Southern Mesopotamia

c. 5000-3500 BC: The first city-states gradually develop in southern Mesopotamia. This is the achievement of the Sumerian people. c. 3500: Writing begins to be developed. At first this is based on pictograms, and takes about a thousand years to evolve into a full cuneiform script.

The first civilizations and the rise of empires began with small groups or villages existing with the use of hunting, fishing, and foraging. (William J. Duiker and Jackson J. Spielvogel, World History, vol. 1, 1) Within a few thousand years, people learned how to cultivate food crops and this led to an increase in population. Increased food production resulted in larger communities. The cities began to expand their cultural and religious developments leading to the beginnings of civilization. (Duiker, World History, 1) The first civilizations emerged in Mesopotamia and Egypt during the fourth and third millennia B.C.E and had various components in common. Each of these civilizations was established in a river valley so they were able to provide and produce the agricultural resources needed to survive and uphold the population. (Duiker, World History, 1) Mesopotamia developed in the valley between the Tigris and Euphrates River known as “the land between the rivers.” These rivers provided irregular and catastrophic flooding for the city-state. They created an intensive irrigation system to improve their agriculture. The first people to create Mesopotamian civilization were known as the Sumerians. These people were the first city builders and created the major city’s named Eridu, Ur, Uruk, Umma, and Lagash. These cities were built with surrounding walls and defense towers. A six-mile-long wall enclosed the city of Uruk. Mesopotamia lacked

One of the cultures of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia developed into successful civilizations is by their water sources. In document 1, the river Nile in Egypt flooded every year, which gave the land around it soft fertile ground, great for planting crops. Most people lived near the river. In document 2, the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which was also called the Fertile Crescent, provided food, transportation, and plants. They were especially populated since the area had deserts and mountains. Another reason is their rulers. As stated in document 3, the ancient Egyptian looked at their ruler, the pharaoh, as one of their gods in a human form, serving them well and deciding what’s best for the country. Quoting document 4, the people of Mesopotamia

The word “cuneiform” means wedge shape, and that is what the Sumerians used on the clay. The tool that they used was a triangle with a line connecting to it. The shapes sometimes were combined together to create a letter of the alphabet (OI). After the wedges were carved into the clay, the Sumerians would lay it out in the sun so the clay can bake (Doc. 1). Cuneiform was a contribution that

Small communities in southern Mesopotamia evolved to one of the earliest states due to environmental changes that occurred between the Ubaid and Uruk periods. These environmental changes such as the creation of Arabo-Persian Gulf increased population in certain regions, which in turn increased competition, warfare, and optimal settings for trade. All this lead to some of the earliest states being formed in Southern Mesopotamia.

There are many civilizations built on rivers. These civilizations experience many advantages, and disadvantages because they live along rivers. Rivers give the natural resource of water. Throughout history many great countries thrived on rivers, Egypt, and Mesopotamia, to name a few. Water from a river can be useful and therefore some civilizations thrived on their rivers, and for other communities the river was their doom.

In 1950, V Gordon Childe drew up a list of traits of to what he considered to be the common characteristics of early civilizations. According to Fagan & Scarre, a recent archaeologist Charles Redman divided Childe’s list into primary and secondary characteristics. The primary characteristics included cities and states, together with full-time specialization of labor, concentration of surplus, and a class-structured society. For the secondary, the characteristics included symptoms or by-products of these major economic and organizational changes: monumental public works, long-distance trade, standardized monumental artworks, writing, and the sciences (arithmetic, geometry, and astronomy)(Scarre and Fagan 2003). One of the most common characteristics involve was a large, dense population living in a city. This essay well state and describe two early cities in Mesopotamia and explore the layouts and characteristics of these two cities. Also, whether each city is unique or share common characteristics with each other. The two cities are Maskan-shapir and Ur.

Many different types of art were found in both excavations of the palace of Nestor and the recently discovered tomb. These findings tell us how advanced their civilization was because of the tools, utensils, and jewelry that archeologists found. At the Palace of Nestor, many kitchen utensils were found. This includes 1,325 shallow bowls, 1,325 teacups, and 425 dippers, other known as a spoon. These appliances tell us that this civilization, which was believed to be Mycenean, was somewhat developed. They were able to have basic appliances and they were able to make a lot of them. Archeologists were also able to find a great abundance of beauty appliances and jewelry in the tomb. They were able to uncover 14,000 items next to the man’s

The Standard of Ur is a Sumerian artifact discovered in the 1920s. It was discovered in what is now the modern day Iraq, Ur. The Standard of Ur is also known as the “Battle Standard of Ur” or “Royal Standard of Ur. This piece was discovered in a royal cemetery in Ur. The royal tomb that the piece was located in one of the largest graves in Ur, which was that of a ritually sacrificed man, Ur Pabilsag, who is believed to be its owner. The Standard of Ur is approximately 4,500 years old. It is thought to be standard (not royal) by its discoverer but its original purpose remains perplexing. The Standard of Ur is a trapezoidal shaped item with its two sides covered with figurative and geometric mosaics made of pieces of shell, lapis

The Ubaid Period 6500 to 3800BC used a distinctive style of painted pottery which spread throughout most of Mesopotamia and the Persian Gulf. The first settlement in southern Mesopotamia was established at Eridu around 5300BC by farmers who brought with them the first pioneered irrigation of agriculture. Eridu remained an important religious center when it was gradually surpassed in size by the nearby city of Uruk.

This is proof of the Sumerian architectural abilities. The architecture in Mesopotamia are considered to have been contemporary with the founding of the Sumerian cities, but there was some complexity in the architectural design during this Protoliterate period (c. 3400-c. 2900 BC). This is shown in the design of many religious buildings. Typical temples of the Protoliterate period--both the platform type and the type built at ground level--are, however, much more elaborate both in planning and ornament. The interior was decorated with cones sunk into the wall, covered in bronze. Most cities were simple in structure, but the ziggurat was one of the world's first complex architectural structures.

In around 3300-3000 BCE a sculptor created the Carved Vessel, from a stone referred to as Alabaster. This vessel was produced in Uruk which is currently known as Warka, Iraq. Through the subject matter, registers, and overall style, the sculptor of the Carved Vessel presented an organized story about making sacrificial offerings to ensure a plentiful harvest. The main subjects of this story would be the Sumerians and the goddess Inanna.

There are few examples of politics and government in ancient society that are as informative and detailed as those during the Third Dynasty period of Ur. The location of this ancient Sumerian city of Ur was located midway between Baghdad, Iraq and the head of the Persian Gulf. (Ur, 2014) In addition, the ruins of Ur are now known as Tell al-Muqayyar, Iraq. Interestingly, this city state has had a long and significant history throughout the pages of antiquity. However, the time period of the Third Dynasty being observed only covers the years approximately between 2112-2004 BC. (Ur, 2014) The importance of this small part of the timeline of the city state of Ur can be marked in the politics that show us the roots and early trends of human governance via the history of one of the earliest large city states of the prehistoric world.

The Uruk period saw the development of several cultural factors which marked the transition from relatively egalitarian, sedentary agricultural towns to what we would call a “civilization.”

It is undeniable that the natural environment of ancient Mesopotamia had a profound effect on the earliest civilizations known to the world. Humankind’s ability to control irrigation waters directly correlates with the rise of mass agriculture. With this mastery of their river environment, early farmers were capable of supporting large urban populations. However, in Mesopotamia the Tigris and Euphrates rivers were both a source of life as well as destruction for early societies. In many ways, the geography of ancient Mesopotamia fostered a sense of catastrophic determinism within the Sumerians, Akkadians, and Babylonians. The scarcity of resources as well as the untamable nature of their deluge environment led these early people to