Mesopotamia



== 3500BC - 500BC Emily Meyer and Rhiannon Clark The people of England have been led in Mesopotamia into a trap from which it will be hard to escape with dignity and honor. T E Lawrence



Mesopotamia is located in the Fertile Crescent. The Fertile Crescent is the land between the "Twin Rivers", also known as the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It is also at the Cross-Roads of the world, where the continents of Asia, Africa, and Europe meet. The Sumerians had the first civilization in 5000 BC. They had three social classes’ nobles, commoners, and slaves. They invented writing in 3100 BC. Their epic, Gilgamesh, may be the oldest written story in the world. The Babylonian civilization began in 2000 BC. Babylon also known as the "Gate of God" was the largest city-state in the ancient world it had approximately 200,000 people. The Hittites, warriors from Asia Minor (modern Turkey), conquered Babylon in 1550 BC. They were the first to use iron weapons, like the battle ax and war chariots. The Assyrians or "Romans of Asia" were the world's first military power in 1200 BC. The Assyrian Empire is "A land bathed in blood." They destroyed Babylon in 700 BC. Nineveh was there capital city; they had the world's first library with an estimated 22,000 clay tablets in it. The Persians from modern Iran had the largest empire in the Middle East in 550 BC. The Phoenicians, "Sea Peoples", were the care the greatest traders in the ancient world, they were the carriers of civilization. Kind Croesus was the King of the Lydian’s in 560 BC, his empire had a money economy. The Kingdom of Israel was started in 1025 BC, King Solomon set up the kingdom. Mesopotamia had many different religions. The Sumerians believed in many different gods, like Anu the Lord of Heaven, Nanna the Moon God, Ea the God of Waters, Enki the God of the Earth, Enlil the God of Air and Storms, Dumuzi the King of City, Inanna the Goddess of Fertility, and the Wicked Udug the Demon Gods. They built ziggurats as ladders to the heavens. The Babylonians believed in astrology and divination. The Persian religion was Zoroaster. The world was a battleground between Good and Evil. They believed that Ahura Mazda was the god of goodness, wisdom, and truth, the House of Song was paradise, and Ahriman was the evil spirit. Zend Avestra was the sacred books and the Magi were Persian Priests of magicians. Hebrews religious beliefs affected western civilization. Abraham was the founder of the Hebrews and Yahweh was their God.

**__Five Most Important People from Mesopotamia__=**  **1) __Sargon of Akkad__ - The Sargon of Akkad was the King of Battles, also known as "34-0". He founded the first empire in history which stretched from the Persian Gulf to Mediterranean Sea. He was the Lord of 4 Quarters of the World. He lived from 2340 BC to 2284 BC. **   **2) __Hammurabi__ - Hammurabi wrote Code of Hammurabi, which is the first code of laws it contained 282 laws and was written in 1792 BC. **   **3) __Nebuchadnezzer__ - Also known as, "Mad Ox", he was the leader of Chaldeans. He defeated Assyrians and rebuilt Babylon in 605 BC. **   **4) __King Croesus__ - The saying "As rich as Croesus", comes from this King who was the first to use coins, and his face appeared on his coins in 560 BC. **   **5) __King Soloman__ - King Soloman set up kingdom of Israel, and made Jerusalem the capital. He had King Soloman's Temple built which is a symbolic center of Hebrews and it housed ark of the Covenant in 1025 BC. **

__**Five Key Terms from**__ **__Mesopotamia__=**  **1) __ziggurat__ - A ziggurat is a massive step tower, on which was built a temple dedicated to a chief god of goddess of a sumerian city.**   **2) __theocracy__ - A theocracy is a government that is ruled by divine authority, useually spoken through a priest you would receive messages from a god and relate them to the people.**   **3) __empire__ - An empire is a large political unit usually under a single leader, that controls many people or territories and is usually ruled by and emperor.**
 * 4) __patriarchal__ - A patriachal society is dominated by men, meaning that the male would be the head of the house and everybody in the family would have to listen to him.**
 * 5) __cuniform__ - Cuniform means "wedge-shaped," it is a system of writing developed by the Sumerians using a reed stylus to create wedge-shaped impressions on a clay tablet.**

**The British Museum Mesopotamia--This website has links to different aspects of Mesopotamian life and society.** **Ancient Mesopotamia for kids--This website is kid friendly and has plenty of information about Mesopotamia** **Mesopotamian Inventions--This website has information about different Mesopotamian inventions that are still used in modern times.** **The Epic of Gilgamesh-- This website containst the Epic of Gilgamesh which may be the first written poem in the world.** **Mesopotamian Religion--This website has information about mesopotamian religion which was mainly, polytheistic.** media type="custom" key="11420912" align="center"

media type="youtube" key="yc8m9DHxH4E" height="315" width="560" Timeline: 3500 B.C. - Sumerian cities emerge in southern Mesopotamia 3100 B.C. - Cuneiform writhing invented 1792 B.C. - Hammurabi comes to power 1550 B.C. - Hittites conquered Babylon 1025 B.C. - Kingdom of Israel were started 970 B.C. - Solomon becomes King of Israel 560B.C. - The Lydian's had a money economy 550 B.C. - Persians have the largest empire in the Middle East 539BC-Babylonia falls 521 B.C. - Darius begins to expand Persian Empire