Mesopotamian Civilizations

Sumerian (5500 BCE - 2004 BCE)

Sumer was settled in 5500BCE. Sumer was the start of civilization. They created the 5 traits of civilization and therefore was a thriving community. They created language, architecture, governance, and more, they found better ways to live with these new innovations. For example they invented proto-writing, and cuneiform writing in around 3000BCE. All the way from 5500 BCE to 2004 BCE, Sumerians lived healthy and accomplished lives. In 2004BCE, however, the Babylonians took over the city. (NV)

Babylonian (1800 BCE - 539 BCE)

Babylon is located in present-day Iraq and about 50 miles south of Baghdad. It grew into one of the largest cities of the ancient world under the rule of Hammurabi. Babylon was a small port town but it became a city of beautiful and lavish buildings. Babylon also became a major military power under Amorite king Hammurabi, who ruled from 1792 to 1750 B.C. Hammurabi brought much of southern and central Mesopotamia under unified Babylonian rule, creating an empire called Babylonia. Hammurabi created one of the world’s earliest and most complete written legal codes. The code of Hammurabi .The code helped Babylon surpass other cities in the region. Babylonia, however, was short-lived. The empire fell apart after Hammurabi’s death and reverted back to a small kingdom for several centuries until the Neo Babylonian empire.

A new line of kings established a Neo-Babylonian Empire that spanned from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. The Neo-Babylonian Empire became the most powerful state in the world after defeating the Assyrians at Nineveh in 612 B.C. The Neo-Babylonian Empire was a period of cultural renaissance in the Near East. The Babylonians built beautiful buildings and preserved statues and artworks from the earlier Babylonian Empire during the reign of king Nebuchadnezzar II. The Neo-Babylonian Empire, like the earlier Babylonia, was short-lived. In 539 B.C., less than a century after its founding, the legendary Persian king Cyrus the Great conquered Babylon. The fall of Babylon was complete when the empire came under Persian control.

Hammurabi first encircled the city with walls. Nebuchadnezzar II further fortified the city with three rings of walls that were 40 feet tall. Art and architecture flourished throughout the Babylonian Empire, especially in the capital city of Babylon, which is also famous for its impenetrable walls. The Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the walls of Babylon were so thick that chariot races were held on top of them. The city inside the walls occupied an area of 200 square miles, roughly the size of Chicago today. Nebuchadnezzar II built three major palaces, each lavishly decorated with blue and yellow glazed tiles. He also built a number of shrines, the largest of which, called Esagil, was dedicated to Marduk. The shrine stood 280 feet tall, nearly the size of a 26-story office building. Marduk is the patron god of Babylon. (SS)

Assyrian (1365 BCE –1330 BCE)

Akkadian (2350 BCE –2150 BCE)

The Akkadian Empire was strong and fierce. The Akkadians invaded Mesopotamia for a new place to live, they were coming from the Arabian Peninsula. They Akkadians came into conflict with the Sumerians and ended up absorbing the ancient city, other cities included these, Assur, Eridu, Girsu, Kish, Lagash, Nineveh, Nippur, Sippar, Tell Beydar, Tell Brak, Tell Leilan, Tell Mozan, Umma, Ur, Uruk. The Akkadians praised several gods who represent different natural phenomenons such as the sky and weather. The Akkadians established a sizable amount of controlled territory, taking over the neighboring Elamites and expanding the reach of the empire as far as Syria and the Mediterranean Sea and as far south as what is now Oman. The Akkadian Empire lasted for somewhere between 100 and 200 years. With Sargon was the founder of the Akkadian Empire. The Empire of Akkad collapsed in 2154 BCE, within 180 years of its founding. (GM)

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