Civilizations of Mesopotamia

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Civilizations of Mesopotamia

• Conquest and Reconquest
• The Waves of Civilization that transformed the
  Near East
• Mr. Oberholtzer
• K-212

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The Dawn of CivilizationThe Land Between the Two
Rivers Mesopotamia!AgricultureIrrigationCoo
perative WorkVillages, Towns,
CitiesAgriculture Urban AreasCivilization
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Geography of Mesopotamia

• Land between the rivers Tigris and Euphrates
  floodplain
• Alluvial Soil due to flooding makes the region
  very fertile and conducive to agriculture
• Open flat land surface lacks geographic barriers
  open to human movement and invasion!
• Iraq occupies Mesopotamia today!

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History of Mesopotamia

• Theme Conquest and Reconquest
• Due to lack of geographic barriers
• Lies on a flat alluvial floodplain
• Wide open to invasion
• Invaders come from Asia Minor
• Civilizations develop on top of each other
• Civilization building is always a continuous,
  cumulative, ongoing process!!

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City-States of Sumer

• Ur, Lagash, Uruk, Larsa, Eridu, Kish
• Independent city-states cultural unity only
  political unity nonexistent!
• mud-brick architecture
• walled cities fortified
• trade and agriculture based economy
• Theocratic societies dominated by religion!

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Map of Sumer
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The Sargonid (or Akkadian) Empire

• Began in 2340 BC by Sargon I of Akkad, the
  northern region of Mesopotamia
• Worlds First Empire Sargon was the worlds
  first emperor
• Lasted 150 years held together by military
• Army personally responsible to Sargon I
• soldiers ate meals daily with Sargon
• Sargon I was killed in battle
• Achieved a unified civilization under one
  political authority for the first time!

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Babylon (1795-1595 BC)

• King Hammurabi unified region 1792 BC
• Capital was at Babylon
• Code of Hammurabi
• worlds first legal code
• eye for an eye justice
• 282 laws written down and distributed for all to
  see on steles (see photo)
• regulated all aspects of life in Babylon

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Code of Hammurabi

• Concerned with social justice and rights of the
  poor and powerless
• Applied unequally according to social class
  punishment was more severe for the poor
• Women had legal and property rights
• inherit property
• run businesses
• become priests
• still patriarchal a man could sell his wife to
  pay his debts!

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Legal Concepts of the Code

• Legal Protection for All
• Law codes gave legal protection to nobles and
  commoners alike
• The State is the Authority responsible for law
  enforcement
• Hammurabis code asserted the principle that it
  was the state itself, not the aggrieved party,
  that was responsible for law enforcement
• Social Justice should be guaranteed
• Justice for all in society was enshrined in the
  codes
• The Punishment should fit the crime
• Code featured eye for an eye justice

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The Hittites (1595-1530 BC)

• Warlike people from Asia Minor were in conflict
  with the Egyptians
• First to use iron weapons the chariot
• Lived by conquest little innovation
• Legal Code like Hammurabi but less strict
• fine based payment for injuries
• law measured intention
• like our tort system
• law regulates society
• Attempted to be evenhanded in the application of
  the law social bias is still evident

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The Assyrians (900-650 BC)

• Military Society
• Advanced Military Technology
• iron weapons, cavalry, chariots, battering ram,
  seige engine
• psychological warfare torture, flaying (skinning
  prisoners alive), win through intimidation

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The Assyrian Civilization

• King was an absolute monarch
• governors reported to king (and spies reported on
  the governors to the king)
• built infrastructure to support empire roads,
  postal service, irrigation projects, buildings
• Stationed troops in all occupied lands
• used mercenaries in the army paid professional
  soldiers!

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Assyrian Military Seige!
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Assyrian Empire

• Assyrians are the first to set up an effective
  method of governing an Empire
• terror and force
• military might
• efficient, effective governors
• streamlined administrative structure
• rule of law
• transportation/communication infrastructure

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Assyrian Dress
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The Chaldeans (612-539 BC)

• Conquered most of the Fertile Crescent incl.
  Mesopotamia
• Led by King Nebuchadnezzar (605-562 BC)
• Reconstructed Babylon
• built enormous palace
• built Hanging Gardens of Babylon (one of the 7
  Wonders of the Ancient World) for homesick wife
• contributed little to development of civilization
• fell with Nebuchadnezzar! Few lasting achievements

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Babylon Fabled City of The Ancient World
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The Persians

• Cyrus the Great unified the Persians in 550 BC
  Darius I was the greatest emperor of the Persians
• Defeated the Chaldeans, captured Babylon,
  conquered all of Fertile Crescent region
• Government professional administration allowed
  conquered peoples to keep laws
• Infrastructure built roads for army and postal
  service for communication
• Greatest Empire in the World at the time!

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The Persian Empire Territorial Extent
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Cyrus and Darius Persian Greats
Cyrus the Great - 2,5OO years ago - Persian
Empire. One of the important source for the
history of Cyrus is the cuneiform writing on the
Cylinder of Cyrus (above) discovered during
excavations at Babylon which Cyrus entered in 539
B.C. In this written message to the Babylonians,
dated 538-529 B.C., Cyrus declared "I (am)
Cyrus, thie king of the world, the king of
Babylon, the king of Shumer and Akkad, the king
of the four regions . . . When I entered Tintar
(ancient name of Babylon) peacefully . . . I
established my sovereignty in the palace of the
princes, Marduk (the Babylonian national god)
inclined the noble hearts of the people of
Babylon towards me, for I was daily attentive to
his worship . . ." Cyrus did in fact scrupulously
respect the Babylonian religions and repaired the
temples . In 539 B.C. he authorized the return to
Palestine of the jews deported by Nebuchadrezzar
and arrange for the rebuiidir'g of the Hebrew
temple in Jerusalem.
The Persian Rosetta Stone Darius I The tablets
of grey marble, in a perfect state of
preservation. were engraved on their six sides.
The one placed under the east wall of a corridor
bore a text in Akkadian an ancient language of
Mesopotamia. used in cuneiform writing from about
the 28th to the 1st century B.C. (photo right).
The second, recovered from beneath the west wall,
was inscribed in Elamite (the language ol Elam.
an ancient country to the east of Babylon). It is
probable that a third tablet with an inscription
in ancient Persian - the third official language
of the Empire- was also placed in the
foundations.
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Images of Persia
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Fall of Persia

• Persia fell due to poor leadership
• Conquered by Alexander the Great in 331 BC forms
  part of new Hellenistic Civilization
• Mesopotamian Civilization is absorbed into
  encroaching civilizations from outside the region
  (Greece, Rome)
• The history of the region continues to be one of
  conquest and reconquest
• Mesopotamian region in news today (Iraq) peace
  or war? Will the West conquer?

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Civilization Conclusions

• First appears in Mesopotamia, The Land between
  the Rivers (Tigris Euphrates), now present-day
  Iraq.
• Based on Agriculture (few provide for the many)
• many can specialize in other occupations
• leads to complex societies
• Urban Oriented (villages, towns, cities)
• permanent settlements grow out of a need to
  irrigate for agriculture
• Featured complex social institutions
• Sophisticated Technology (hydraulic for
  irrigation)
• First Empires develop here (Sargonid Empire)