Mesopotamian Cities

Uruk

Uruk was one of the most important cities in ancient Mesopotamia. Uruk was founded by King Enmerkar sometime around 4500 BCE. It is located in the southern region of Sumer. The city of Uruk is most famous for its great king Gilgamesh and the epic tale of his quest for immortality called "The Epic of Gilgamesh". It is considered the first true city in the world, with the origin of writing, the first example of architectural work in the building of great stone structures, the origin of the ziggurats, and the first city to develop the cylinder seal which the ancient Mesopotamians used to make pictures or sign signatures. Considering the importance the cylinder seal had for the people of the time, and that it stood for one person’s personal identity and reputation, Uruk could also be the city which first recognized the importance of the individual in the community. (BN)

Ur

Acient Ur was a massive Sumerian city-state in Ancient Mesopotamia. Ur was also known as Tell al-Muqayyar. Ur was founded in the circa of 3800 BCE. Ur was Located near the modern town of Nasiriyah in far southern Iraq, on a now-abandoned channel of the Euphrates river. Ur was massive covering about 25 hectares (60 acres). Houses were massive in Ur. In each house you would have a domestic chapel where cult structures and the family burial vault was kept. Kitchens, stairways, workrooms, bathrooms were all part of the house. So houses were massive. Imagine living in one of them.

There were also magnificent ancient discoveries like the royal tombs of Ur. Ur was also a very beautiful place with massive houses and beautiful nature. Approximately 65,000 people lived in Ancient Ur. Yes 65,000 that is a lot of people. Between the 24th and 22nd century BCE, Ur was controlled by Sargon the Great, of the Akkadian Empire. After the fall of this empire, Ur was ruled by the barbarian Gutians, until King Ur-Nammu came to power, circa 2047 – 2030 BCE. (FC)

Babylon

Babylon lies in the present day ruins of Iraq. Babylon was founded around 2300 B.C.E. as a small port town on the Euphrates river. For nearly two millennia Babylon has been known as the center of Mesopotamia civilization. Babylon had hot summers and occasional rain. However, the presence of two rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates, made it humid, fertile and ideal for hunter-gatherers to start settlements. There was an irrigation system that distributed water from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers to Babylon to grow crops. After a while it became one of the largest cities in the ancient world under the rule of King Hammurabi.

The History of Babylon

Hammurabi conquered neighboring city-states, he brought much of southern and central Mesopotamia under unified Babylonian rule, creating an empire called Babylonia. Hammurabi was most remembered for his code of laws that kept Babylon a civilized place. Babylonia, however, was short-lived. The empire fell apart after Hammurabi’s death and reverted back to a small kingdom. Several centuries later, a new line of kings established a Neo-Babylonian Empire that spanned from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea. During this period, Babylon became a city of beautiful and lavish buildings. The Neo-Babylonian Empire, like the earlier Babylonia, was short-lived. In 539 B.C.E., 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. Babylon lost power in 1531 B.C.E.

Hammurabi's Code of Laws

Art and Architecture in Babylon

There were many great places in Babylon such as The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which was a colossal maze of terraced trees, shrubs, flowers and manmade waterfalls, and it was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. The Ishtar Gate was the main entrance to the inner city of Babylon. The gate was decorated with bright blue glazed bricks adorned with pictures of bulls, dragons, and lions. Those are only some of the places in Babylon. Art and architecture flourished throughout the Babylonian Empire, especially in the capital city of Babylon, which is also famous for its impenetrable walls. Hammurabi first encircled the city with walls. Nebuchadnezzar II further fortified the city with three rings of walls that were 40 feet tall. The city inside the walls occupied an area of 200 square miles. There was also many large and famous Ziggurats. Ziggurats were the temples in Babylon. Another famous celebration is the Procession of the Gods. Every spring a procession that included the king, members of his court, priests and statues of the gods traveled to the "Akitu” temple to celebrate the New Year’s festival. (HB)

Nineveh

Nineveh was the greatest city in antiquity. The area was settled in the early 6000B.C. By 3000B.C. Nineveh become an important religious centre for worship of the goddess Ishtar. The name means House of the Goddess" or, specifically, "House of Ishtar" It came directly under Assyrian rule during the reign of Shamashi Adad I (1813-1791 BCE) but was most fully developed during the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The city was destroyed in 612 BCE by a coalition led by Babylonians and Medes which toppled the Assyrian Empire.

Early Development

The first people to live there were the Hatti. These people, who built their great capital at Hattusa, most likely made the first city of Nineveh. The Akkadians took the region during the reign of their first king Sargon the Great (2334-2279 BCE) who conquered all of Mesopotamia as well as Anatolian regions such as Cilicia. An earthquake in 2260 BCE destroyed the first temple of Ishtar at Nineveh. The Akkadians also assoiciated the city with Ishtar and held it, and the region at large, until the fall of their empire in c. 2083 BCE. The Assyrian king Shamashi Adad I, drove the Amorites from the region and established the Assyrian capital at Ashur while Nineveh flourished as a trade center. When Shamashi Adad I died, the region was conquered by the Amorites under King Hammurabi of Babylon. After Hammurabi's death, his kingdom fell apart and Nineveh was taken by the Assyrians under Adasi.

The Neo-Assyrian Empire

The Neo-Assyrian Empire, the last phase of Assyrian rule in the region, is the most famous of Assyrian kingdoms and Nineveh reached its height under the reign of its kings. The city grew dramatically in size, grandeur and fame under the reign of King Sennacherib who made Nineveh his capital. (EP)

Nimrud

Nimrud was once an amazing city. It is most famous for being the Assyrian capital in the 9th and 8th century B.C.E. It was built in 884 B.C.E. by the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II. Ashurnasirpal II moved the capital from Ashur to Nimrud in 879 B.C.E. and remained the capital until 706 B.C.E. In 612 B.C.E., Nimrud was burned along with Nineveh and Ashur. Nimrud was discovered by James Rich in 1820. In 1845 excavations began in Nimrud. Archeologists thought that the site was Nineveh until 1849 when they realized it was Nimrud. Nimrud has been the site of many important discoveries of ivories and metalwork. In 1855 an archeologist named William K. Loftus discovered the Nimrud Ivories as well as Nimrud's Treasures. There have also been discoveries of the tombs of Assyrian Queens at Nimrud. Excavations continued until the 1960's. Many of the most well known Assyrian works of art in museums come from Nimrud. Nimrud was an amazing city. (CG)

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