Mesopotamian Civilizations

Sumerian 3500 BCE - 1750 BCE

Sumer was an ancient civilization founded in the Mesopotamia region of the Fertile Crescent situated between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Sumer was first settled by humans from 4500 to 4000 BCE. One of the larger Sumerian city had 80,000 people. There were a lot of Sumer kings most were men but there was a single queen in Sumer's history. There was a language called Cuneiform writing it was used for over 3,000 years ago in ancient Sumer. The ancient Sumerian culture was lost until A group of French and British archaeologists finally stumbled upon Sumerian artifacts while hunting for evidence of the ancient Assyrians, and they found ancient Sumer in the 19th century. The Sumerian King list is a list of names of kings and how long they were king, also the cites in Sumer. Also there were many versions of the Sumerian King list. The Sumerian King list had four sides to it. Each city state in Sumer has its own ruler. An example is Gilgamesh the king of Uruk. Also each city state has its own god. in the center of each city was a large temple to the city god. The temple is called a Ziggurat. (JA)

Sumerian King List

Cuneiform

Akkadian 2350 BCE – 2150 BCE

Akkadian (in its Assyrian and Babylonian varieties) was the native language of the Mesopotamian empires (Akkadian Empire, Old Assyrian Empire, Babylonia, Middle Assyrian Empire) throughout the later Bronze Age, and Akkadian became the lingua franca of much of the Ancient Near East by the time of the Bronze Age collapse .Around 2300 BCE Sargon the Great rose to power. He established his own city named Akkad. When the powerful Sumerian city of Uruk attacked his city, he fought back and eventually conquered Uruk. He then went on to conquer all of the Sumerian city-states and united northern and southern Mesopotamia under a single ruler.Akkadian is an extinct East Semitic language (modern-day Semitic languages include Hebrew, Arabic, and Aramaic) that was closely related to Sumerian. It is the earliest written Semitic language dating back to about 2500 BCE. (MM)

Babylonia 2000 BCE - 1600 BCE

Babylonia was a well-known city-state in Ancient Mesopotamia and it was located along the Euphrates River in Mesopotamia or present-day Iraq. Babylon was founded around 2300 B.C.E. by the ancient Akkadian-speaking people of southern Mesopotamia.

"Babylon became a major military power under King Hammurabi, who ruled from 1792 to 1750 B.C. E." King Hammurabi then conquered, or took control of neighboring city-states and controlled most of southern and central Mesopotamia, which created an empire called Babylonia. King Hammurabi made Babylon a rich and powerful city. He is most famous for his code of laws, known as the Code Of Hammurabi. This code is the world's earliest and most complete written legal codes. Babylonia did not last long, though. When King Hammurabi died, the empire collapsed and went back to a small kingdom for several centuries.

"A new line of kings established the Neo-Babylonian Empire, which lasted from 626 B.C. E. to 539 B.C. E." This empire then became the most powerful state in the world when they defeated the Assyrians at Nineveh in 612 B.C.E. The Neo-Babylonian empire, just like the Babylonian empire, fell apart less than a century after its founding. A Persian king, named Cyrus the Great, conquered Babylon. The empire then went under Persian control. (JP)

Assyrian 1900 BCE - 612 BCE

The Assyrian empire was most famous for its fearsome army. The Assyrians conquered many lands. For instance, the Neo-Assyrian Empire conquered Babylonia and Egypt and many other lands. It was founded around 1900 B.C. and it fell around 612 B.C. There are still Assyrians living in the regions of Iran and Iraq today. The Assyrian Empire is considered the greatest of the Mesopotamian empires because of its expanse and its military strategies that allowed it to grow and flourish. Historians break down the rise and fall of the Assyrian Empire into three periods: The Old Kingdom, The Middle Empire, and The Neo-Assyrian Empire.

The Old Kingdom

The Old Kingdom started in 1900 B.C.E. and ended in 1700 B.C.E. It started when the city of Ashur was founded. The wealth generated from the trade colony of Karum Kanesh helped the city expand. This laid the foundation for the rise of the empire. Trade with Anatolia was important in providing the Assyrians with material for ironworking. The Assyrian military's iron weapons were an advantage in the campaigns where Assyria conquered the entire region of the Middle East. People known as the Hatti and the Hurrians held power in Anatolia and Ashur. There were also people known as the Amorites who were steadily acquiring more land and resources. The king Shamashi Adad I drove the Amorites out. The Hatti remained dominant in the region until they were invaded by the Hittites in 1700 B.C.E.

The Middle Empire

The Middle Empire started in 1400 B.C.E. when Assyria regained its independence. It ended in 1100 B.C.E. One of the Middle Empire kings, King Adad Nirari I, was the first Assyrian king whom anything is known with certainty because he left inscriptions of his achievements which are still mostly intact. His letters to the foreign rulers showed that the Assyrian rulers were not taken seriously by people in other nations until they proved themselves. One of his accomplishments was completely conquering Mitanni. He then began a standard policy for the Assyrian Empire. The policy was the deportation of a large fraction of the population of the conquered nations and replace it with Assyrians. This was the best way to prevent any future uprisings.

The Neo-Assyrian Empire

The Neo-Assyrian Empire is the period of the largest expansion of the empire. It is also when the Assyrian Empire got its reputation for ruthlessness and cruelty. Even though Assyria is known for its cruel military tactics the Assyrians treated the conquered people well. There was no “master race”. The Neo-Assyrian Empire started when Adad Narari II came to power. He brought the revival Assyria needed. He also conquered lands that had been lost. Adad Narari II reconquered Bablyon. Learning from the mistakes of the past, he did not plunder the city. He entered a peace treaty with the king and Bablyon was a powerful ally instead of a problem for the next 80 years. During the reign of Ashurnasirpal II schools were established throughout the empire. They were only for the sons of the wealthy and nobility. Women were not allowed to go to school. The last great king of Assyria was Ashurbanipal. He is probably best known for the vast library he built at his palace in Nineveh. The Assyrian empire ended soon after his death. The Assyrian civilization was amazing. (CG)

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