The Fertile Crescent - Mesopotamia and the Rise of Civilizations

Homo sapiens, our species, evolved in Africa somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago. For tens of thousands of years, human populations existed in nomadic bands of hunter-gatherers that steadily spread across the world. Then, between 8000 and 5000 BCE, some of these groups went and did something rather strange. In what archeologists call the Neolithic Revolution, human groups began to develop settled societies that relied on intensive agricultural practices. The first societies found near rivers, had access to water, security, and other resources needed to make the move from hunting to farming. We call these societies the early river valley civilizations. These river valleys provided people with fertile soil due to their floods. These floods, combined with the new-found knowledge of farming and animal domestication, allowed for a stable food supply and so the Neolithic people settled down around these rivers. There are four settled societies that each developed agriculture independently along major rivers that are traditionally considered the early river valley civilizations. The Mesopotamian civilizations, the Nile River civilizations, the Indus River civilizations, and the Yellow and Yangtze River civilizations.

Purpose

In this lecture, we will examine the emergence of societies in ancient Mesopotamia and explore how social patterns and political conflicts shaped their evolution.  We will survey the social structure and culture practices of Mesopotamia and their contributions to the invention of writing, mathematics, and other innovations This lecture will also examine myths and legends that highlight the Mesopotamians' concepts of creation, afterlife, deities, magic, witchcraft, sexuality, and gender roles.

In this module, we will also focus on the development of the Fertile Crescent's independent city-states that include the Sumerians, Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Elamites, and the Hittites. 

Learning Outcomes

• Identify and define the world’s earliest civilizations and describe how agriculture shaped the development of these early civilizations.
• Discuss what caused the Mesopotamian culture to become dominant throughout most of the ancient Near East.
• Describe the role of technology, gender, and class in the development of the first cities.

Instructions

• Read the materials and watch the videos.
• After reviewing this module complete the Fertile Crescent and the rise of Civilizations Quiz. 

Context

The earliest settled society is Mesopotamia, which is a Greek word meaning 'the land between the rivers.' Mesopotamia is the region between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in what is today Syria and Iraq. With these two major water sources and abundantly fertile soil, people started farming here around 6000 BCE. These farming villages turned into some of the world's first major cities. The next river civilization was on the Nile, which runs from roughly the Sahara Desert north to the Mediterranean. The Nile floods on an extremely consistent basis, rejuvenating and fertilizing the soil, which allowed for a very successful agricultural economy. At the northern end of the Nile, Egyptian civilization rose around 3100 BCE. South of Egypt, the Nile allowed for the rise of Nubia, another African kingdom that became a powerful trade empire.

Watch the video: Mesopotamian Culture and Lifestyle

Mesopotamia is noted as the first ancient civilization; located between the two rivers, Tigris and Euphrates. This land is called the "Cradle of Civilization", and emerged between seven and five thousand years ago. 

Watch the video: Summary of Mesopotamia

 

The people of Sumer were the first to develop an advanced civilization in Mesopotamia. The Sumerians are thought to have formed the first civilization in world history. They lived in southern Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East. Nomads moved into the fertile land and began to form small villages that slowly grew into large towns. Eventually, these cities developed into the civilization of the Sumer.  The Sumerian villages grew into large cities governed by a priest who performed rituals and sacrifices. The Sumerians formed developed a theocratic city-state government, where each Sumerian city worshiped a separate god and had an independent governor; all paid tribute to a single King. Each city-state also had a temple to the city god called a ziggurat that looked like a pyramid with a flat top. Massive walls surrounded the city with the farmland outside the walls.

Watch the Video: Mesopotamian - Sumerian Society

 

The Sumerians invented the concept of government is credited to the; government officials organized city-building projects and maintain laws. The Sumerians developed many inventions such as the first form of writing, a number system, the first wheeled vehicles, sun-dried bricks, and irrigation for farming. They also had an interest in science including astronomy and the movement of the moon and the stars. The scribes of Mesopotamia documented the history of their society in sophisticated cuneiform texts.

The independent city-states of Mesopotamia included the Sumerians, Akkadians, Elamites, Babylonians, Assyrians, and to some degree the Hittites, Phoenicians, and Persians. These people created a monarchical type of government