Mesopotamia: Politics and Religion

The Land Between the Rivers

As mentioned in the previous lesson, humans need food and water. One of the best places to find and grow these essentials is in river basins where the predictable flow of water supplies the needed moisture and nurtures the fertility of the soil. Such was the case in the land between the rivers known as Mesopotamia. Located between the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, Mesopotamia was a moon-shaped crescent and, thanks to the silt deposits of the rivers, incredibly fertile, which is how the nickname for Mesopotamia as the Fertile Crescent came about. Here, agriculture flourished and cities boomed, but it was a process that took thousands of years and it happened in different locations.

While the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were essential, they had a few major drawbacks that defined life in Mesopotamia. The first is unpredictable flooding. The second is that the river had parasites that caused dysentery, a disease that makes its victims die from excessive defecation (pooping) and dehydration. These drawbacks would affect their innovations and religion.

Mesopotamian Government, Society, and Religion

The Mesopotamians were not a united people. This term lumps together several smaller cities and civilizations that competed with and conquered each other to gain access to one or both of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. 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. Over the next 2,500 years, from the late 4^th millennium BCE to the mid-sixth century BCE, the major empires of Mesopotamia included Sumer, Assyria, Akkad, and Babylon.

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 number and strength, the Sumerians selected kings to represent city-states in matters of government and military, and as intermediaries between the citizens and the gods. 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. This means that Sumer, and also later Mesopotamian empires, was a theocracy (a type of government where rulers lead in the name of one or many gods).

Carving at the top of Hammurabi’s Code. Hammurabi stands before the Mesopotamian god of justice. 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’s Code). When Hammurabi ruled Babylon, 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 and supported trade. Sumer prospered, as did the city of Babylon.

Hammurabi’s code is also important because it helps historians understand Mesopotamia’s stratified society. There were different laws based on a person’s status. Most Mesopotamians weren’t priests or rulers. They were mostly farmers, although some were healers, artists, or in the military. Legally, women were seen as the property of their husbands or fathers, but they had many of the same rights as men and could own their own businesses. Similarly, children were the property of their parents. The least powerful people in Mesopotamian society were enslaved people. A person was enslaved because of debt, war, or crime. The most famous enslaved Mesopotamians were the Jewish people, but there were many, many others.

Remember how the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were unpredictable? The people interpreted this as a universe with chaotic and destructive gods. Depending on which empire was ruling, the afterlife was dull at best and grim at worst, if the leaders believed in it at all. That made the job of a priest very difficult. They built ziggurats, or towered temples, to communicate with the gods and protect the people from floods.

A computer reconstruction of a ziggurat.

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Image: "Hammurabi's code" by Roel Wijnants is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0.