Assyria

This article is about ancient Assyria. For modern uses, see Assyrian.
"Assyrian Empire" redirects here. For the most powerful stage of the ancient
Assyrian state, see Neo-Assyrian Empire.

Overview map of the Ancient Near East in the 15th century BC (Middle Assyrian
period), showing the core territory of Assyria with its two major cities Assur and
Nineveh wedged between Babylonia downstream (to the south-east) and the states
of Mitanni and Hatti upstream (to the north-west).

Assyria was a major Mesopotamian East Semitic kingdom, and empire, of the Ancient Near
East, existing as an independent state for a period of approximately nineteen centuries from c.
2500 BC to 605 BC, spanning the Early Bronze Age through to the late Iron Age. For a further
thirteen centuries, from the end of the 7th century BC to the mid-7th century AD, it survived as a
geo-political entity, for the most part ruled by foreign powers, although a number of small NeoAssyrian states such as Assur, Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra arose at different times between the
1st century BC and late 3rd century AD.
Centered on the Upper Tigris river, in northern Mesopotamia (modern northern Iraq,
northeastern Syria and southeastern Turkey) the Assyrians came to rule powerful empires at
several times, the last of which grew to be the largest and most powerful empire the world had
yet seen.
As a substantial part of the greater Mesopotamian "cradle of civilization" which included Sumer,
Akkad and much later Babylonia, Assyria was at the height of technological, scientific and
cultural achievements for its time. At its peak, the Assyrian empire stretched from Cyprus in the
Mediterranean Sea to Persia (Iran), and from what is now Armenia to the Arabian Peninsula and
Egypt.

Assyria is named for its original capital, the ancient city of Aur (a.k.a. Ashur) which dates to c.
2600 BC (located in what is now the Saladin Province of northern Iraq), originally one of a
number of Akkadian city states in Mesopotamia. In the 25th and 24th centuries BC, Assyrian
kings were pastoral leaders, and from the late 24th century BC became subject to Sargon of
Akkad, who united all the Akkadian Semites and Sumerian-speaking peoples of Mesopotamia
under the Akkadian Empire, which lasted from c. 2334 BC to 2154 BC. Following the fall of the
Akkadian Empire c. 2154 BC,[1] and the short lived succeeding Neo-Sumerian Empire which
ruled southern Assyria but not the north, Assyria regained full independence.
The history of Assyria proper is roughly divided into three periods, known as Old Assyrian,
Middle Assyrian and Neo-Assyrian. These terms are in wide use in Assyrology and roughly
correspond to the early to Middle Bronze Age, Late Bronze Age and Early Iron Age,
respectively. In the Old Assyrian period, Assyria established colonies in Asia Minor and the
Levant and, under king Ilushuma, it asserted itself over southern Mesopotamia. From the mid
18th century BC, Assyria came into conflict with the newly created state of Babylonia, which
eventually eclipsed the far older Sumero-Akkadian states in the south, such as Ur, Isin, Larsa and
Kish.
Assyria experienced fluctuating fortunes in the Old Assyrian period. Assyria became a regionally
powerful nation with the Old Assyrian Empire from the late 21st century to the mid 18th century
BC. Following this, it found itself under Babylonian and Mitanni-Hurrian domination for short
periods in the 18th and 15th centuries BC respectively, and another period of great power
occurred with the rise of the Middle Assyrian Empire (from 1365 BC to 1056 BC), which
included the reigns of great kings, such as Ashur-uballit I, Arik-den-ili, Tukulti-Ninurta I and
Tiglath-Pileser I. During this period, Assyria overthrew the Mitanni-Empire and eclipsed both
the Hittite Empire and Egyptian Empire in the Near East.
Beginning with the campaigns of Adad-nirari II from 911 BC,[2] it again became a great power
over the next three centuries, overthrowing the Twenty-fifth dynasty of Egypt and conquering
Egypt,[2] Babylonia, Elam, Urartu, Armenia, Media (region), Persia, Mannea, Gutium,
Phoenicia/Canaan, Aramea (Syria), Arabia, Israel, Judah, Edom, Moab, Ammon, Samarra,
Cilicia, Cyprus, Chaldea, Nabatea, Commagene, Dilmun, Libya, the Hurrians, Sutu and NeoHittites, driving the Ethiopians, Kushites and Nubians from Egypt,[2] subjugating the Cimmerians
and Scythians and exacting tribute from Phrygia, Magan and Punt[clarification needed] among others.[2]
After its fall (between 612 BC and 605 BC), Assyria remained a province and geo-political entity
under the Babylonian, Median, Achaemenid, Seleucid, Parthian, Roman and Sassanid empires
until the Arab Islamic dominance of Mesopotamia in the mid-7th century, when it was finally
dissolved, after which the remnants of the Assyrian people (by now almost exclusively Eastern
Rite Christians) gradually became a minority in their homeland.[3]
Contents

1 Names

2 Pre-history of Assyria
o

2.1 Classical dating

3 Early Assyria, 26002335 BC

4 Assyria in the Akkadian Empire and Neo-Sumerian Empires

5 Old Assyrian Kingdom

5.1 Dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, 20251809 BC, Old Assyrian Empire

5.2 Amorite Period in Assyria, 18091750 BC

5.3 Assyria under Babylonian domination, 17501732 BC

5.4 Assyrian Adaside dynasty, 17321451 BC

5.5 Assyria in decline, 14501393 BC

6 Middle Assyrian Empire, 13921056 BC

o

6.1 Assyrian expansion and empire, 13921056 BC

6.2 Assyria during the Bronze Age Collapse, 1055936 BC

6.3 Society in the Middle Assyrian period

7 Neo-Assyrian Empire, 911612 BC

o

7.1 Expansion, 911627 BC

7.2 Downfall, 626605 BC

8 Assyria after the empire

o

8.1 Achaemenid Assyria, Athura, Assuristan, Assyria province,

Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra

8.1.1 Achaemenid Assyria (549330 BC)

8.1.2 Seleucid Assyria

8.1.3 Parthian Assyria (150 BC 116 AD); Adiabene (69 BC 117

AD)

8.1.4 Roman Assyria (116 AD 118 AD)

8.1.5 Parthian Assyria restored (119 AD 225 AD), Osroene,

Hatra

8.1.6 Sassanid Assyria (Assuristan (226 AD circa 650 AD)

9 Assyrians after Assyria

10 Assyrian religion

11 Language

12 Arts and sciences

13 Legacy

14 See also

15 Notes

16 References

17 Literature

18 External links

Names

Assyria was also sometimes known as Subartu prior to the rise of the city state of Ashur after
which it was Aryu, and after its fall, from 605 BC through to the late 7th century
AD variously as Athura and also referenced as Atouria[4] according to Strabo, Syria (Greek),
Assyria (Latin) and Assuristan. After its dissolution in the mid 7th century AD it remained The
Ecclesiastical Province of Ator. The term Assyria can also refer to the geographic region or
heartland where Assyria, its empires and the Assyrian people were (and still are) centered. The
modern Assyrian Christian (AKA Chaldo-Assyrian) ethnic minority in northern Iraq, north east
Syria, south east Turkey and north west Iran are the descendants of the ancient Assyrians (see
Assyrian continuity).[5][6]
Pre-history of Assyria

In prehistoric times, the region that was to become known as Assyria (and Subartu) was home to
a Neanderthal culture such as has been found at the Shanidar Cave. The earliest Neolithic sites in
Assyria were the Jarmo culture c. 7100 BC and Tell Hassuna, the centre of the Hassuna culture,
c. 6000 BC.
During the 3rd millennium BC, a very intimate cultural symbiosis developed between the
Sumerians and the Semitic Akkadians throughout Mesopotamia, which included widespread
bilingualism.[7] The influence of Sumerian (a language isolate, i.e. not related to any other

language) on Akkadian (and vice versa) is evident in all areas, from lexical borrowing on a
massive scale, to syntactic, morphological, and phonological convergence.[7] This has prompted
scholars to refer to Sumerian and Akkadian in the 3rd millennium BC as a sprachbund.[7]

Letter sent by the high-priest Lu'enna to the king of Lagash (maybe Urukagina),
informing him of his son's death in combat, c. 2400 BC, found in Girsu.

Akkadian gradually replaced Sumerian as the spoken language of Mesopotamia somewhere after
the turn of the 3rd and the 2nd millennium BC (the exact dating being a matter of debate),[8] but
Sumerian continued to be used as a sacred, ceremonial, literary and scientific language in
Mesopotamia until the 1st century AD.
The cities of Assur (also spelled Ashur or Aur) and Nineveh, together with a number of other
towns and cities, existed since at least before the middle of the 3rd millennium BC (c. 2600 BC),
although they appear to have been Sumerian-ruled administrative centres at this time, rather than
independent states.
According to some Judaeo-Christian writers[who?], the city of Ashur was founded by Ashur the son
of Shem, who was deified by later generations as the city's patron god[citation needed]. However, it is
not among the cities said to have been founded by him in Genesis 10:1112, and the far older
Assyrian annals make no mention of the much later Judeo-Christian figures of Shem and Ashur.
Assyrian tradition lists an early Assyrian king named Ushpia as having dedicated the first temple
to the god Ashur in the city in the 21st century BC. It is highly likely that the city was named in
honour of its patron Assyrian god with the same name.
Classical dating

George Syncellus in his Chronographia quotes a fragment from Julius Africanus which dates the
founding of Assyria to 2284 BC.[9] The Roman historian Velleius Paterculus citing Aemilius Sura
states that Assyria was founded 1995 years before Philip V was defeated in 197 BC (at the Battle
of Cynoscephalae) by the Romans.[10] The sum therefore 197 + 1995 = 2192 BC for the
foundation of Assyria. Diodorus Siculus recorded another tradition from Ctesias, that dates
Assyria 1,306 years before 883 BC (the starting date of the reign of Ashurnasirpal II) and so the
sum 883 + 1306 = 2189 BC.[11] The Chronicle of Eusebius provides yet another date for the
founding of Assyria, with the accession of Ninus, dating to 2057 BC, but the Armenian

translation of the Chronicle puts this figure back slightly to 2116 BC. Another classical dating
tradition found in the Excerpta Latina Barbari dates the foundation of Assyria, under Belus, to
2206 BC.
Early Assyria, 26002335 BC

The city of Ashur, together with a number of other Assyrian cities, seem to have been established
by 2600 BC, however it is likely that they were initially Sumerian dominated administrative
centres. In c. the late 26th century BC, Eannatum of Lagash, then the dominant Sumerian ruler in
Mesopotamia, mentions "smiting Subartu" (Subartu being the Sumerian name for Assyria).
Similarly, in c. the early 25th century BC, Lugal-Anne-Mundu the king of the Sumerian state of
Adab lists Subartu as paying tribute to him.
Of the early history of the kingdom of Assyria, little is positively known. In the Assyrian King
List, the earliest king recorded was Tudiya. In archaeological reports from Ebla, it appeared that
Tudiya's activities were confirmed with the discovery of a tablet where he concluded a treaty for
the operation of a karum (trading colony) in Eblaite territory, with "king" Ibrium of Ebla (who is
now known to have been the vizier of Ebla for king Ishar-Damu). This entire reading is now
questionable, as several scholars have more recently argued that the treaty in question may not
have been with king Tudiya of Assyria, but rather with the unnamed king of an uncertain location
called "Abarsal".
Tudiya was succeeded on the list by Adamu and then a further thirteen rulers (Yangi, Shuhlamu,
Harharu, Mandaru, Imshu, Harshu, Didanu, Hanu, Zuabu, Nuabu, Abazu, Belu and Azarah).
Nothing concrete is yet known about these names, although it has been noted that a much later
Babylonian tablet listing the ancestral lineage of Hammurabi, the Amorite king of Babylon,
seems to have copied the same names from Tudiya through Nuabu, though in a heavily corrupted
form.
The earliest kings, such as Tudiya, who are recorded as kings who lived in tents, were
independent semi-nomadic pastoralist rulers.[2] These kings at some point became fully urbanised
and founded the city state of Ashur.[12]
Assyria in the Akkadian Empire and Neo-Sumerian Empires

During the Akkadian Empire (23342154 BC) the Assyrians, like all the Mesopotamian Semites
(and also the Sumerians), became subject to the dynasty of the city state of Akkad, centered in
central Mesopotamia. The Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon the Great, claimed to encompass
the surrounding "four quarters". The region of Assyria, north of the seat of the empire in central
Mesopotamia had also been known as Subartu by the Sumerians, and the name Azuhinum in
Akkadian records also seems to refer to Assyria proper.
Assyrian rulers were subject to Sargon and his successors, and the city of Ashur became a
regional administrative center of the Empire, implicated by the Nuzi tablets.[13]

During this period, the Akkadian-speaking Semites of Mesopotamia came to rule an empire
encompassing not only Mesopotamia itself but large swathes of Asia Minor, ancient Iran, Elam,
the Arabian Peninsula, Canaan and Syria.
Assyria seems to have already been firmly involved in trade in Asia Minor by this time; the
earliest known reference to Anatolian karums in Hatti, was found on later cuneiform tablets
describing the early period of the Akkadian Empire (c. 2350 BC). On those tablets, Assyrian
traders in Burushanda implored the help of their ruler, Sargon the Great, and this appellation
continued to exist throughout the Assyrian Empire for about 1,700 years. The name "Hatti" itself
even appears in later accounts of his grandson, Naram-Sin, campaigning in Anatolia.
Assyrian and Akkadian traders spread the use of writing in the form of the Mesopotamian
cuneiform script to Asia Minor and The Levant (modern Syria and Lebanon).
However, towards the end of the reign of Sargon the Great, the Assyrian faction rebelled against
him; "the tribes of Assyria of the upper countryin their turn attacked, but they submitted to his
arms, and Sargon settled their habitations, and he smote them grievously".[14]
The Akkadian Empire was destroyed by economic decline and internal civil war, followed by
attacks from barbarian Gutian people in 2154 BC.
The rulers of Assyria during the period between c. 2154 BC and 2112 BC once again became
fully independent, as the Gutians are only known to have administered southern Mesopotamia.
However, the king list is the only information from Assyria for this period.
Most of Assyria briefly became part of the Neo-Sumerian Empire (or 3rd dynasty of Ur) founded
in c. 2112 BC. Sumerian domination extended as far as the city of Ashur, but appears not to have
reached Nineveh and the far north of Assyria. One local ruler (shakkanakku) named Zriqum
(who does not appear on any Assyrian king list) is listed as paying tribute to Amar-Sin of Ur.
Ashur's rulers appear to have remained largely under Sumerian domination until the mid-21st
century BC (c. 2050 BC); the king list names Assyrian rulers for this period and several are
known from other references to have also borne the title of shakkanakka or vassal governors for
the neo-Sumerians.
Old Assyrian Kingdom

The first written inscriptions by 'urbanised' Assyrian kings appear in the mid-21st century BC,
after they had shrugged off Sumerian domination. The land of Assyria as a whole then consisted
of a number of city states and small Semitic kingdoms, some of which were initially independent
of Assyria. The foundation of the first major temple in the city of Ashur was traditionally
ascribed to king Ushpia who reigned c. 2050 BC, possibly a contemporary of Ishbi-Erra of Isin
and Naplanum of Larsa.[15] He was reputedly succeeded by kings named Apiashal, Sulili,
Kikkiya and Akiya (died c. 2026 BC), of whom little is known, apart from much later mentions
of Kikkiya conducting fortifications on the city walls, and building work on temples in Ashur.

The main rivals, neighbours or trading partners to early Assyrian kings during the 22nd, 21st and
20th centuries BC would have been the Hattians and Hurrians to the north in Asia Minor, the
Gutians, Lullubi and Turukku to the east in the Zagros Mountains of northwest Ancient Iran, the
Elamites to the southeast in what is now south central Iran, the Amorites to the west in what is
today Syria, and their fellow Sumero-Akkadian city-states of southern Mesopotamia such as Isin,
Kish, Ur, Eshnunna and Larsa.[2]
Like many city-states in early Mesopotamian history, Ashur was, to a great extent, originally an
oligarchy rather than a monarchy. Authority was considered to lie with "the City", and the polity
had three main centres of poweran assembly of elders, a hereditary ruler, and an eponym. The
ruler presided over the assembly and carried out its decisions. He was not referred to with the
usual Akkadian term for "king", arrum/Sharru; that was instead reserved for the city's patron
deity Assur, of whom the ruler was the high priest. The ruler himself was only designated as "the
steward of Assur" (iiak Assur), where the term for steward is a borrowing from Sumerian
ensi(k). The third centre of power was the eponym (limmum), who gave the year his name,
similarly to the later archons and consuls of Classical Antiquity. He was annually elected by lot
and was responsible for the economic administration of the city, which included the power to
detain people and confiscate property. The institution of the eponym as well as the formula iiak
Assur lingered on as ceremonial vestiges of this early system throughout the history of the
Assyrian monarchy.[16]
Dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, 20251809 BC, Old Assyrian Empire

In approximately 2025 BC (long chronology), Puzur-Ashur I (perhaps a contemporary of Shuilishu of Larsa and Samium of Isin) is speculated to have overthrown Kikkiya and founded a new
dynasty which was to survive for 216 years. His descendants left inscriptions mentioning him
regarding the building of temples to gods such as Ashur, Adad and Ishtar in Assyria. The length
of his reign is unknown.
Shalim-ahum (died c. 2009 BC) succeeded the throne at a currently unknown date. He left
inscriptions in archaic Old Assyrian regarding the construction of a temple dedicated to the god
Ashur, and the placement of beer vats within it.
Ilushuma[17] (c. 20081975 BC) took the throne in c. 2008 BC, and is known from his inscription
(extant in several copies) where he claims to have "washed the copper" and "established liberty"
for the Akkadians in Sumerian city-states as far as the Persian Gulf. This has been taken by some
scholars to imply that he made military campaigns into Southern Mesopotamia to relieve his
fellow Mesopotamians from Amorite and Elamite invasions, however some recent scholars have
taken the view that the inscription means he supplied these areas with copper from Hatti, and that
the word used for "liberty" (adduraru) is usually in the context of his exempting the southern
Mesopotamian kings from tariffs.

"The freedom[nb 1] of the Akkadians and their children I established. I purified their copper. I
established their freedom from the border of the marshes and Ur and Nippur, Awal, and Kish,
Der of the goddess Ishtar, as far as the City of (Ashur)."[18]
Assyria had long held extensive contact with Hattian, Hittite and Hurrian cities on the Anatolian
plateau in Asia Minor. The Assyrians who had for centuries traded in the region, and possibly
ruled small areas bordering Assyria, now established significant colonies in Cappadocia (e.g., at
Kanesh (modern Kltepe) from 2008 BC to 1740 BC). These colonies, called karum, from the
Akkadian word for 'port', were attached to Hattian cities in Anatolia, but physically separate, and
had special tax status. They must have arisen from a long tradition of trade between Assyria and
the Anatolian cities, but no archaeological or written records show this. The trade consisted of
metals (copper or tin and perhaps iron; the terminology is not entirely clear) being traded for
textiles from Assyria.
Erishum I[19] (c. 19741935 BC) vigorously expanded Assyrian colonies in Asia Minor during his
long reign, the major ones appearing to be at Kanesh, attua (Boazky) (the future capital of
the Hittite Empire) and Amkuwa (Alisar Hyk), together with a further eighteen smaller
colonies. He created some of the earliest examples of Written Law, conducted extensive building
work in the form of fortifying the walls of major Assyrian cities and the erection of temples
dedicated to Ashur and Ishtar. It is from his reign that the continuous limmum lists are known,
however there are references to the eponym-books for his predecessors having been destroyed at
some point.
Ikunum (c. 19341921 BC)[20] built a major temple for the god Ningal. He further strengthened
the fortifications of the city of Assur and maintained Assyria's colonies in Asia Minor.
Sargon I (c. 19201881 BC)[21] succeeded him in c. 1920 BC, and had an unusually long reign of
39 years. It is likely he was named after his illustrious predecessor Sargon of Akkad. He is
known to have refortified the defences of major Assyrian cities, and maintained Assyrian
colonies in Asia Minor during his reign. Apart from this, little has yet been unearthed about him.
At some point he appears to have withdrawn Assyrian aid to southern Mesopotamia. It was
during his reign in Assyria that the initially minor city-state of Babylon was founded in 1894 BC
by an Amorite Malka (prince) named Sumuabum.
Puzur-Ashur II (c. 18811873 BC) came to the throne as an already older man due to his fathers
long reign. Little is known about his rule, but it appears to have been uneventful.
Naram-Suen (c. 18721818 BC) ascended to the throne in 1872 BC, and is likely named after his
predecessor Naram-Sin of the Akkadian Empire. Assyria continued to be wealthy during his 54
year long reign (one of the longest in the ancient Near East), and he defeated the future usurper
king Shamshi-Adad I who attempted to take his throne.

Erishum II (c. 18181809 BC) was to be the last king of the dynasty of Puzur-Ashur I, founded
c. 2025 BC. After only eight or nine years in power he was overthrown by Shamshi-Adad I, the
Amorite usurper who had previously been defeated in an attempt to unseat Naram-Suen, and
who claimed legitimacy by asserting descent from the mid 21st century BC Assyrian king,
Ushpia.
Amorite Period in Assyria, 18091750 BC

The Amorites were successfully repelled by the Assyrian kings of the 20th and 19th centuries
BC. However, in 1809 BC the native Mesopotamian king of Assyria Erishum II was deposed,
and the throne of Assyria was usurped by Shamshi-Adad I (c. 1809 1776 BC) in the expansion
of Semitic Amorite tribes from the Khabur River delta in the north eastern Levant.
Although regarded as an Amorite by later Assyrian tradition, Shamshi-Adad's descent is
suggested to be from the same line as the native Mesopotamian ruler Ushpia in the Assyrian
King List. He put his son Ishme-Dagan on the throne of a nearby Assyrian city, Ekallatum, and
maintained Assyria's Anatolian colonies. Shamshi-Adad I then went on to conquer the kingdom
of Mari (in modern Syria) on the Euphrates putting another of his sons, Yasmah-Adad on the
throne there. Shamshi-Adad's Assyria now encompassed the whole of northern Mesopotamia and
included territory in central Mesopotamia, Asia Minor and northern Syria. Shamshi-Adad I
mentions conducting raids on the Canaanite coasts of the far off Mediterranean, where he erected
stelae to commemorate his victories. He himself resided in a new capital city founded in the
Khabur valley in northern Mesopotamia, called Shubat-Enlil.
Ishme-Dagan I (17741763 BC) inherited Assyria, but Yasmah-Adad was overthrown by a new
king called Zimrilim in Mari. The new king of Mari allied himself with the Amorite king
Hammurabi of Babylon, who had made the recently created, and originally minor state of
Babylon into a major power. It was from the reign of Hammurabi onwards that southern
Mesopotamia came to be known as Babylonia.
Assyria now faced the rising power of Babylon in the south. Ishme-Dagan responded by making
an alliance with the enemies of Babylon, and the power struggle continued without resolution for
decades. Ishme-Dagan, like his father was a great warrior, and in addition to repelling
Babylonian attacks, campaigned successfully against the Turukku and Lullubi of the Zagros
Mountains (in modern Iran) who had attacked the Assyrian city of Ekallatum, and against
Dadusha, king of Eshnunna, and the state of Iamhad (modern Aleppo).
Assyria under Babylonian domination, 17501732 BC

Hammurabi, after first conquering Mari, Larsa, and Eshnunna, eventually prevailed over IshmeDagan's successor Mut-Ashkur (17501740 BC), and subjected him to Babylon c. 1750 BC.
With Hammurabi, the various karum colonies in Anatolia ceased trade activityprobably
because the goods of Assyria were now being traded with the Babylonians. The Assyrian
monarchy survived, however the three Amorite kings succeeding Ishme-Dagan, Mut-Ashkur
(who was the son of Ishme-Dagan and married to a Hurrian queen), Rimush (17391733 BC)

and Asinum (1732 BC), were vassals, dependent on the Babylonians during the reign of
Hammurabi, and for a short time, of his successor Samsu-iluna.
Assyrian Adaside dynasty, 17321451 BC

The short lived Babylonian Empire quickly began to unravel upon the death of Hammurabi, and
Babylonia lost control over Assyria during the reign of Hammurabi's successor Samsu-iluna
(17501712 BC). A period of civil war ensued after Asinum (a gran
used for measuring the travel of the Sun, therefore, representing time.[18]
Astronomy
Main article: Mesopotamian astronomy

From Sumerian times, temple priesthoods had attempted to associate current events with certain
positions of the planets and stars. This continued to Assyrian times when Limmu lists were
created as a year by year association of events with planetary positions, which, when they have
survived to the present day, allow accurate associations of relative with absolute dating for
establishing the history of Mesopotamia.
The Babylonian astronomers were very adept at mathematics and could predict eclipses and
solstices. Scholars thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of these related
to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12-month calendar based on the
cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of
astronomy as well as astrology date from this time.
During the 8th and 7th centuries BC, Babylonian astronomers developed a new approach to
astronomy. They began studying philosophy dealing with the ideal nature of the early universe
and began employing an internal logic within their predictive planetary systems. This was an
important contribution to astronomy and the philosophy of science and some scholars have thus
referred to this new approach as the first scientific revolution.[19] This new approach to
astronomy was adopted and further developed in Greek and Hellenistic astronomy.
In Seleucid and Parthian times, the astronomical reports were thoroughly scientific; how much
earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The Babylonian
development of methods for predicting the motions of the planets is considered to be a major
episode in the history of astronomy.
The only Greek Babylonian astronomer known to have supported a heliocentric model of
planetary motion was Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC).[20][21][22] Seleucus is known from the
writings of Plutarch. He supported Aristarchus of Samos' heliocentric theory where the Earth
rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the Sun. According to Plutarch,
Seleucus even proved the heliocentric system, but it is not known what arguments he used
(except that he correctly theorized on tides as a result of Moon's attraction).

Babylonian astronomy served as the basis for much of Greek, classical Indian, Sassanian,
Byzantine, Syrian, medieval Islamic, Central Asian, and Western European astronomy.[23]
Medicine

The oldest Babylonian texts on medicine date back to the Old Babylonian period in the first half
of the 2nd millennium BC. The most extensive Babylonian medical text, however, is the
Diagnostic Handbook written by the ummn, or chief scholar, Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa,[24]
during the reign of the Babylonian king Adad-apla-iddina (1069-1046 BC).[25]
Along with contemporary Egyptian medicine, the Babylonians introduced the concepts of
diagnosis, prognosis, physical examination, and prescriptions. In addition, the Diagnostic
Handbook introduced the methods of therapy and aetiology and the use of empiricism, logic, and
rationality in diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. The text contains a list of medical symptoms and
often detailed empirical observations along with logical rules used in combining observed
symptoms on the body of a patient with its diagnosis and prognosis.[26]
The symptoms and diseases of a patient were treated through therapeutic means such as
bandages, creams and pills. If a patient could not be cured physically, the Babylonian physicians
often relied on exorcism to cleanse the patient from any curses. Esagil-kin-apli's Diagnostic
Handbook was based on a logical set of axioms and assumptions, including the modern view that
through the examination and inspection of the symptoms of a patient, it is possible to determine
the patient's disease, its aetiology, its future development, and the chances of the patient's
recovery.[24]
Esagil-kin-apli discovered a variety of illnesses and diseases and described their symptoms in his
Diagnostic Handbook. These include the symptoms for many varieties of epilepsy and related
ailments along with their diagnosis and prognosis.[27]
Technology

Mesopotamian people invented many technologies including metal and copper-working, glass
and lamp making, textile weaving, flood control, water storage, and irrigation. They were also
one of the first Bronze age people in the world. They developed from copper, bronze, and gold
on to iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals.
Also, copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as
swords, daggers, spears, and maces.
According to a recent hypothesis, the Archimedes' screw may have been used by Sennacherib,
King of Assyria, for the water systems at the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and Nineveh in the
7th century BC, although mainstream scholarship holds it to be a Greek invention of later times.
[28]
Later during the Parthian or Sassanid periods, the Baghdad Battery, which may have been the
world's first battery, was created in Mesopotamia.[29]
Religion and philosophy

The Burney Relief, Old Babylonian, around 1800 BC

Mesopotamian religion was the first to be recorded. Mesopotamians believed that the world was
a flat disc,[citation needed] surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above that, heaven. They also
believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the universe was born
from this enormous sea. In addition, Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic. Although the
beliefs described above were held in common among Mesopotamians, there were also regional
variations. The Sumerian word for universe is an-ki, which refers to the god An and the goddess
Ki.[citation needed] Their son was Enlil, the air god. They believed that Enlil was the most powerful
god. He was the chief god of the Pantheon, equivalent to the Greek god Zeus and the Roman god
Jupiter. The Sumerians also posed philosophical questions, such as: Who are we?, Where are
we?, How did we get here?.[citation needed] They attributed answers to these questions to explanations
provided by their gods.
Philosophy

Giorgio Buccellati believes that the origins of philosophy can be traced back to early
Mesopotamian wisdom, which embodied certain philosophies of life, particularly ethics, in the
forms of dialectic, dialogs, epic poetry, folklore, hymns, lyrics, prose works, and proverbs.
Babylonian reasoning and rationality developed beyond empirical observation.[30]
The earliest form of logic was developed by the Babylonians, notably in the rigorous nonergodic
nature of their social systems. Babylonian thought was axiomatic and is comparable to the
"ordinary logic" described by John Maynard Keynes. Babylonian thought was also based on an
open-systems ontology which is compatible with ergodic axioms.[31] Logic was employed to
some extent in Babylonian astronomy and medicine.

Babylonian thought had a considerable influence on early Greek and Hellenistic philosophy. In
particular, the Babylonian text Dialogue of Pessimism contains similarities to the agonistic
thought of the sophists, the Heraclitean doctrine of contrasts, and the dialectic and dialogs of
Plato, as well as a precursor to the maieutic method of Socrates.[32] The Ionian philosopher
Thales was influenced by Babylonian cosmological ideas.
Culture

Alabaster with shell eyes, Sumerian male worshiper, 2750-2600 BC

Festivals

Ancient Mesopotamians had ceremonies each month. The theme of the rituals and festivals for
each month was determined by at least six important factors:
1. The Lunar phase (a waxing moon meant abundance and growth, while a
waning moon was associated with decline, conservation, and festivals of the
Underworld)
2. The phase of the annual agricultural cycle
3. Equinoxes and solstices
4. The local mythos and its divine Patrons
5. The success of the reigning Monarch
6. The Akitu, or New Year Festival (First full moon after spring equinox)

7. Commemoration of specific historical events (founding, military victories,

temple holidays, etc.)
Music
Main article: Music of Mesopotamia

Some songs were written for the gods but many were written to describe important events.
Although music and songs amused kings, they were also enjoyed by ordinary people who liked
to sing and dance in their homes or in the marketplaces. Songs were sung to children who passed
them on to their children. Thus songs were passed on through many generations as an oral
tradition until writing was more universal. These songs provided a means of passing on through
the centuries highly important information about historical events.
The Oud (Arabic: )is a small, stringed musical instrument used by the Mesopotamians. The
oldest pictorial record of the Oud dates back to the Uruk period in Southern Mesopotamia over
5000 years ago. It is on a cylinder seal currently housed at the British Museum and acquired by
Dr. Dominique Collon. The image depicts a female crouching with her instruments upon a boat,
playing right-handed. This instrument appears hundreds of times throughout Mesopotamian
history and again in ancient Egypt from the 18th dynasty onwards in long- and short-neck
varieties. The oud is regarded as a precursor to the European lute. Its name is derived from the
Arabic word al-d 'the wood', which is probably the name of the tree from which the oud
was made. (The Arabic name, with the definite article, is the source of the word 'lute'.)
Games

Hunting was popular among Assyrian kings. Boxing and wrestling feature frequently in art, and
some form of polo was probably popular, with men sitting on the shoulders of other men rather
than on horses.[33] They also played majore, a game similar to the sport rugby, but played with a
ball made of wood. They also played a board game similar to senet and backgammon, now
known as the "Royal Game of Ur."
Family life

The Babylonian marriage market by the 19th-century painter Edwin Long

Mesopotamia, as shown by successive law codes, those of Urukagina, Lipit Ishtar and
Hammurabi, across its history became more and more a patriarchal society, one in which the
men were far more powerful than the women. For example, during the earliest Sumerian period,
the "en", or high priest of male gods was originally a woman, that of female goddesses, a man.
Thorkild Jacobsen, as well as many others, has suggested that early Mesopotamian society was

ruled by a "council of elders" in which men and women were equally represented, but that over
time, as the status of women fell, that of men increased. As for schooling, only royal offspring
and sons of the rich and professionals, such as scribes, physicians, temple administrators, went to
school. Most boys were taught their father's trade or were apprenticed out to learn a trade.[34]
Girls had to stay home with their mothers to learn housekeeping and cooking, and to look after
the younger children. Some children would help with crushing grain or cleaning birds. Unusual
for that time in history, women in Mesopotamia had rights. They could own property and, if they
had good reason, get a divorce.
Burials

Hundreds of graves have been excavated in parts of Mesopotamia, revealing information about
Mesopotamian burial habits. In the city of Ur, most people were buried in family graves under
their houses, along with some possessions. A few have been found wrapped in mats and carpets.
Deceased children were put in big "jars" which were placed in the family chapel. Other remains
have been found buried in common city graveyards. 17 graves have been found with very
precious objects in them. It is assumed that these were royal graves. Rich of various periods,
have been discovered to have sought burial in Bahrein, identified with Sumerian Dilmun.[35]
Economy and agriculture

Mining areas of the ancient West Asia. Boxes colors: arsenic is in brown, copper in
red, tin in grey, iron in reddish brown, gold in yellow, silver in white and lead in
black. Yellow area stands for arsenic bronze, while grey area stands for tin bronze.

Irrigated agriculture spread southwards from the Zagros foothills with the Samara and Hadji
Muhammed culture, from about 5,000 BC.[36] Sumerian temples functioned as banks and
developed the first large-scale system of loans and credit, but the Babylonians developed the
earliest system of commercial banking. It was comparable in some ways to modern postKeynesian economics, but with a more "anything goes" approach.[31]
In the early period down to Ur III temples owned up to one third of the available land, declining
over time as royal and other private holdings increased in frequency. The word Ensi was used to
describe the official who organized the work of all facets of temple agriculture. Villeins are
known to have worked most frequently within agriculture, especially in the grounds of temples
or palaces.[37]
The geography of southern Mesopotamia is such that agriculture is possible only with irrigation
and good drainage, a fact which has had a profound effect on the evolution of early

Mesopotamian civilization. The need for irrigation led the Sumerians, and later the Akkadians, to
build their cities along the Tigris and Euphrates and the branches of these rivers. Major cities,
such as Ur and Uruk, took root on tributaries of the Euphrates, while others, notably Lagash,
were built on branches of the Tigris. The rivers provided the further benefits of fish (used both
for food and fertilizer), reeds, and clay (for building materials). With irrigation, the food supply
in Mesopotamia was compabale to the Canadian prairies.[38] The Tigris and Euphrates River
valleys form the northeastern portion of the Fertile Crescent, which also included the Jordan
River valley and that of the Nile. Although land nearer to the rivers was fertile and good for
crops, portions of land farther from the water were dry and largely uninhabitable. This is why the
development of irrigation was very important for settlers of Mesopotamia. Other Mesopotamian
innovations include the control of water by dams and the use of aqueducts. Early settlers of
fertile land in Mesopotamia used wooden plows to soften the soil before planting crops such as
barley, onions, grapes, turnips, and apples. Mesopotamian settlers were some of the first people
to make beer and wine. As a result of the skill involved in farming in the Mesopotamian, farmers
did not depend on slaves to complete farm work for them, but there were some exceptions. There
were too many risks involved to make slavery practical (i.e. the escape/mutiny of the slave).
Although the rivers sustained life, they also destroyed it by frequent floods that ravaged entire
cities. The unpredictable Mesopotamian weather was often hard on farmers; crops were often
ruined so backup sources of food such as cows and lambs were also kept. Over time the
southernmost parts of Sumerian Mesopotamia suffered from increased salinity of the soils,
leading to a slow urban decline and a centring of power in Akkad, further north.
Government

The geography of Mesopotamia had a profound impact on the political development of the
region. Among the rivers and streams, the Sumerian people built the first cities along with
irrigation canals which were separated by vast stretches of open desert or swamp where nomadic
tribes roamed. Communication among the isolated cities was difficult and, at times, dangerous.
Thus, each Sumerian city became a city-state, independent of the others and protective of its
independence. At times one city would try to conquer and unify the region, but such efforts were
resisted and failed for centuries. As a result, the political history of Sumer is one of almost
constant warfare. Eventually Sumer was unified by Eannatum, but the unification was tenuous
and failed to last as the Akkadians conquered Sumeria in 2331 BC only a generation later. The
Akkadian Empire was the first successful empire to last beyond a generation and see the peaceful
succession of kings. The empire was relatively short-lived, as the Babylonians conquered them
within only a few generations.
Kings
Further information: Sumerian King List, List of kings of Babylon and List of Assyrian
king
Slow loss over geologic time
Main article: Atmospheric escape

The hydrodynamic wind within the upper portion of a planet's atmosphere allows light chemical
elements such as Hydrogen to move up to the exobase, the lower limit of the exosphere, where
the gases can then reach escape velocity, entering outer space without impacting other particles
of gas. This type of gas loss from a planet into space is known as planetary wind.[25] Planets with
hot lower atmospheres could result in humid upper atmospheres that accelerate the loss of
hydrogen.[26]
History of hydrologic cycle theory
Floating land mass

In ancient times, it was thought that the land mass floated on a body of water, and that most of
the water in rivers has its origin under the earth. Examples of this belief can be found in the
works of Homer (circa 800 BCE).
Precipitation and percolation

By roughly 500 BCE, Greek scholars were speculating that much of the water in rivers can be
attributed to rain. The origin of rain was also known by then. These scholars maintained the
belief, however, that water rising up through the earth contributed a great deal to rivers.
Examples of this thinking included Anaximander (570 BCE) (who also speculated about the
evolution of land animals from fish[27]) and Xenophanes of Colophon (530 BCE).[28] Chinese
scholars such as Chi Ni Tzu (320 BC) and Lu Shih Ch'un Ch'iu (239 BCE) had similar thoughts.
[29]
The idea that the water cycle is a closed cycle can be found in the works of Anaxagoras of
Clazomenae (460 BCE) and Diogenes of Apollonia (460 BCE). Both Plato (390 BCE) and
Aristotle (350 BCE) speculated about percolation as part of the water cycle.
Precipitation alone

Up to the time of the Renaissance, it was thought that precipitation alone was insufficient to feed
rivers, for a complete water cycle, and that underground water pushing upwards from the oceans
were the main contributors to river water. Bartholomew of England held this view (1240 CE), as
did Leonardo da Vinci (1500 CE) and Athanasius Kircher (1644 CE).
The first published thinker to assert that rainfall alone was sufficient for the maintenance of
rivers was Bernard Palissy (1580 CE), who is often credited as the "discoverer" of the modern
theory of the water cycle. Palissy's theories were not tested scientifically until 1674, in a study
commonly attributed to Pierre Perrault. Even so, these beliefs were not accepted in mainstream
science until early nineteenth century.[30]

Waste sorting is the process by which waste is separated into different elements.[1] Waste sorting
can occur manually at the household and collected through curbside collection schemes, or
automatically separated in materials recovery facilities or mechanical biological treatment
systems. Hand sorting was the first method used in the history of waste sorting.[2]
Waste can also be sorted in a civic amenity site.
Waste segregation means dividing waste into dry and wet. Dry waste includes wood and related
products, metals and glass. Wet waste, typically refers to organic waste usually generated by
eating establishments and are heavy in weight due to dampness. Waste can also be segregated on
basis of biodegradable or non-biodegradable waste.
Landfills are an increasingly pressing problem.[citation needed] Less and less land is available to deposit
refuse, but the volume of waste is growing all time. As a result, segregating waste is not just of
environmental importance, but of economic concern, too.
Contents
[hide]

1 Methods

2 By country

3 See also

4 References

5 External links

Methods[edit]

Waste is collected at its source in each area and separated. The way that waste is sorted must
reflect local disposal systems. The following categories are common:

Paper

Cardboard (including packaging for return to suppliers)

Glass (clear, tinted no light bulbs or window panes, which belong with
residual waste)

Plastics

Scrap metal

Compost

Special/hazardous waste

Residual waste

Organic waste can also be segregated for disposal:

Leftover food which has had any contact with meat can be collected
separately to prevent the spread of bacteria.
o

Meat and bone can be retrieved by bodies responsible for animal waste

If other leftovers are sent, for example, to local farmers, they can be
sterilised before being fed to the animals

Peel and scrapings from fruit and vegetables can be composted along with
other degradable matter. Other waste can be included for composting, too,
such as cut flowers, corks, coffee grindings, rotting fruit, tea bags, egg- and
nutshells, paper towels etc.

Chip pan oil (fryer oil), used fats, vegetable oil and the content of fat filters can be collected by
companies able to re-use them. Local authority waste departments can provide relevant
addresses. This can be achieved by providing recycling bins.
By country[edit]

In Germany, regulations exist that provide mandatory quotas for the waste sorting of packaging
waste and recyclable materials such as glass bottles.[3]