Ancient History, Part I: Mesopotamia

Introduction
Mesopotamia is one of the oldest known 'civilizations', as we would reckon civilization. It is the site of the oldest examples of cities, of government, of an empire and more.
So I begin with Mesopotamia, around 9,000 - 3,500 years ago, in what is mostly modern-day Iraq, between two rivers, the Euprates and the Tigris. At 7,000 years ago, civilization as we know it- towns, domesticated animals, pottery, permanent or semi-permanent housing- began to spring up here. Sourthern Mesopotamia is first called Sumer, later the Babylonia or Babylon of Biblical fame. To the North, there was Assyria, famed for its knowledge and military might.

Western Civilization Checklist: Writing.
Sumer was one of the first civilizations in the world to develop a system of writing. At first, it was a series of pictographs that represented certain things: a head for 'head', 'first' or 'front', and so on. Over time, this developed into what we call 'cuneiform', meaning 'wedge-shaped', which how such writing looks. Cuneiform was used solely for Sumerian records originally, but it was later adapted to Assyrian and Babylonian. Assyrians also used a language called Aramaic to write with because it had an established alphabet instaed of different signs for sounds. New words could be created in cuneiform writing by combining two older sounds. A similar example in English would be to combine 'bee' and 'leaf' to get 'belief'.

Western Civilization Checklist: Government.
Mesopotamian government and religion were closely intertwined. Mesopotamian kings believed themselves to have been chosen by the gods and, once every year, lay down their kingship to be ceremonially 'chosen'- again- by the god(s), usually the particular patron god of his country. Kings believed the gods wanted them to go to war and conquer more territory, and that they were meant to acquire more knowledge.
Mesopotamia was originally made up of a series of towns. These towns later formed into what we call today 'city-states'. They were ruled by separate rulers and had separate patron gods and goddesses, like individual countries but much smaller. Culture was basically the same, much like separate cities in the same country. Thus we arrive at the name 'city-state'. City-states later got larger and larger as more territory was conquered between them; they eventually took on more attributes of countries. Empires were formed in much the same way.
Sargon of Agade (circa 2334-2279 B.C. or B.C.E.) created the world's first known empire. In 2334 B.C. Sargon became king. He conquered Sumer, Mari, and Ebla. He also founded the city of Agade, which has not yet been found at this time.

Western Civilization Checklist: Religion.
All the Mesopotamian religions we are currently aware of were polytheistic, meaning that they had many gods and/or goddesses. Every city-state had its own patron god and/or goddess, along with a regular pantheon of others. Assyria and Babylonia worshipped the same basic pantheon called by different names. It was believed that everyone, including the royalty, was responsible to this pantheon and its rulers over different things.
Burials give us some clues about how Mesopotamians regarded death. Queen Pu-abi of Ur was buried in great state, with gold, jewels and servants to accompany her. This was typical of a royal burial. Common burials reveal some objects in them, such as tableware, headresses or the like.
Mesopotamians (usually their royalty, who were quick to make sure the gods knew who built them) built temples, called ziggurats, to their gods and godesses. They were huge platforms built on top of one another, like the steppe pyramids of Ancient Egypt. A series of staircases led to the top, where the priests and people gave sacrifices of food and drink.
The modern Biblically famous Tower of Babel is now believed to be the ziggurat of the Babylonian protector god, Marduk.

Western Civilization Checklist: Learning & Legends.
Only wealthy boys went to school. They were royalty (who had their own private tutors), the sons of high officials, scribes or the sons of military officers. Schools were very strict and discipline was extremely harsh. Music, zoology, botany and maths are examples of common subjects. Schools mostly turned out scribes, scholars and civil servants.
Mesopotamians developed many technologies, such as metalworking (bronze and gold were popular), pottery, glassmaking, textile manufacturing (the ability to make clothes how one wants them; here, with linen and later cotton) and leatherworking. Irrigation, flood control, canals, dams, aqueducts, water wheels, water storage/drainage and the ability to move large, heavy objects were also things they knew.
The story of Gilgamesh, a Sumerian king, is one of Mesopotamia's most famous legends. Said to be two-thirds god and one-third human, he sought immortality after his best friend, fellow adventurer and former archenemy, Enkidu, died. Legends say he once held it in his grasp, but then lost it. Later Gilgamesh built a great city, of which there is very little left, to be remembered by forever. His many tales are recorded in the Epic of Gilgamesh, which was kept in the libraries of King Ashurbanipal.

Conclusion
Ancient Mesopotamia, and its included city-states, was one of the first examples of Western Civilization as we know it.

L.P.