon of
Akkad, circa 2300 BCE
The stele, with Sargon leading a procession

21. Sargon conquered many of the
surrounding regions to create an
empire that reached westward as
far as the Mediterranean Sea and
perhaps Cyprus (Kaptara);
northward as far as the
mountains eastward over Elam;
and as far south
as Magan (Oman).
He consolidated his dominion
over his territories by replacing
the earlier opposing rulers with
noble citizens of Akkad, his native
city where loyalty would thus be
ensured.

22.  The empire of Akkad fell, perhaps in the 22nd century
BC, within 180 years of its founding, ushering in a "Dark
Age" with no prominent imperial authority until Third
Dynasty of Ur.
 After the fall of the Akkadian Empire, the people of
Mesopotamia eventually coalesced into two major
Akkadian-speaking nations: Assyria in the north, and, a
few centuries later, Babylonia in the south.
 The Gutian dynasty was a dynasty from the Zagros
Mountains that came to power in Mesopotamia c. 2199—
2119 BCafter displacing the Akkadian Empire.

23. Third Dynasty of Ur
Eventually the Guti were overthrown
by Utu-hengal of Uruk, and the
various city-states again vied for
power. Power over the area finally
went to the city-state of Ur, when
Ur-Nammu founded the Ur III Empire
(2112–2004 BC) and conquered the
Sumerian region.
Enthroned King Ur-Nammu, founder of the Third
Dynasty of Ur c. 2047 BC, on a cylinder seal.
 Under his son Shulgi, state control over industry
reached a level never again seen in the region.
Shulgi may have devised the Code of Ur-
Nammu, one of the earliest known law codes.

24.  Around 2000 BC, the power of Ur waned, and
the Amorites{an ancient Semitic-speaking peoplefrom Syria who
also occupied large parts of southern Mesopotamia from the 21st
century BC to the end of the 17th century BC, where they established
several prominent city states in existing locations, such as Isin, Larsa
and later notably Babylon}, came to occupy much of the area,
although it was Sumer's long-standing rivals to the east,
the Elamites{an ancient civilization centered in the far west and
southwest of modern-day Iran}, who finally overthrew Ur. In the
north, Assyria remained free of Amorite control until the
very end of the 19th century BC.

25. Assyria
Assyria also called the Assyrian Empire, was an empire
of the ancient Near East and the Levant that existed as a
state from perhaps as early as the 25th century BC until
its collapse between 612 BC and 609 BC – spanning the
periods of the Early to Middle Bronze Age through to the
late Iron Age.
This vast span of time is divided into the Early
Period (2500–2025 BC), Old Assyrian Empire (2025–
1378 BC), Middle Assyrian Empire (1392–934 BC)
and Neo-Assyrian Empire (911–609 BC).

26. Old Assyrian Period
Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is
known. In the Assyrian King List, the earliest king
recorded was Tudiya.
These early kings from the 23rd to late 21st centuries
BC, who are recorded as kings who lived in tents were
likely to have been semi nomadic pastoralist rulers,
nominally independent but subject to the Akkadian
Empire, who dominated the region and at some point
during this period became fully urbanised and founded
the city state of Ashur.

27. Shamshi-Adad I (1808–1776 BC) was already the
ruler of Terqa, and although he claimed Assyrian
ancestry as a descendant of Ushpia, he is regarded
as a foreign Amorite usurper by later Assyrian
tradition. However, he greatly expanded the Old
Assyrian Empire, incorporating the northern half of
Mesopotamia, swathes of eastern and southern
Anatolia and much of the Levant into his large
empire, and campaigned as far west as the eastern
shores of the Mediterranean.
After Shamsi-Adad I's death Assyria was reduced to
vassalage by Hammurabi.

28. Isin-Larsa, Old Babylonian and
Shamshi-Adad I
The Isin-Larsa period, saw southern Mesopotamia dominated
by the Amorite cities of Isin and Larsa, as the two cities vied
for dominance.
Babylonia was founded as an independent state by an Amorite
chieftain named Sumuabum in 1894 BC. For over a century
after its founding, it was a minor and relatively weak state,
overshadowed by older and more powerful states such as Isin,
Larsa, Assyria and Elam. However, Hammurabi (1792 BC to
1750 BC), the Amorite ruler of Babylon, turned Babylon into a
major power and eventually conquered Mesopotamia and
beyond.

29. Empire of Hammurabi
Hammurabi (standing),depicted as receiving
his royal insignia from Shamash (or
possibly Marduk.
c. 1792 – c. 1750 BC showing King
Hammurabi raising his right arm in worship
 Babylon remained a minor town in a small state
until the reign of its sixth Amorite
ruler, Hammurabi, during 1792–1750 BC.
 He conducted major building work in Babylon,
expanding it from a small town into a great city
worthy of kingship. A very efficient ruler, he
established a bureaucracy, with taxation and
centralized government.
 Hammurabi freed Babylon from Elamite
dominance, and indeed drove the Elamites from
southern Mesopotamia entirely. He then
systematically conquered southern Mesopotamia.

30. Hammurabi then entered into a protracted war with the Old
Assyrian Empire for control of Mesopotamia and dominance
of the Near East. Assyria had extended control over much of
the Hurrian and Hattian parts of southeast Anatolia from the
21st century BC, and from the latter part of the 20th century
BC had asserted itself over the northeast Levant and central
Mesopotamia.
 After a protracted struggle over decades with the powerful
Assyrian kings Shamshi-Adad I and Ishme-Dagan I,
Hammurabi forced their successor Mut-Ashkur to pay tribute
to Babylon c. 1751 BC, giving Babylonia control over
Assyria's centuries-old Hattian and Hurrian colonies in
Anatolia.

31. From before 3000 BC until the reign of Hammurabi, the
major cultural and religious center of southern Mesopotamia
had been the ancient city of Nippur, where the god Enlil was
supreme. Hammurabi transferred this dominance to
Babylon, making Marduk supreme in the pantheon of
southern Mesopotamia (with the god Ashur, and to some
degree Ishtar, remaining the long-dominant deity in northern
Mesopotamian Assyria).
The city of Babylon became known as a "holy city" where
any legitimate ruler of southern Mesopotamia had to be
crowned. Hammurabi turned what had previously been a
minor administrative town into a large, powerful and
influential city, extended its rule over the entirety of southern
Mesopotamia, and erected a number of impressive
buildings.
9th century BC depiction of
the Statue of Marduk, with his
servant dragon.

32. •After the death of Hammurabi, the first Babylonian
dynasty lasted for another century and a half, but his
empire quickly unravelled, and Babylon once more
became a small state.
• The Amorite dynasty ended in 1595 BC, when
Babylonia fell to the Hittite king Mursilis, after which
the Kassites took control.

33. Middle Assyrian Period and
Empire
• The Middle Assyrian period begins c. 1720 BC
with the ejection of Amorites and Babylonians
from Assyria by a king called Adasi. The nation
remained relatively strong and stable, peace was
made with the Kassite rulers of Babylonia, and
Assyria was free from Hittite, Hurrian, Gutian,
Elamite and Mitanni threat.

34. However a period
of Mitanni domination occurred from
the mid-15th to early 14th centuries
BC. This was ended by Eriba-Adad
I (1392 BC - 1366), and his
successor Ashur-uballit I completely
overthrew the Mitanni Empire and
founded a powerful Assyrian
Empire that came to dominate
Mesopotamia and much of the
ancient Near East.
The empire endured until 1076 BC with
the death of Tiglath-Pileser I.

35. Kassite dynasty of Babylon
Although the Hittites overthrew
Babylon, another people, the Kassites,
took it as their capital (c. 1650–1155
BC (short chronology). They have the
distinction of being the longest lasting
dynasty in Babylon, reigning for over
four centuries.
Babylonia found itself under Assyrian
and Elamite domination for much of
the later Kassite period. In the end,
the Elamites conquered Babylon,
bringing this period to an end.
Cylinder seal of Kassite king Kurigalzu II (c. 1332–1308 BC).

36. Neo-Assyrian Empire
The Neo-Assyrian Empire is usually considered to have
begun with the accession of Adad-nirari II, in 911 BC,
lasting until the fall of Nineveh at the hands of the
Babylonians, Medes, Scythians and Cimmerians in 612 BC.
The empire was the largest and most powerful the world
had yet seen. At its height Assyria conquered the 25th
dynasty Egypt.
The Assyrians were the first to be armed with iron weapons,
and their troops employed advanced, effective military
tactics.

38.  The next king, Ashurnasirpal II (883–
859 BC), embarked on a
vast program of expansion. During his
rule, Assyria recovered much of the
territory that it had lost around 1100
BC at the end of the Middle Assyrian
period.
 Ashurnasirpal II also moved his capital
to the city of Kalhu (Calah/Nimrud).
The palaces, temples and other
buildings raised by him bear witness to
a considerable development of wealth
and art.
Assyrian ruler, possibly Ashurnasirpal II, accompanied by
military attendants. Nimrud, 875-850 BC.

39.  When Tiglath-Pileser III had ascended the
throne of Assyria, he invaded Babylonia,
defeated its king Nabonassar.
Cast of a rock relief of Sennacherib
from the foot of Mount Judi.
 Sennacherib, 705–681 BC- Sennacherib
decided to move the capital from Sargon's
Dur-Sharrukin to the city of Nineveh, and in
Nineveh he built the famous "the Palace
without a Rival", he made Nineveh a
beautiful city and improved the city, planting
orchards and gardens.
This is a scene from Sennacherib's palace
showing a city under attack by the Assyrian army.

40. This sculpture decorated a wall in the palace of Sennacherib's
grandson, Ashurbanipal. It probably shows the front of
Sennacherib's palace with columns resting on the backs of lions.
Artist’s impression of Assyrian palaces
The inscription on this
cylinder describes the
building of Sennacherib's
'Palace without a Rival'.
This relief from Nineveh shows a man with a shaduf. He
is changing the course of a stream to help Sennacherib's
workers move a giant sculpture.

41. Neo-Babylonian Empire
• The Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire was
a period of Mesopotamian history which began in 620 BC and
ended in 539 BC.
• After 627 BC with the death of the last strong Assyrian
ruler, Ashurbanipal, and Babylonia rebelled
under Nabopolassar a Chaldean chieftain the following year. In
alliance with king Cyaxares of the Medes, and with the help of
the Scythians and Cimmerians the city of Nineveh was sacked
in 612 BC, Assyria fell by 605 BC and the seat of empire was
transferred to Babylonia.

42. The so-called "Tower of Babel stele",
depicting Nebuchadnezzar II in the top-
right and featuring a depiction of
Babylon's great ziggurat
Partial view of the ruins of Babylon in modern-day Iraq
View of the reconstructed Southern Palace of Nebuchadnezzar II, 6th century BC, Babylon
Ruins of Babylon, Mesopotamia
Stamped mud-brick of king Nebuchadnezzar II
at Babylon

43. Original tiles of the procession street at Babylon
Ruins of the North Palace of king Nebuchadnezzar II
The Lion of Babylon statue at the heart of Babylon
The procession street at Babylon

44. For two centuries of Achaemenid rule both Assyria and
Babylonia flourished, Achaemenid Assyria in particular
becoming a major source of manpower for the army and a
breadbasket for the economy.
 Mesopotamia fell to Alexander the Great in 330 BC, and
remained under Hellenistic rule for another two centuries,
with Seleucia as capital from 305 BC.
In the 1st century BC, Mesopotamia was in constant
turmoil as the Seleucid Empire was weakened
by Parthia on one hand and the Mithridatic Wars on the
other. The Parthian Empire lasted for five centuries, into
the 3rd century AD, when it was succeeded by
the Sassanids

45.  500B.C. Mesopotamia becomes part of the Achaemenid
empire
 400B.C. Alexander the Great defeats the Persians
 300B.C. Seleucid empire established
 200B.C. Parthian empire established
 100B.C.
 0A.D. Last dateable cuneiform tablet (A.D.
 100A.D.
 200A.D. Sasanian empire established
 600A.D. Islamic conquest
 700A.D. Abbasid dynasty established at Baghdad

46. The Development of
Writing
Overfivethousandyearsago,peoplelivinginMesopotamia
developed aformofwritingtorecordandcommunicatedifferent
typesofinformation.
TheearliestlanguagewritteninMesopotamiawasSumerian,an
agglutinativelanguageisolate.AlongwithSumerian,Semitic
languageswerealsospokeninearlyMesopotamia.

47. Theearliest writingwasbasedonpictograms.
Pictogramswereusedtocommunicatebasic
informationaboutcropsandtaxes.
Overtime, theneedforwritingchangedandthe
signsdeveloped intoascript wecallcuneiform.
Overthousandsofyears,
Mesopotamian scribes recordeddailyevents, trade,
astronomy,andliteratureonclaytablets. Cuneiform
wasusedbypeople throughouttheancient Near
Easttowriteseveral different languages.
The Kish tablet, a limestone tablet from Kish with
pictographic, early cuneiform, writing, 3500 BC.
Pre-cuneiform tags, with
drawing of goat or sheep
and number, 3300–3100
BCE, Uruk culture
Clay envelope
and its
tokens. Susa,
Uruk period
The Blau Monuments combine
proto-cuneiform characters and
illustrations, 3100–2700 BC.

48. Around3100B.C.people begantorecordamountsof
differentcrops.Barleywasoneofthemostimportant
cropsinsouthernMesopotamiaandwhenitwasfirst
drawnitlookedlike this.
Thebarley signchangedshapewhenthescribes useda
writingtoolwithasquared-off endinsteadofapoint.
Barley
Head Bird
This tablet records a quantity of barley. It
was written in about 2900 B.C.
Itisatthispointthatthesigns
becamewhatwecall
cuneiform.
Thebarleysign hadto be
writtenusingseveral
wedges.

49. Althoughthesignshadchangedover thecenturies
there weremore changes tocome. Nobodycanexplain
whythechangeshappened.
TheSumerian wordfor barley was 'she'.Sothebarley
signwas usedtorepresent thesound'she'inaword. On this tablet the same signs appear in a row and are
read from left to right.
Cuneiform signs were first written
and read in columns. Later, they
were written and read in rows.
This meant that the signs are
now rotated by 90 degrees.
'She-er-
ku'
For example, this tablet tells us
about fig cakes given out from
the temple. The Sumerian word
for fig cake is 'she-er-ku'

50.  Cuneiform writingwas usedtorecord avariety of
information such astemple activities, businessand
trade.
 Cuneiform was alsoused towritestories, myths,
andpersonalletters.
 Thecuneiformscriptwasusedtowritedifferent
languages.InMesopotamiaitwasusedtowrite
bothSumerianandAkkadian. Itwasalsousedtowrite
otherlanguageslikeElamite,Hittiteand,ascarved
hereinstone,Urartian.

51. Thesoundthatacuneiformsignrepresentedwasnotasingleconsonantorvowel
(suchasmoraintheEnglishalphabet),butsyllables(say, -put-, or-la-, or-in-).
 Mesopotamianswroteon tabletsofclay.Ascribewouldwet
clayandpatitintoasizehecouldholdcomfortablyinone
hand. HewouldcarefullysmoothenitssurfacesWiththesharp
endofareedcutobliquely,hewouldpresswedge-shaped
(‘cuneiform*’) signsontothesmoothenedsurfacewhileitwas
stillmoist.Oncedriedinthesun,theclaywouldhardenand
tabletswouldbealmostasindestructibleaspottery.
Curriculum tablet

52. A reedstylus wasthemainwritingtool usedby
Mesopotamian scribes.
Someclaytablets werewrappedin
anextralayerofclaywhichacted
likeanenvelope.Aversionofthe
information onthetabletwas
sometimeswritten ontheenvelope.
Scribessometimesusedcuneiformon
writingboards. Theseboards were
madeofwood orivory witha writing
surfacecoveredwithwax.
Mathematicaltext
Scribeswereveryimportantpeople.
Theyweretrainedtowrite
cuneiformandrecordmanyofthe
languagesspokeninMesopotamia.
Roundtabletsareusuallyschooltexts

53. Cylinder seals were small
carvedcylinders madeofstone ormetal.
This ancient cylinder seal has been rolled out onto
modern modelling clay to show the impression.
Stamp seals were small pieces of
carved stone or metal which were
stamped into the damp clay of a tablet.

54. Trade and
Transport
 Mesopotamia was a region which did not have many natural resources.
Therefore, the people who lived there needed to trade with
neighbouring countries in order to acquire the resources they needed to
live.
 Grain, oils and textiles were taken from Babylonia to foreign cities and
exchanged for timber, wine, precious metals and stones. In addition,
merchants from other countries travelled to Babylonia to exchange their
goods.
 Merchants used several different methods for transporting
their goods depending on what they were transporting. For example,
grain was quite bulky and was best transported on a boat, whereas
precious stones were likely to be small, so they could be transported on
foot or by donkey.

55. Mining areas of the
ancient West Asia.  BythetimeoftheAssyrian
Empire,Mesopotamiawas
tradingexportinggrains,
cookingoil,pottery,leather
goods,baskets,textilesand
jewelryandimporting
Egyptiangold,Indian ivory
andpearls,Anatoliansilver,
ArabiancopperandPersian
tin.

56. Transport of goods
By gulf boat
Boats were used to transport
goods from southern
Mesopotamia to the Gulf. These
boats were probably larger and
stronger than river boats. Some
were made of bundles of reeds
and others of wood covered
with bitumen. Babylonian
merchants travelled with their
goods to places like Dilmun.
Donkeys were one of the
most common methods of
transporting goods in
Mesopotamia as far away as
Kanesh in Turkey.
By raft
By coracle
By river boat
By cart
By foot

57. Warfare
• From about 900 B.C. Assyrian kings sent out their armies to conquer
new lands. Over 300 years Mesopotamia and lands further to the east
and west became part of an Assyrian empire. Conquering foreign cities
brought wealth.
• Regions which had been conquered by the Assyrian army had to
pay tribute to the king every year. If they rebelled against his rule, or
refused to give tribute, the king would lead his army against them.
• There were few armies who could defeat the Assyrians as they were
well trained and they had good weapons.
This is a section of wall relief from the palace of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II.

58. The Siege of
Lachish
Assyrian slingstones
excavated at Lachish
Assyrian arrowheads
excavated at Lachish
Bronze arrowheads were made using
small clay moulds. The finished
arrowheads were then attached to stiff
reeds and placed in quivers for the
archers
Spearmen with their long spears and round shields
The archers followed the siege engines with
their large bows and swift arrows.
The men with sling-stones followed, launching small,
round stones into the air. They aimed at the enemy
troops who stood at the top of the city walls.
The men defending the
city's towers used bows
and arrows and stones to
keep their attackers away
The siege engines were
pushed slowly up the
ramps. The enemy
troops threw burning
torches from the city
walls trying to set the
engines on fire.

59. A residential area in Ur, c.2000 BCE
Life in the City
 Narrow winding streetsindicate thatwheeledcartscould not havereachedmanyof
thehouses.Sacksofgrain andfirewood would havearrived ondonkey-back. Narrow
winding streetsandtheirregular shapesofhouse plots also indicate anabsenceof
townplanning.
 There werenostreetdrains.Drains andclaypipeswereinsteadfound intheinner
courtyardsof theUrhousesanditisthought thathouseroofs sloped inwardsand
rainwater waschanneledvia thedrainpipesinto sumps*intheinnercourtyards.
 Light cameinto therooms not from windows butfrom doorways opening intothe
courtyards.
 There wasatowncemeteryatUrinwhichthegravesof royalty andcommonershave
beenfound, butafew individualswere found buried underthefloors of ordinary
houses.

60. Architecture
ThestudyofancientMesopotamianarchitectureisbasedon
availablearchaeologicalevidence,pictorialrepresentationof
buildings,andtextsonbuildingpractices.
Scholarlyliteratureusuallyconcentratesontemples,palaces,city
wallsandgates,andothermonumentalbuildings,butoccasionally
onefindsworksonresidentialarchitectureaswell.
Sumeriantemples, fortifications,andpalacesmadeuseofmore
advancedmaterialsandtechniques,suchas buttresses,recesses,
andhalfcolumns.

61. Temples
TheformofaSumeriantempleismanifestationofNearEasterncosmology, which
describedtheworldasadiscoflandwhich wassurroundedbyasaltwaterocean,bothof
which floatedonanotherseaoffreshwatercalledapsu,abovethemwasa
hemisphericalfirmamentwhich regulatedtime.Aworldmountainformedan axis
mundithatjoinedallthreelayers.Theroleofthetemplewastoactasthataxismundi,a
meetingplacebetweengodsandmen.
Eachcitywasprotectedbyitsownspecialgodorgoddessandtheirfamily.Largetemples
werebuiltinthecentreofthecityforthesegodstolivein. Priestslookedafterthegods
withspecialrituals.Therewerealsosmallertemplesthroughoutthecitywhereordinary
peoplecouldmakeofferings.
.

62. The high temple was a special
type of temple that was home to
the patron god of the city.
Functionally, it served as a
storage and distribution centre
as well as housing the
priesthood. The White
Temple of Anu in Uruk is
typical of a high temple which
was built very high on a
platform of adobe-brick. In the
Early Dynastic period high
temples began to include
a ziggurat, a series of
Wall plaque showing libations by
devotees and a priest, to a seated god
and a temple. Ur, 2500 BCE.
A temple of a later period, c.3000 BCE

63. Ziggurat
Alargesolidmud-bricksteppedtower.Stairwaysleadtothetopwhere
therewasasmalltemple.
Thezigguratwasahugeplatformwithaseries ofsmaller platformsontop.
Itlookedlike asteppedpyramidwithstairsleadingtothesummitwhere
therewasasmalltemple.
Itwasamud-brickmountainwherethegodcouldlive!
Sumeriancities cameunderthecontrolofUr-Nammu, rulerofUr,towards
theendofthethirdmillennium B.C.Toshowhispower,Ur-Nammubuiltlots
ofmonuments forthegods,includingquiteanew typeofbuildingcalled a
ziggurat.

64. Around 2100 B.C. king Ur-Nammu built a ziggurat in honour of the
god Sin in the city of Ur. It was called 'Etemennigur', which means
'House whose foundation creates terror
Many archaeologists believe that
there was a temple on the
highest terrace of the ziggurat.
This brick was stamped with the
name and title of Ur-Nammu, the
king who ordered the ziggurat
built. Most bricks used to build
the ziggurat were stamped.
 Eachbakedbrickmeasuredabout 30x30x7cmandweighedupto15kg.
About 720,000 bakedbrickswould havebeenneededinbuildingthefirst
stage oftheziggurat.
 Eachziggurat wasdedicatedto thecity'smostimportant godorgoddess. For
exampletheziggurat atUrwasthehomeofthemoongodNanna,whileEnki,
thegodofwisdom andfreshwater,livedat Eridu.
Weeper holes
Small holes were left in the ziggurat to
allow water to evaporate from the core.
This staircase runs up the side of the
ziggurat. Possibly only the temple
priests were allowed to climb these
steps to get to the higher stages of the
ziggurat.

65. Partially reconstructed facade and access staircase of the Ziggurat of Ur,
originally built by Ur-Nammu, circa 2100 BCE
The north-east side of ziggurat from the ruins of
the temple of the moon god.
Aerial view of the remains of
Etemenanki, ziggurat dedicated
to Marduk in the ancient city
of Babylon
The Kassite ziggurat at Dur Kurigalzu
(14th century B.C.) with the lower
platform restored.

66. Tells
• Bricks were sun baked to harden
them. These types of bricks are
much less durable than oven-
baked ones so buildings eventually
deteriorated. They were
periodically destroyed, leveled,
and rebuilt on the same spot.
This planned structural life cycle gradually raised the level of
cities, so that they came to be elevated above the surrounding
plain. The resulting mounds are known as tells.

67. Art
Assyrian lamassu, bas-relief c. 713–716 BC
One of two figures of
the Ram in a Thicket found in
the Royal Cemetery in Ur
Lyres of Ur
The Copper Bull
The Warka Head
Bull Headed Lyre of Ur

68. Culture
Festivals
Ancient Mesopotamians had ceremonies each month. The theme of the rituals and
festivals for each month was determined by at least six important factors:
1.TheLunarphase(a waxing moonmeantabundanceandgrowth)
2.Thephaseoftheannualagricultural cycle
3.Equinoxesandsolstices
4.Thelocalmythos andits divinePatrons
5.ThesuccessofthereigningMonarch
6.TheAkitu, orNewYearFestival (Firstfullmoonafterspringequinox)
7.Commemorationofspecifichistoricalevents(founding, militaryvictories,templeholidays, etc.)
Music
 Somesongswerewrittenforthegods but many
werewrittentodescribeimportantevents.
Although musicand songsamused kings,they
werealsoenjoyedbyordinarypeople.
 TheOud isasmall,stringed musical
instrumentusedbytheMesopotamians. The
oldestpictorial recordoftheOuddates backto
theUrukperiod inSouthernMesopotamia over
5000 yearsago.
 TheLyresofUrorHarps ofUr areconsideredto
betheworld'ssecondoldestsurviving stringed
instruments.
Games
Huntingwas popular amongAssyrian
kings. Boxingandwrestlingfeaturefrequentlyinart, andsomeform
ofpolo wasprobably popular, with mensitting ontheshouldersof
othermenratherthanon horses.Theyalsoplayeda boardgame
similarto senetand backgammon,nowknownas the"RoyalGameof
Ur".

69. Science and technology
 Mesopotamian mathematics and science was based on a
sexagesimal (base 60) numeral system. This is the
source of the 60-minute hour, the 24-hour day, and
the 360-degree circle. The Sumerian calendar was
based on the seven-day week. This form of
mathematics was instrumental in early map-making.
The Babylonians also had theorems on how to measure
the area of several shapes and solids.
 Whenever solar and lunar eclipses were observed,
their occurrence was noted according to year, month
and day. So too there were records about the
observed positions of stars and constellations in

70. A Babylonian tablet
recording Halley's comet in 164 BC.
Babylonian clay tablet YBC 7289 with
annotations. The diagonal displays an
approximation of the square root of 2 in
four sexagesimal figures, 1 24 51 10,
which is good to about six decimal digits.
Clay tablet, mathematical,
geometric-algebraic, similar to
the Euclidean geometry

71. THANK YOU!