Mesopotamia: Cradle of Civilization and Empires
History
Mesopotamia is considered one of the birthplaces of civilization, as it was in Lower Mesopotamia where the first civilizations emerged around the sixth millennium BC. The first cities were the culmination of a sedentary population and an agricultural revolution, which originated during the Neolithic Revolution. Humans were no longer collectors who depended on hunting; natural resources offered a new form of environmental matters, a possible cause of the outbreak of urban Mesopotamia.
From the third millennium BC, cities like Lagash, Umma, Kish, Ur, Uruk, and the Gatium region of Elam developed, and business between them became more intense. Temples managed the economy, and many ziggurats were built.
In his book The Evolution of Humanity, Richard Leakey recounts how Jack Harlan showed that collectors could have significant food storage: their experience occurred using a flint sickle to harvest wild wheat and barley. Therefore, the first communities to abandon nomadism could have been hunter-gatherers, not restricted solely to sedentary agriculture or animal domestication, which also became important in urbanization.
The emergence of the first urban centers in the region was accompanied by the development of a complex hydraulic system that favored the use of wetlands, managed flooding, and ensured water storage for drier seasons. Building these structures was required to maintain control over the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. These twin rivers, depending on the surrounding topography, run from northwest to southeast, opposite to the Nile River. Flooding in Mesopotamia was much more violent and lacked the uniformity and regularity of the Nile. “The reward – to till the land, water for irrigation, dates to harvest, and pasture for the establishment – set a man on the earth” (Pinsky, 1994). Only collective work enabled river control; those who moved away from cities withdrew from irrigated areas, placing themselves outside that process.
The Mesopotamians were not characterized by a single political unit. Small states, centered in cities, formed city-states. Each controlled its territory, including the pastoral countryside and irrigation network. They had independent governments and bureaucracies. Occasionally, wars or alliances between cities led to larger states with monarchs and divine-origin power. However, these alliances were temporary. Although politically independent, these small states had an interdependent economy, generating a dynamic exchange process. According to Pierre Leveque, “the Mesopotamian state is first of all a city to which the prince is bound by close ties; it is also a dynasty, the legitimacy of his power.”
Archaeological remains are limited, making it difficult to define the exact political and social organization of these early cities. One reference source for studying Mesopotamia, apart from documents found in regional excavations, is the Bible, which mentions Ur, Nineveh, and Babylon. Many Old Testament stories, like the flood, may derive from this region’s traditions. Ancient writers like Herodotus, Berosus, Strabo, and Eusebius also reference Mesopotamia. Studying Mesopotamia requires constructing a fragmented, scattered proto-history based on evidence, as excavations only began in the nineteenth century, leaving many gaps.
People
Mesopotamia was a region where many nomadic peoples from different regions settled due to its fertile soil. The interaction between these groups led to the flourishing of Mesopotamian culture. The people who occupied Mesopotamia were the Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites (Old Babylonians), Assyrians, Elamites, and Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians). As large territorial states were rare, it is concluded that despite economic, social, and cultural cooperation, there was never a unified Mesopotamian state.
Sumerians and Akkadians (before 2000 BC)
The Sumerians were likely the first to inhabit southern Mesopotamia. They occupied the region in 5000 BC and built the first known cities, like Ur, Uruk, and Lagash. These cities were built on hills and fortified for defense against invaders. Their political organization resembled a confederation of city-states, governed by religious and military leaders called patesis.
Like most ancient peoples, the Sumerians were polytheistic. Gods were used to address practical problems, not just afterlife concerns. Each city had a Sumerian god as its “commander.” The Sumerians viewed gods as having human-like patterns of good and evil, and they were feared more than loved.
The Sumerians are known for developing cuneiform writing (wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets) and, from the fourth millennium BC, a complex water control system for rivers. They built irrigation works, dams, and dikes and used bronze metallurgy techniques. Their social organization influenced many succeeding peoples in the region.
After a period of Elamite (southwestern Iran) domination, the Sumerians regained independence.
Nomadic groups from the Syrian desert, known as Akkadians, began entering northern Sumerian territories. They dominated Sumerian city-states around 2550 BC. By 2400 BC, they imposed their hegemony. In 2330 BC, the Akkadian king Sargon I unified central-southern Mesopotamia.
The Akkadian Empire’s rise was short-lived, as military invasions weakened its political and territorial unity. In 2180 BC, the Gutians from the Armenian mountains launched a major offensive against Mesopotamian cities. Only Ur resisted and imposed its rule. However, around 2000 BC, the Elamites ended Akkadian supremacy.
Amorites (2000 BC-1750 BC)
In the early second millennium BC, Mesopotamia became a large, unified empire with Babylon as its administrative center on the Euphrates. The Amorites, Semitic peoples from Arabia, built the first Babylonian Empire. They are also known as “Old Babylonians” to differentiate them from the Chaldeans, founders of the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Hammurabi (1728-1686) was a prominent sovereign who created Hammurabi’s Code, based on the Sumerian Code of Ur-Nammu. The code’s laws were harsh, with punishments matching the offense.
If a parent attacked a child, their hands were chopped off. If a doctor lost a patient, they were held responsible and their hands were chopped off. The laws were based on “an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.” Penalties were prescribed for residential, commercial, property, inheritance, slavery, and false accusation crimes, based on the Law of Talion.
After Hammurabi’s death, Mesopotamia was shaken by invasions until the Assyrians’ rise.
The Amorites developed a precise sundial.
Assyrians (1300 BC-612 BC)
The Assyrians, of Semitic origin, lived along the Tigris River and were pastoralists. From the late second millennium BC, they organized into a highly militaristic and expansionist society. They conquered territories, extending their domain beyond Mesopotamia to Egypt. Nineveh was the administrative center, housing Ashurbanipal’s royal library with over 22,000 clay tablets.
The Assyrian army was one of antiquity’s most notable, enabling their conquests. Conscription increased the army’s size in each territory. Some historians believe the Assyrians could field up to 100,000 soldiers.
Despite their army, the empire was unsustainable due to widespread dislike of the military regime and its cruelty. Ashurbanipal was a prominent king.
Chaldeans (612 BC-539 BC)
The Chaldeans, Semitic people who settled in Lower Mesopotamia in the early first millennium BC, were primarily responsible for defeating the Assyrians (sacking Nineveh) and organizing the Neo-Babylonian Empire. Nebuchadnezzar was their most famous ruler, known for building the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and the Tower of Babel. He ruled for nearly sixty years. After his death, the Persians dominated the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The Chaldean Empire lasted only 73 years before being absorbed into the Persian Empire.