Mesopotamia

Beginning in the year 4,300 B.C. a series of great cities and empires dominated the plains of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia was located in the region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which were used as the main way for transportation of goods. There were many people in Mesopotamia, so the rivers didn't supply enough water with all the daily activities they had to do. To compromise for this they built dykes, canals, and channels to capture the flood waters. 

Mesopotamia was divided into city-states. Most of the cities contained about 5,000 people, although Uruk had a population of 50,000 at its peak. Mesopotamia was the first "string of cities". Each city-state had a king who was the representative of the gods. The kings lived in a ziggurat, the holy tower, that had a spiraling ramp. In the center of every city was a temple where they kept all the food. They also sold it from there, along with other goods. Eventually most of the city-states developed into empires, including Sumer, Akkad, Ur, and many more. The best known out of all of Mesopotamia's Civilizations was Babylon. During the second millennium B.C., it rose from a providential capitol to the center of a kingdom that encompassed southern Iraq and beyond. 

In Mesopotamia the first type of writing was formed,. It was called cuneiform and it developed in Sumer. Sumerians wrote on clay tablets using a wedge, like a pencil, to carve in the soft clay. Having this writing allowed the people of Mesopotamia to keep trade records. Also scribes recorded the first literacy work known to western civilization. The literature followed the epic story of king Gil Gamesh, who embanks on a quest for immortality but ultimately failed. 

The Mesopotamians were very important to modern day civilizations. They left a legacy of law, literature, and engineering, for modern nations to build on. 

Watch a video about Mesopotamia HERE!