TET - The Cradle of Civilization (Lesson)
The Cradle of Civilization
You Should Know: While the highlighted portion of the map represents the city-state of Sumeria, ALL of the land that falls between the two rivers was part of a collective civilization known as Mesopotamia. Because the area was "cradled" between the two rivers (Tigris and Euphrates) it was given the nickname the "Cradle of Civilization"
As mentioned in the previous lesson, humans need water (and food.) One of the best places to find (and grow) those essentials is located in river basins where the predictable flow of water supplies the liquid necessity and nurtures the fertility of the soil. Such was the case in the "land between the rivers" known as Mesopotamia. Historians gave this region various nicknames over the years, but one of the most popular is the "Cradle of Civilization." Why? Because this is where the first cities of its kind in history surfaced, where the first known form of writing developed, where the first code of laws for tens of thousands of people came forth—basically it was the first region to achieve all of the requirements that later historians used to describe a "civilization."
Located between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, Mesopotamia was shaped like a crescent and (thanks to the silt deposits of the rivers) incredibly fertile—hence the nickname for Mesopotamia as "the Fertile Crescent." In such a location, agriculture flourished and cities boomed, but it took time (thousands of years of time) and it happened in different locations.
One of the first cities of its kind in history was Uruk, located in the region of Sumer. By the late fourth millennium BCE, over 10,000 people lived there. Uruk was the site of many elaborate temples, administrative buildings, and courtyards; and it was surrounded by a great wall with several gates to protect those within. It became the standard for other cities that developed within Mesopotamia. And many more did- during the time of Uruk, approximately 35 other cities were founded. These cities created political structures known as city-states that were independent cities with great walls built around them for protection from invaders and surrounded by villages that were part of the city-states' rule. The arrangement of the buildings within a city-state reflected their populations' priorities. In Sumer, the temple was in the center surrounded by increasingly less important administrative and commercial buildings around it. Naturally, a prosperous city-state would attract attention and become a target for other city-states looking to expand their power to create an empire. Uruk was one of the first city-states to do just that- leading to its establishment as one of the most influential city-states in the Mesopotamian region of Sumer. With that in mind, let's look at Sumer first.
Located in southwest Mesopotamia, the soil of Sumer was very fertile. But that didn't mean that water was readily available to all within a city. Sumerians created irrigation canals to bring water from the rivers to their farms and their cities. By developing an irrigation system, they were able to grow more crops, thereby increasing population and freeing hands for other jobs; which, in turn, led to the creation of more city-states within Sumer. Sumerians practiced polytheism, in that they believed in many gods. At first, their priests governed over the region; but as the city-states grew in numbers and strength, the Sumerians selected political leaders to represent the individual city-states in matters of government and military. As time passed, these leaders became kings who acted as intermediaries between the citizens of a city-state and the god worshipped by them. Each city-state within Sumer had a king who was responsible for its political and military decisions and priests who were responsible for its religion and economy. The region of Sumer was ideal for agriculture- but it lacked other necessities used by Sumerians for construction (this region was not known for the trees needed for the elaborate construction projects that the Sumerians built.) Therefore, the city-states of Sumer traded with one another (and with cities outside of Sumer) as well as went to war against each other. If one city-state was able to conquer another, their two worlds merged and an empire was born.
Click through the activity below to learn about the accomplishments of the Sumerians...
Sumer was not the only region of Mesopotamia at that time- it was just the region that first enjoyed the most power and prosperity of the Mesopotamian regions (2850-2334 BCE) based on its early accomplishments. Assyrians in northern Mesopotamia and Akkadians in western and central Mesopotamia developed civilizations too (and they benefited from the cultural diffusion of ideas and inventions from the Sumerians.) As in Sumer, these regions were characterized by the existence of city-states that traded and fought with one another. At times, one city-state would dominate over all of the others in a region (and sometimes beyond that region.) The first to accomplish this feat was Sargon the Great, an Akkadian king known for uniting the independent city-states of his region of Akkad and Sumer, thereby creating the Akkadian territorial state in 2334 BCE. Under Sargon the Great's reign, Mesopotamia entered a period of significant architectural, artistic and literary undertakings that continued past the demise of the Akkadian territorial state when Sumer returned to the separate regional city-state structure.
Following the rule of the Akkads, a group of illiterate nomads came to rule over the region- so not much is known on this period of Sumerian history. However, some historians have pointed to a world-wide drought recently discovered by a team of scientists as an event that occurred during this time. Although it is a relatively new theory, these historians concluded that the 200 year drought found by the scientists probably led to civic unrest following incredible famines that resulted in a political upheaval that allowed for the end of the Akkadian Empire and the incursion by hostile outsiders on the Sumerian civilization.
But eventually, and as seems the natural order of events in history, a local leader fought the western interlopers and returned Sumer to a Sumerian ruler. At this time, Uruk returned as a city of importance, as did its sister city-state of Ur. In the 21st century BCE, Ur rose to empire status, once again uniting the independent city-states of central and southern Mesopotamia. The time period known as the Third Dynasty of Ur marked a time of great artistic and scientific breakthroughs for the Sumerians. Supposedly this was the age when Mesopotamia entered its greatest period of epic history writing- marked by the Epic of Gilgamesh, considered to be the earliest surviving example of great literature in the world. It also marked the last period of Sumer being ruled by a Sumerian king.
As the centuries passed, Sumer's strength continued to weaken and it fell prey to outside invaders again. Near the end of the third millennium BCE, North Africa and Southwest Asia experienced devastating droughts that affected food first and politics second, as mentioned earlier. Western "foreigners" again moved into Sumer to get what was left of the good lands. Control over Sumer bounced between different invading kings and the Sumerians themselves until the King of Babylonia, Hammurabi, defeated Sumer for good. By this time, kingship in Sumer was hereditary. As the most famous of the Sumerian kings, Hammurabi ruled in ancient Mesopotamia from 1792 to 1750 BCE and is best known for his code of laws. Hammurabi may have been the first leader in the history of the world to write and deliver a set of laws to his people for them to read and follow. And there were a lot of people to read and follow those rules- when Hammurabi ruled Babylonia, it was probably the largest city in the world. His code of laws was very specific on the reciprocity of crime and punishment—"an eye for an eye." And under Hammurabi's rule, the government commissioned public art and works projects along with institutions of learning. Hammurabi's government collected taxes that were used to fuel these projects as well as to subsidize personal businesses- especially in trade. Sumer prospered, as did the city of Babylon. The problem with being the largest and most prosperous city in the world, though, is that you are also the largest target in the world. Hammurabi's empire fell apart shortly after his death as invaders from other regions in the Middle East conquered the fertile area of Sumerian Mesopotamia. The most well-known of these invaders were the Hittites of Anatolia (located north of Mesopotamia) (They used their prowess as charioteers and archers to trample over all of Mesopotamia, including Babylonia, in the 1600s and 1500s BCE.) Over a thousand years passed before Babylon reemerged as an independent and powerful city-state again.
Recap Section
Watch the video below to review what you have learned.
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