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Sumerians
The earliest known people of the Fertile Crescent were the Sumerians. About 4000 B.C. they lived in southern Mesopotamia in a number of independent city-states. Each consisted of a small city and its surrounding area. The rulers of these city-states constantly warred with one another.
A. Cities
Sumerian cities were often rectangular in shape, surrounded by high, wide walls. Inside the city gates were broad avenues used for religious processions or victory parades. The largest buildings were ziggurats (ZIHG uh rats), pyramid-temples that soared toward the heavens. Their sloping sides had terraces, or wide steps, that were sometimes planted with trees and shrubs. On top of each ziggurat stood a shrine to the chief god or goddess of the city.
Rulers lived in magnificant palaces with spacious courtyards. Most people, though, lived in tiny houses packed in a tangled web of narrow alleys and lanes. Artisans who practiced the same trade, such as weavers or carpenters, lived and worked in the same street. These shop-lined streets formed a bazaar, the ancestor of today's shopping mall.
B. Economy
Trade brought riches to the cities. Traders sailed along the rivers or risked the dangers of desert travel to carry goods to distant regions. (Although the wheel had been invented by some earlier unknown people, the Sumerians made the first wheeled vehicles.) Archaeologists have found goods from as far away as Egypt and India in the rubble of Sumerian cities.
C. Government
Sumer included many independent city-states. Rival cities often battled for control of land and water. For protection, people turned to courageous and resourceful war leaders. Over time, these war leaders evolved into hereditary rulers.
In each city-state, the ruler was responsible for maintaining the city walls and the irrigation systems. He led armies in war and enforced the laws. As government grew more complex, he employed scribes to carry out functions such as collecting taxes and keeping records. The ruler also had religious duties. He was seen as the chief servant of the gods and led ceremonies designed to please them.
D. Social Structure
Each Sumerian city-state had a distinct social hierarchy, or system of ranks. The highest class included the ruling family, leading officials, and high priests. A small middle class was made up of merchants, artisans, and lesser priests and scribes.
At the base of society were the majority of people, peasant farmers. Some had their own land, but most worked land belonging to the king or temples. Sumerians also owned slaves. Most slaves had been captured in war. Some, though, had sold themselves into slavery to pay their debts.
E. Role of Women
In the earliest Sumerian myths, a mother-goddess was the central figure of creation. She may have reflected the honored role of mothers in early farming communities. An ancient proverb advised, "Pay heed to the word of your mother as though it were the word of a god."
As large city-states emerged with the warrior leaders at their head, male gods who resembled early kings replaced the older mother-goddess. Still, in the early city-states, wives of rulers enjoyed special powers and duties. Some supervised palace workshops and ruled for the king when he was absent. One woman, Ku-Baba, became ruler herself, rising from the lowly position of tavern owner to establish a ruling family in Kish.
Over time, as men gained more power and wealth, the status of women changed. Because they devoted their time to household duties and raising children, women became more dependent on men for their welfare. Despite these changes, women continued to have legal rights. Well-to-do women, for example, engaged in trade, borrowed and loaned money, and owned property.
F. Religion
Like most ancient peoples, the Sumerians were polytheistic, worshipping many gods. These gods were thought to control every aspect of life, especially the forces of nature. Sumerians believed that gods & goddesses behaved like ordinary people. They ate, drank, married, and raised families. Although the gods favored truth and justice, they were also responsible for violence and suffering.
To Sumerians, their highest duty was to keep these divine beings happy and thereby ensure the safety of their city-state. Each city-state had its own special god or goddess to whom people prayed and offered sacrifices of animals, grain, and wine.
People celebrated many holy days with ceremonies and processions. The most important ceremony occurred at the new year when the king sought and won the favor of Inanna, the life-giving goddess of love. The king participated in a symbolic marriage with the goddess. This ritual, Sumerians believed, would make the new year fruitful and prosperous.
Like the Egyptians, the Sumerians believed in an afterlife. At death, they believed, a person descended into a grim underworld from which there was no release. The gloomy Sumerian view of an afterlife contrasts with the Egyptian vision of the Happy Field of Food. Possibly differences in geography help account for this contrast. The floods of the Tigris and Euphrates were less regular and more destructive than the Nile floods. As a result, Sumerians may have developed a more pessimistic view of the world.
G. Contributions to Civilization
1. Cuneiform Writing. By 3200 B.C., the Sumerians had invented the earliest known form of writing called cuneiform, a system of writing about as old as Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Sumerians employed a sharp-pointed instrument- called a stylus - to inscribe wedge-shaped characters on soft clay tablets, which were then hardened by baking. Reading and writing in cuneiform were difficult because the Sumerian alphabet consisted of about 550 characters. Sumerian scribes had to go through years of strict schooling to acquire their skills. Nevertheless, cuneiform was widely used in the Middle East for thousands of years.
2. System of Numbers. The Sumerians developed a number system based on the unit 60. They divided the hour into 60 minutes and the circle into 360 degrees, as we still do today. They also developed basic algebra and geometry.
3. Astronomy. Priests studied the skies, recording the movement of heavenly bodies. This knowledge enabled them to make accurate calendars, which are so essential to a farming society.
4. Literature. A long, narrative Sumerian poem, The Epic of Gilgamesh, is one of the oldest works of literature in the world. This epic is a collection of stories about a hero named Gilgamesh. In one of these Gilgamesh travels the world in search of eternal life. On his journey, he meets the sole survivor of a great flood that destroyed the world. (Archaeologists have found evidence suggesting that a catastrophic flood devastated Mesopotamia somewhere about 4,900 years ago.) By the end of the story, Gilgamesh has learned the greatest truth of all- that even heroes must die.
This epic offers a glimpse into Sumerian civilization. We learn that the people believed in powerful goddesses who exhibited very human emotions. The Sumerians valued gold, copper, and gems, rode in whelled chariots, and used mules to carry goods.
H. End of the Sumerians?
Armies of conquering peoples swept across Mesopotamia and overwhelmed the Sumerian city-states. Often the newcomers settled in the region and adopted ideas from the Sumerians. For example, newcomers adapted cuneiform to their own languages and helped spread Sumerian learning across the Middle East. By means of various peoples who conquered the Middle East, Sumerian knowledge passed on to the Greeks and Romans. They, in turn, had a powerful impact on the development of the western world.
The Babylonians
Invasion and conquest were prominent features in the history of the ancient Middle East. Again and again, nomadic peoples or ambitious warriors descended on the rich cities of the Fertile Crescent. While many invaders simply looted and burned, some stayed to rule. Powerful leaders created large, well-organized empires, bringing peace and prosperity to the region.
About 2300 B.C., Sargon, the ruler of neighboring Akkad, invaded and conquered the city-states of Sumer. He built the first empire known to history. His astonishing achievement did not last long, however. Soon after his death, other invaders swept into the wide valley between the rivers, tumbling his empire into ruin.
In time, the Sumerian city-states revived, and their power struggles resumed. Eventually, however, new conquerors followed in the footsteps of Sargon and imposed unity over the Fertile Crescent.
Around 1900 B.C. Semitic-speaking invaders from the Arabian Desert entered southern Mesopotamia and captured the city-state of Babylon. About 1790 B.C., led by their king, Hammurabi, they conquered the other city-states in the Tigris-Euphrates valley and formed the Babylonian Empire. The Babylonians adopted and built upon the prevailing Sumerian culture.
Guided by Hammurabi, the Babylonians recorded their laws and customs. These laws, known as the Code of Hammurabi, was the first major collection of laws in history.
This Code of Hammurbi reveals:
1. A stern sense of justice - proclaiming the principle of "an eye for an eye" and demanding severe punishment for crimes - bribery, theft, dishonest weights and measures, and damage to another's property.
2. A sharp division of classes - providing harsher punishment for an offense against a noble or priest than for the same offense against a common person - an artisan, merchant, farmer, or slave
3. A fair treatment of women - permitting them to own property and engage in business. However, the code strictly regulated the behavior of women. It expected a woman to remain in her husband's home and be dependent on him. A husband, however, had a legal duty to support his wife. The code also gave a father nearly unlimited authority over his children. The Babylonians believed that an orderly household headed by a strong father was necessary for a stable empire.
4. An advanced business society- establishing regulations for protecting property and business contracts, limiting interest on loans, and setting wages for workers.
Although most famous for his law code, Hammurabi took other steps to unite his empire. He improved irrigation and organized a well-trained army. He had temples repaired and promoted the chief Babylonian god, Marduk, over older Sumerian gods.
About 1700 B.C. the Babylonian Empire was overthrown by new invaders, first by the Hittites and then by the Assyrians. However, in 612 B.C. neighboring people joined forces to crush the once-dreaded Assyrian armies. An aggressive and ruthless king, Nebuchadnezzar (neh buh kuhd NEHZ uhr), revived the power of Babylon. His new Babylonian Empire stretched from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.
Nebuchadnezzar rebuilt the canals, temples, walls, and palaces of Babylon. Near his chief palace were the famous Hanging Gardens, known as one of the wonders of the ancient world. The gardens were probably made by planting trees and flowering plants on the steps of a huge ziggurat. According to legend, Nebuchadnezzar had the gardens built to please his wife, who was homesick for the hills where she had grown up.
Under Nebuchadnezzar, the Babylonians pushed the frontiers of learning into new areas. Priests-astrologers were especially eager to understand the stars and planets, which they believed had a great influence on all events on Earth. The Babylonians believed in astrology - the superstition that the movement of stars, planets, and other heavenly bodies directly affect the lives of human beings. However, by studying the heavens, the Babylonians learned to recognize planets and to foretell eclipses, thereby recording data later essential to astronomy.
In 539 B.C., Babylon fell to the Persian armies of Cyrus the Great, who went on to conquer the largest empire yet seen.
Babylon
The site of the current city of Babylon was originally settled by inhabitants of the area in pre-historic times, earliest known record of the current site though, is first mentioned in documents from late in the 3rd millennium BC. The earliest reference made to Babylon was in around 2350BC by King Shargaliarri of the Accadian dynasty. He refers to Babylon as Ka-dingir, which translates to "gate of god". It is said that in 2350BC Sargon of Agade grabbed a handful of dirt from a pit of clay and threw it near Agade, naming the place Babylon. In about 2200BC the site was known to have had a temple of some kind, showing that at the time it had become a fairly important settlement in the region. During the 21st century BC Babylon had become a city and was subject to rule under the nearby city of Ur.
Independant City-State Formed
It first achieved significance as the headquarters of Semitic Amorite invaders when, in 1894BC the Amorite Sumu-abum founded a dynasty in Babylon and it became an independent city-state (a self ruling city that rules over its surrounding country side). They preserved most of the Sumerian culture, but introduced their semetic language, an early ancestor to Hebrew, into the region.
Hammurabi - The 1st Babylonian Dynasty
As well as Babylon, other independent Amorite states flourished, including Larsa, Usnunna and Mari. There were many wars and intrigues between them as they each tried to grab the upper hand. Finally victory went to Hammurabi (ruled 1792-1750BC) in 1763BC, the 6th king of Babylon's 1st dynasty, he beat Rimsin, king of Larsa and his other rivals. Under Hammurabi there was a golden age of Babylonian science and scholarship due to the stability under his rule. Noteworthy of his achievements is the promulgation of his famous law code. In many fields there was standardisation of learning, that was to be accepted in the following centuries.
Kassite Dynasty
After the death of Hummarabi in 1750