The Beginnings of Civilisation and Bronze Age Mesopotamia
Chapter – 4
- The transition from Neolithic to Bronze Age civilization first took place in Mesopotamia, which corresponds to modern-day Iraq.
- Mesopotamia produced the earliest known Bronze Age civilization, the Sumerian civilization, making it significant in understanding this transition.
- The archaeological record in Mesopotamia is rich and detailed enough to reconstruct the evolution from early food-producing societies to metal-using societies.
- Geographical features of Mesopotamia are crucial to understanding its historical evolution.
- Two major rivers, the Euphrates (Purattu) and the Tigris (Idiqlat), flow through Mesopotamia from north to south, discharging into the Persian Gulf.
- Mesopotamia can be divided into two distinct regions: northern Mesopotamia and southern Mesopotamia, which have different environments.
- Northern Mesopotamia extends from the Zagros Mountains to the middle Tigris and is bound by the Syrian desertto the west. This area was historically referred to as Assyria.
- Southern Mesopotamia lies between the middle Tigris and the Persian Gulf, about 400 km long and over 100 km wide.
- In the east, southern Mesopotamia borders Iran, while to the west, it is surrounded by desert that merges with the Arabian desert.
- The land in southern Mesopotamia is flat with no stones or rocks, and even 400 km from the Persian Gulf, the land is only 20 meters above sea level.
- This flat terrain results in virtually no slope towards the sea in southern Mesopotamia.
- The region is arid with scanty rainfall, but the Euphrates and Tigris rivers provide opportunities for cultivation and habitation.
- At the beginning of the historical period, the southernmost part of Mesopotamia was known as Sumeria.
- The area between Sumeria and northern Mesopotamia was called Akkad, and together they formed southern Mesopotamia.
- From around 2000 BC, Sumeria and Akkad were often referred to as Babylonia, as Babylon became the political center of a major empire in southern Mesopotamia.