Geographical Features

OF

MESOPOTAMIA
 Mesopotamia is a Greek word meaning The
land between the rivers
The rivers are the Tigris river and Euphrates
river
 Before, Mesopotamia was occupied by people
because the rivers made the land very fertile
through flooding. Mesopotamia is sometimes
referred to as The Fertile Crescent for this
reason.

It is also termed as The Cradle of Civilization

for its role in the history of agriculture and
development.
 Babylon was the capital of Mesopotamia and is
located in the Central Mesopotamia along the
banks of Euphrates river.

Today the ruins of the City can be found

around 50 miles south of Baghdad, Iraq.
 Today Ancient Mesopotamia
encompasses all of the country of Iraq.
Some parts of Turkey, Syria and Iran
also overlaps with the old borders of
Mesopotamia.
The History
of
Mesopotamia
Pre-Pottery Neolithic Age
Also known as The Stone Age (c.
10,000 BCE though evidence
suggests human habitation much
earlier). There is archaeological
confirmation of crude settlements
and early signs of warfare between
tribes, most likely over fertile land for
crops and fields for grazing livestock.
Animal husbandry was increasingly
practiced during this time with a shift
from a hunter-gatherer culture to an
Pottery Neolithic Age
(c. 7,000 BCE) In this period there was a widespread
use of tools and clay pots and a specific culture
begins to emerge in the Fertile Crescent. The
historian Bertman writes, during this era, the only
advanced technology was literally 'cutting edge' as
stone tools and weapons became more
sophisticated. Bertman further notes that the
Neolithic economy was primarily based on food
production through farming and animal husbandry
and was more settled, as opposed to the Stone Age
in which communities were more mobile.
Architectural advancements naturally followed in the
wake of permanent settlements as did
developments in the manufacture of ceramics and
stone tools.
Copper Age
(5,900 3,200 BCE) Also known as The
Chalcolithic Period owing to the transition
from stone tools and weapons to ones
made of copper. The rise of cities began in
this period, most notably in the regions of
Sumer in which thrived the cities of Eridu,
Uruk, Ur, Kish, Nuzi, Lagash, Nippur, and
Ngirsu, and in Elam with its city of Susa.
The earliest city is often cited as Uruk,
although Eridu and Ur have also been
suggested. Van De Mieroop writes,
Mesopotamia was the most densely
urbanized region in the ancient world
and the cities which grew up along the Tigris and
Euphrates rivers, as well as those founded
further away, established systems of trade which
resulted in great prosperity . This period saw the
invention of the wheel and writing, both by the
Sumerians, the establishment of kingships to
replace priestly rule, and the first war in the
world recorded between the kingdoms of Sumer
and Elam. Increased prosperity in the region
gave rise to ornate temples and statuary,
sophisticated pottery and figurines, toys for
children and the use of personal seals to denote
ownership of property or stand for an individuals
signature.
Early Bronze Age
(3,000 2119 BCE) During this period,
bronze supplanted copper as the material
from which tools and weapons were made.
The rise of the city-state laid the
foundation for economic and political
stability which would eventually lead to the
rise of the Akkadian Empire and the rapid
growth of the cities of Akkad and Mari, two
of the most prosperous urban centers of
the time. The cultural stability necessary
for the creation of art in the region resulted
in more intricate designs in architecture
and sculpture, as well as
a number of specific and momentous
inventions: the plough and the wheel, the chariot
and the sailboat, and the cylinder-seal, the single
most distinctive art form of ancient Mesopotamia
and a pervasive demonstration of the
importance of property ownership and business
in the countrys daily life, were all either
invented or improved upon during this time. The
Akkadian Empire of Sargon was the first multi-
national realm in the world and Sargon's
daughter, Enheduanna, the first author of literary
works known by name. The library at Mari
contained over 20,000 cuneiform tablets and the
palace there was considered one of the finest in
the region.
Middle Bronze Age
(2119-1700 BCE) The expansion of the Assyrian
Kingdoms and the rise of the Babylonian
Dynasty created an atmosphere conducive to
trade and, with it, increased warfare. The Guti
Tribe, fierce nomads who succeeded in toppling
the Akkadian Empire, dominated the politics of
Mesopotamia until they were defeated by the
allied forces of the kings of Sumer. Hammurabi,
King of Babylon ,rose from relative obscurity to
conquer the region and reign for 43 years.
Among his many accomplishments was his
famous code of laws, inscribed on the stele of
the gods. Babylon became a leading centre at
this time for intellectual pursuit and high
accomplishment in arts and letters. This cultural
Late Bronze Age
(1700-1100 BCE) The rise of the Kassite leads to a shift in
power and an expansion of culture and learning after the
Kassites conquered Babylon. The collapse of the Bronze
Age followed the discovery of how to mine ore and make
use of iron, a technology which the Kassites and, earlier,
the Hittites made singular use of in warfare. The period
also saw the beginning of the decline of Babylonian
culture due to the rise in power of the Kassites until they
were defeated by the Elamites and driven out. After the
Elamites gave way to the Aramaeans, the small Kingdom
of Assyria began a series of successful campaigns, and
the Assyrian Empire was firmly established and prospered
under the rule of Tiglath-Pileser I and, after him,
Ashurnasirpal II. Most Mesopotamian states were either
destroyed or weakened following the Bronze Age Collapse
around 1200 BCE, leading to a short "dark age".
Iron Age
(1000 500 BCE) This age saw the rise and
expansion of the Neo-Assyrian Empire under
Tiglath-Pileser III and that Empires meteoric rise
to power and conquest under the rule of
Esarhaddon and Ashurbanipal. The Empire
suffered a decline as rapid as its rise due to
repeated attacks on central cities by Babylonians,
Medes, and Scythians. The tribes of the Hittites
and the Mitanni consolidated their respective
powers during this time which resulted in the rise
of the Neo-Hittite and Neo-Babylonian Empires.
King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon destroyed
Jerusalem during this period and forced the
inhabitants of Israel into the Babylonian Exile.
He was also responsible for extensive construction
in Babylon, creating famous buildings such as the
Classical Antiquity
(500 BCE 7th century CE) After Cyrus II took Babylon,
the bulk of Mesopotamia became part of the Persian
Empire, and this period saw a rapid cultural decline,
most notably in the loss of the knowledge of cuneiform
script. The conquest of the Persians by Alexander the
Great in 331 BCE brought Hellenization of the culture
and religion, and even though Alexander tried to again
make Babylon a city of consequence, its days of glory
were a thing of the past. After his death, Alexanders
general Seleucus took control of the region and founded
the Seleucid Dynasty which ruled until 126 BCE when
the land was conquered by the Parthians who were, in
turn, dominated by the Sassanians. Bertman writes,
Under Sassanian domination, Mesopotamia lay in
ruins, its fields dried out or turned into a swampy
morass, its once great cities made ghost towns
 By the time of the conquest by the Roman Empire,
Mesopotamia was a largely Hellenized region,
lacking in any unity, which had forgotten the old
gods and the old ways. The Romans improved the
infrastructure of their colonies significantly
through their introduction of better roads and
plumbing and brought Roman Law to the land.
The entire culture of the region once known as
Mesopotamia was swept away in the final
conquest of the area by Muslim Arabs in the 7th
century CE which resulted in the unification of
law, language, religion and culture under Islam.
Bertman notes, With the Islamic conquest of 651
CE the history of ancient Mesopotamia ends.
Today the great cities that once rose along the
Tigris and Euphrates rivers are largely
unexcavated mounds or broken bricks on arid
 The
MESOPOTAMIA Land
Betwe
en
Rivers

BY: JOAN C. ABRAZADO

 RELIGION
Mesopotamia had a polytheistic belief system,
which means that the people believed in multiple
gods instead of just one.
They also believed in demons created by the
gods, which could be good or evil.
To worship the gods and goddesses, the people
of Mesopotamia built large structures, called
Ziggurats that served as temples.
Inside the worshiping area of the Ziggurat
people would place carved stone human figures
with wide eyes and clasped hands, praying on
behalf of the people of Mesopotamia. This area
was also where people could make offerings to
please the deities or regain their favor.
 Some of the most important
deities of ancient
Mesopotamia
1. An (Anu) were:
Sky god, as well as father of the
gods, An was the king of all the gods. There
was no art depicting him, all information about
this god was translated from ancient texts.
2. Enki (Ea) - God of fresh water, known for his
wisdom. He was depicted as a bearded man
with water flowing around him.
3. Inanna (Ishtar) Goddess of love, fertility, and
war. She was the most important of the female
deities.
4. Nanna (Sin) God of
the moon and the son of
Enlil and Ninlil. He
travels across the sky in
his small boat of woven
twigs, surrounded by
the planets and stars.
5. Utu (Shamash) - God
of the sun and of
justice. Between the
time when the sun sets
in the west and rises in
the east he is in the
underworld, where he
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.

FESTIVALS
3. Equinoxes, are the only times when the solar
terminator (the "edge" between night and day)
is perpendicular to the equator. As a result, the
northern and southern hemisphere are equally
illuminated. The word comes from Latin equi or
"equal" and nox meaning "night".
June Solstice December Solstice
5. The local mythos and its divine Patrons
6. The success of the reigning Monarch
7. The Akitu, or New Year Festival (First full
moon after spring equinox)
8. Commemoration of specific historical
events (founding, military victories, temple
holidays, etc.)
 MUSIC
Written for the
Gods
To describe
important events
To entertain the
King and the
people.
Passed on through
many generation
as Oral Tradition.
The Oud, Arabic
))is a small,
stringed musical
 MUSIC
The oldest
pictorial record of
the Oud dates back
to the Uruk period
in Southern
Mesopotamia over
5000 years ago.

The image depicts

a female crouching
with her
instruments upon
a boat, playing
 MUSIC
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.
GAMES
Hunting was popular among
Assyrian Kings.
Boxing and Wrestling
GAMES
Played a board game similar to Senet
& Backgammon, now known as the
Royal Game of Ur.
A backgammon set, consisting of a
board, two sets of 15 checkers, two
pairs of dice, a doubling cube, and dice
cups
 GAMES

The game board had thirty squares laid out in three

rows of ten. Some of the squares had symbols on
them and the path of the counters probably followed
a reversed S across the board.
Ancient Egyptian Game of Senet . The symbols
represented ether good or bad fortune, and affected
the play accordingly.
The movement of the counters was decided by
 Senet, means passing and had a
religious significance the aim of each
player being to move their pieces
around the board and avoiding hazards.
Good luck was a blessing from the gods
and the winner was the first to pass
into the afterlife by getting all their
pieces off the board.
BURIAL
Speople were buried in family
Most
graves under their houses, along with
their possessions.
Few have been found wrapped in mats
and carpets.
Deceased children were put in big
jars which were placed in the family
chapel.
BURIAL
S
THANK YOU
FOR
LISTENING!!
! ^^
THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF
MESOPOTAMIA TO THE
WORLD
By: Johanna Triccia Cesante
 CUNEIFORM

Cuneiform was the first written language. It was invented

by the Sumerians in roughly 5,000 BC. Cuneiform was
written in clay. Even after the fall of the Sumerians, other
civilizations used cuneiform as their way of writing.
 The WHEEL

The earliest wheels were invented in

about 3,500 BC. The earliest form of
wheels were metal, stones and woods.
 IRRIGATION
Irrigation was also
invented in Mesopotamia,
because southern
Mesopotamia was dry
and there was not enough
rain to grow crops.
People dug trenches
so that water flowed to
water their crops.
HANGING GARDEN
 FACTS:
1. According to ancient sources the Hanging
Gardens of Babylon built around 600 BC.
Historians claimed that the outer walls were
56 miles in length, and 80 feet thick and 320
feet high. These Gardens were made of Mud
bricks and waterproofed with lead.

2. The Babylonians created a water pump that

transported water from the Euphrates River up
to the Hanging Gardens. They created the
pump by attaching buckets to a chain.

3. Hanging Gardens were built for King

Nebuchadnezzars wife, Amyitis daughter of
king of Medes.
4. The name comes from an inexact
translation of the Greek word kremastos,
or the Latin wordpensilis, which means
not just hanging, but overhanging as in
the case of a terrace or balcony.

5. The plant and tress were all imported from

Medes

6. The garden may or may not be real

7. The actual location of the Garden is still

unknown.
 ZIGGURAT

Ziggurats were huge temples built by the

Sumerians to honor their gods. They were huge
temples with steps leading up to the top. At the
top, priests placed offerings of food and other
goods.
 SAILBOAT
This helped the
Mesopotamians
establish trade
relationships with
other cities and
countries, making
them one of most famous civilizations to
flourish and
change the course of history with their
inventions.
The End
2/3 1/3
GOD MAN
GILGAMES
H
ENKIDU
GILGAMESH vs ENKIDU
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GOALS
HUMBAB
ISHTAR
GILGAMESH
#REJECTE
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a woman scorned.
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TIM
#ABORTMISSION
We all die. The goal
isnt to live forever,
the goal is to create
something that will.
-Chuck Palahniuk