The Cradle of Civilization- Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent Marshall High School Mr. Cline Western Civilization I: Ancient Foundations Unit Two AA
Think of all the things that make up civilization. You've got your teachers, and doctors, and lawyers, and bankers, and builders, and all sorts of people doing a bunch of different things to keep their society working like a well-oiled machine. But how did we get here? Human societies weren't always this complex. At some point, the very concept of settled civilization had to be invented; it had to be born. To celebrate the birthday of what we call civilization, we'll have to travel back roughly 5,000 years to Ancient West Asia, sometimes called the Middle East. It was here that human groups first developed long-term, permanent societies, which is why we call it the Cradle of Civilization. The Fertile Crescent Here we are at the birth of civilization. So, where exactly are we? Currently, we are somewhere along the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea in an area known as the Fertile Crescent, stretching in a semicircular shape from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Coast.
The Fertile Crescent Civilization, as defined earlier in the semester, is thought to have begun in Mesopotamia, which is an area encompassing the modern Middle East from Modern day Iraq to some of north eastern Syria and south eastern Turkey, and smaller parts of south western Iran. It basically developed along the paths of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, hence its name, which in Greek means Land Between the Rivers
The Fertile Crescent This large chunk of mostly arid land is where humans first successfully developed agriculture, hence the 'fertile' in 'Fertile Crescent.' Our tour of the Fertile Crescent begins here, in between the two rivers known as the Tigris and Euphrates. People of the 21st century will mostly identify this as Iraq, with parts of Syria, Turkey, and Kuwait as well. However, we're going to call it by the name given to it by the ancient Greeks: Mesopotamia. Do you see these people here? These are some of the first people to take seeds from wild plants, plant them, breed them, and develop year-round cycles of sowing, tending, and harvesting. While Mesopotamia doesn't get much rain, it does have very fertile soil thanks to its two rivers, which flood over a wide plain and bring nutrients into the dirt.
The Fertile Crescent Background of the Tigris and Euphrates Unless you live in the desert, chances are the rivers, lakes, and streams in your area are the lifeblood of your community without you even realizing it. For example, many of you probably have no idea that all of the water you drink and/or pour down the drain came from and returned to the Wabash River! While rivers are still very important to modern-day communities, they were absolutely integral to humankind's first agricultural societies. It comes as little surprise, then, that humanity's first great civilizations often rose alongside the banks of great rivers. In what is today the Middle East, the mighty Euphrates River, along with its sister channel the Tigris, is the main river valley that fostered the development of the ancient civilizations of Sumer and Mesopotamia.
The Fertile Crescent The Euphrates River of Today The Euphrates River is the longest river in the Middle East. Its headwaters are in southeastern Turkey, from where it travels through central Syria and then the length of Iraq. About 150-200 miles northwest of the Persian Gulf, the Euphrates River joins with the Tigris, forming the Shatt al-arab before emptying into the Gulf. Though it once was susceptible to regional flooding, numerous dams have been built along the Euphrates in the past fifty years which now regulate its water flow. The Euphrates River of History Most importantly, however, the Euphrates River allowed for the growth of some of humankind's earliest civilizations.
The Fertile Crescent The Euphrates River of History The wealth of water supplied by the Euphrates and the corresponding fertile agricultural land surrounding it fostered the first agricultural settlements. Evidence of sedentary lifestyles, such as pottery and the ruins of ancient villages, date back to the seventh millennium B.C. Ancient irrigation canals began to be dug from the Euphrates to these agricultural settlements in the sixth millennium B.C. The success of these ancient agricultural settlements allowed for the growth of the first cities near the beginning of the fourth millennium B.C.
The Fertile Crescent The Euphrates River of History The growth of cities and the continued prosperity of ancient agriculture in the Tigris & Euphrates River basin fostered local cultural pursuits, and it is around 3000 B.C. that we first have evidence of sustained religious organization, artwork, and urban development. The ancient region organized itself into city-states, composed of an urban center and surrounding agricultural land. This agricultural land was often fed with water from the Euphrates River by advanced irrigation techniques. The first civilization to unite the entire area was the Akkadian civilization, under Sargon I, though this empire was relatively short-lived. Biblical civilizations such as the Babylonians and Assyrians also once held ancient empires along the banks of the Euphrates as well.
The Fertile Crescent People have been experimenting with early versions of agriculture here since as early as 10,000 BC, but it's really taken off since roughly 4,500 BC. Raising Civilization You see, the Mesopotamians envisioned agriculture on an even larger scale, giving them reliable access to food throughout the year. So they developed early systems of irrigation by building canals, bringing water from the rivers into the drier parts of Mesopotamia. From there, they continued to expand the amount of land they used to plant food and also continued to domesticate new plants and animals. Now this is interesting: you see what these people are doing here? Exactly! They're not doing anything. That's important.
Raising Civilization Before the development of agriculture, human societies were nomadic, which means they constantly moved with their food supply. However, as these groups developed agriculture, they were able to reliably grow enough food to sustain them. They didn't have to move anymore, so they could stay in one place all the time. These permanent societies, or sedentary cultures, were very different from the nomadic ones. In a nomadic society, basically everyone worked to procure food. However, these sedentary farming societies of Mesopotamia produced so much food that they developed a surplus. They could make more food than they needed and this gave people an opportunity to do other things. Rather than everyone growing food, some people could focus on building permanent houses for this settled society.
Raising Civilization Since those builders now spend all of their time working on something besides making food, they had to buy it, which meant that the society now needed merchants to sell food produced by the farmers. From this humble beginning, complex civilizations grew extremely quickly. As more food was produced and society became fully sedentary, people started having more children and the population exploded. This created more people who could focus on various tasks, from builders and merchants, to professional soldiers, artist, inventors, and bureaucrats. By the third millennium BC, the small villages of Mesopotamia had turned into mighty cities.
Raising Civilization With this many minds in the same place, Mesopotamians developed incredible new concepts, ranging from the wheel, to currency, to writing. They traded and interacted, fought and celebrated, and developed new ways to interact in their new urban spaces. But who would keep all these people organized? The rise of civilization also led to the rise of social hierarchies, or social classes. While nomadic groups were mostly egalitarian, Mesopotamian civilizations had kings and administrators who ruled over everyone else. On one hand, this kept a complex society ordered and functioning. On the other, it created a system that made some people much wealthier and more powerful than others.
Raising Civilization Civilization had never been so complex in all of human history and it was only just beginning. Mesopotamian Society When you hear the word 'king,' do you think of the ruler of just one country? In most instances, this rings true. However, ancient Mesopotamia was a region that contained several city-states, much like Italy during the Italian Renaissance period. Mesopotamia at this time did not have a centralized government but, instead, had many smaller regions with their own separate governments. The early kings ruled over only their own city-states. Lacking a centralized government and leader, the ancient region was prone to internal fighting among the kings for land and resources.
Mesopotamian Society As early as the 4th millennium BC, ancient Mesopotamia covered the region that is now known as Iraq. It was settled between two major rivers, the Tigris and the Euphrates. Although fertile, this land was prone to cycles of flooding and other natural disasters. Religion in Mesopotamia served as a means to explain the uncertainty that developed as a result of the unpredictable weather conditions. The Mesopotamians could attribute the chaotic weather to the will of a god, finding comfort in the belief that they were at the mercy of the gods rather than the mercy of nature's anarchy. Mesopotamian gods were anthropomorphic. Anthropomorphic gods were human in appearance with many human personality traits. Gods required food and drink, and some gods had more power than others.
Mesopotamian Society Most people had a relationship with their personal deity. However, the gods with the most power, although seemingly distant from humanity, were venerated by most people. A few of these more powerful gods are Enki (god of water and wisdom), Enlil (god of the sky who could create raging storms), Anu (the father of the gods and god of the heavens), Utu (god of the sun), Nana (god of the moon) and Ninhursag (goddess of the Earth). Religion was often one aspect that forged a common bond among the members of a Mesopotamian city-state.
Mesopotamian Society Naturally, as a result, religion became closely linked with politics. Religious beliefs, however, could vary between city-states. Some gods, with similar aspects and descriptions, may have been worshiped under a different name in more than one region. For example, Anu, mentioned previously as the father of the gods, was known by this same name in some of the larger city-states: Akkad, Babylon and Assyria. A god with similar attributes was known in Sumer (another major city-state) as An. Because the Mesopotamians believed the gods controlled the precarious weather, a social class developed around the priests. Priests were given the task of creating rituals to honor the patron deity of their city-state.
Mesopotamian Society Priests gained power because everything belonged to the gods. They made decisions regarding land, commercial trade, agricultural development and even war. They gained wealth from the contributions of the people to the gods. They also commissioned the building of ziggurats. Ziggurats were large structures with varying levels. Their main purpose was likely as a dwelling place for the local deity. They were located in the city's center as a place of commerce. In most regions in early Mesopotamia, the priest was considered the ruling official. Priest-kings held administrative and religious governing authority. In later periods, however, a king ruled separately from a priest.