Learning Family studies Ancient Mesopotamia

We didn't go to Mesopotamia on our Ancient Civilizations Tour, but we sure wish we could have! Mesopotamia comes from Latin, and means, "between rivers." Look on a map of modern Iraq (outlined here in white), and look for a place with two rivers. You'll find two big rivers, the Tigris to the North, and the Euphrates to the South. It was between these two rivers, about 7,500 years ago, that civilization as we know it today began to develop.

Sure, people lived all over the world by then, especially in China, India and Egypt. But the oldest artifacts of cities found so far come from Mesopotamia. Before the cities of Mesopotamia, people were basically hunter-gatherers, wandering around following the food supply. They might follow herds of animals that they ate, or follow the seasons north and south as different plants grew and withered. (more about floods below).

Overview of Mesopotamia:

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Date (bce)	History Hilights
5500	Invention of the plow, wheel, and sexagesimal number system
5000	First temples and priests, beginnings of organized religion
4900	First cities - Ur, Uruk, Eridu in Sumer
4800	First writing in pictures, possible predecessor to Heiroglyphics and Chinese Hanzi
4500	First Cuneiform (Babylonia & Akkad)
4000	City governments known as "city-states"
2650	Gilgamesh becomes King of Uruk
2500	Epic tale of Gilgamesh is written
2113	Ur-Nammu becomes ruler of Ur
1792	Hammurabi becomes ruler of Babylon, writes laws

Land of floods

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What made people in Mesopotamia decide to settle down? We weren't there, so we can't know for sure, but it could have been any of many reasons. We think it must have been the mothers. Being pregnant, giving birth, carrying young babies around is a hard job. It isn't the sort of thing that a mom would want to do if she had a choice. Maybe the area between the rivers gave the people there a choice, so they decided to stay put.

The thing that gave them the choice was the regular flooding of the two rivers. When a river floods, it deposits rich soil onto the land. Since the area around the Tigris and Euphrates is relatively flat, and the distance between these two rivers isn't that great (compared to other great rivers of the world), there is a large area of rich soil. It is also in a very temperate climate. Rich soil grows plants well, and that means food. Food for the people themselves, or food for the animals they hunted. The hunting and gathering must have been good enough for the women to stay put to take care of the families while the men went out to get food. It doesn't get too hot, or too cold there either, so early people could live there easily without always migrating to avoid harsh weather.

Because of the rich, fertile soil made by the regular flooding of the two rivers, this area is known as the Fertile Crescent. Two rivers converge in the southeast, forming a crescent shape. Together with Egypt, this area of the world is known as The Cradle of Civilization, because this is where civilization was born and developed.

And the floods brought us many more things, too. Did you ever think that a flood would be responsible for story-telling, writing, or buildings? Check out the other Mesopotamia pages to see how civilization started with the floods!

Links

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• Ancient Mesopotamia - Marcia Snyder of Hollidaysburg Area Junior High School
  A seventh grade history geography unit for teachers and students.
• History of Iraq - Saleh's page on all things Iraq & region, for a more modern look at this historic region.

Resources

Check these out from your local library, or buy them here. When you buy books here, you get the same great Amazon.com price, and help keep these pages going.

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