Great empires of the past Empires of A ncient M esopotAMiA Great empires of the past Empire of Alexander the Great Empire of Ancient Egypt Empire of Ancient Greece Empire of Ancient Rome Empire of the Aztecs Empire of the Incas Empire of the Islamic World Empire of the Mongols Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia Empires of Ancient Persia Empires of Medieval West Africa Empires of the Maya Gr e at e m pi r e s of t h e pa st Empires of A ncient M esopotAMiA B a. S arBara omervill leSlie Schramer, hiStorical conSultant Great Empires of the Past: Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia Copyright © 2010 Barbara A. Somervill All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, contact: Chelsea House An imprint of Infobase Publishing 132 West 31st Street New York NY 10001 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Somervill, Barbara A. Empires of ancient Mesopotamia / Barbara A. Somervill. p. cm. — (Great empires of the past) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-60413-157-4 (hardcover: acid-free paper) ISBN 978-1-43812-885-6 (e-book) 1. Iraq—Civilization—To 634—Juvenile literature. I. Title. II. Series. DS69.5.S65 2009 935—dc22 2009017740 Chelsea House books are available at special discounts when purchased in bulk quantities for businesses, associations, institutions, or sales promotions. Please call our Special Sales Department in New York at (212) 967-8800 or (800) 322-8755. 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C ONTENTS Introduction 7 PART I HISTORY CHAPTER 1 From Farm to City 17 CHAPTER 2 From Sargon to Hammurabi 31 CHAPTER 3 Th e Final Years of Power 45 PART II SOCIETY AND CULTURE CHAPTER 4 Sumerian Culture 67 CHAPTER 5 Babylonian Culture 85 CHAPTER 6 Assyrian Culture 111 Epilogue 125 Time Line 133 Glossary 135 Bibliography 137 Further Resources 140 Picture Credits 143 Index 144 About the Author 152 5 GEP-MesopotamiaFNL.indd 5 11/6/09 11:46:18 AM i ntroduction FEW CULTURES HHHAAAvvE HAD AS BIG AN IMPACT ON MODERN opposite society as the empires of ancient Mesopotamia. Their influence can This stone plaque shows be seen in almost every area, including mathematics, writing, agricul- a mythical beast with a lion’s body and a ram’s ture, and architecture. It was Mesopotamian scholars who developed head. It was made by the idea of using zero as a number. They also developed writing and the Assyrians—one of they founded the first schools. the many cultures that In agriculture, early Mesopotamian farmers understood the dominated parts of importance of maintaining a surplus (extra) of food so they could eat ancient Mesopotamia. even in bad years. They used seeds from wild plants to produce crops, and invented a plow that planted seeds as it turned over the soil. They also domesticated farm animals (bred them to be used specifically for agriculture). Since the climate was dry, they needed to bring water from elsewhere for their crops, so they developed an irrigation system (bringing water to crops through canals or ditches). The ability to cre- ate a steady food supply meant that the Mesopotamians could settle in one location and build a community Mesopotamians were also the people who invented a process for making glass. They designed arches, columns, and domes for their buildings, as well. And, in perhaps the most basic invention of all, they developed the wheel for use in transportation. The GeoGraphy of MesopoTaMia Mesopotamia was not a single nation or a single culture. It was a large region that today spreads through Iraq and parts of Syria and Tur-  EmpirEs of AnciEnt mEsopotAmiA CONNECTIONS key. The name Mesopotamia is Greek, and means “the land What Are Connections? between the rivers.” The rivers are the Tigris and the Euphra- throughout this book, and all the books in the Great tes. Mesopotamia covers all Empires of the past series, there are connections boxes. the land between these two they point out ideas, inventions, art, food, customs, and rivers, which were crucial for more from this empire that are still part of the world today. the region’s development. nations and cultures in remote history can seem far away The region is bounded from the present day, but these connections demonstrate to the north and east by the how our everyday lives have been shaped by the peoples Zagros and Taurus mountain of the past. ranges. To the south lies the Arabian Plateau and the Per- sian Gulf, and to the west the Syrian Desert. The northern area is made up of rolling hills and sweeping plains. Seasonal rains wash the land and fill the rivers and streams. When human beings first arrived in the area, they found forests, mountains, and fresh water. Far to the south lie marshes that are thick with reeds. The wetlands are broad and flat. There are no great forests or hills. Over thousands of years, the climate has changed very little. Winters are cold and wet. Summers are long, hot, and very dry. In Mesopotamia, the rivers, more than any other land feature, allowed civilization to grow and thrive. Each spring, snow melted in the northern mountains, sending water rushing along the rivers. The water carried fertile soil, which it deposited on the fields when the rivers overflowed. These deposits allowed for high-yield farming in an area that would otherwise have been too harsh to grow crops. The rivers also provided fresh water for drinking and washing, fish to eat, and transportation for travelers and traders. The ancient Mesopotamian cultures saw a need to control the rivers’ flow. They built protective dikes (low walls, usually made of earth, built to keep out water) to prevent cities from being flooded. They dug canals to channel the water and to irrigate their crops. They built docks from which to launch the reed sailboats they made to travel along the rivers.  introduction Today, dams, dikes, and canals still control the flow of the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. The rivers also still provide fresh water, The Fertile Crescent fish, and transportation for the peoples of the region. Mesopotamia has been called the Fertile Cres- UncoverinG MesopoTaMia cent and the cradle of civilization. The name The earliest people of Mesopotamia were hunter-gatherers. These Fertile Crescent comes people lived in clans (groups of close-knit families) and did not have from the shape of the permanent homes. They hunted game animals and gathered wild land, which is similar to fruit, roots, nuts, and berries to feed themselves. When the clans had a crescent moon. Desert surrounds the crescent, killed all the game in one area, they moved on to find a new hunting but within that region site. Those roaming clans eventually became farmers and, over time, fruit, vegetables, and built towns and cities. This change took several thousand years. grain grow quickly. The The people living in different cities spoke different languages and cradle of civilization had different religious beliefs. Their customs and lifestyles were dif- refers to a number of ferent as well. The only thing they shared was the land on which they different places where lived. The desire to possess the land set one group against another in people built new cul- tures, founded cities what seems like endless years of war. and governments, and Over thousands of years, many cultures rose and fell in Meso- established agriculture. potamia. Among the most powerful were the Sumerians, the Baby- The area of the Fertile lonians, and the Assyrians. These cultures left a remarkably clear Crescent is often consid- history behind. People today can read about them in the Old Testa- ered the cradle of civiliza- ment of the Bible. People can also study their cultures in the ruins of tion because it was also the place where writing ancient cities. Most of these cities lay buried beneath tons of rubble began. China, India, and for more than 2,000 years. Uncovering these cities in the 1800s and Egypt have also been 1900s created rivalries between scientists. thought of as cradles of Archaeology (the study of ancient people and cultures) in its early civilization. stages was like a match between sports teams. In the mid-1800s, the British and the French led the field. They argued over who got to dig where and tried to sabotage each other. As they dug up tombs, burial grounds, and entire cities, the two nations sent home the wealth of the Middle East to fill their museums and private collections with artifacts (items made by humans, such as pottery or tools). It never occurred to them that the precious items they dug up might not belong to them. The two archaeologists who dominated the digs in Mesopotamia were Austen Henry Layard (1817–1894) of Britain and Paul Emile Botta (1802–1870) of France. Botta and Layard sought to uncover at