Mesopotamian Civilization Dbq Essay

The first civilization to rise was the Mesopotamia, located in present day Iraq, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, and Egypt, along the Nile River. It’s split in two ecological zones. In the south Babylonia (irrigation is vital) and north Assyria (agriculture is possible with rainfall and wells). By 4000 B.C.E., people had settled in large numbers in the river-watered lowlands of Mesopotamia and Egypt. Archaeologists have shown that large-scale irrigation appeared only long after urban civilization had already developed, meaning major waterworks were a consequence of urbanism (population). Mesopotamia cities were made of people called the Summerians in the land of Sumer located on the south of Babylonia. The Summerian city was one of

Mesopotamian temples were run like great households where the gods were fed lavish meals, entertained with music, and honored with devotion and ritual. Mesopotamians were religiously tolerant and accepted the possibility that different people might have different gods. They had a gloomy picture of the afterlife. Mesopotamian families had ceremonies to remember/ honor their dead. Religious teaching influenced daily life in a huge way. Religion played a big part in literature and art of Mesopotamia. Epic poems told how the world was created and of hero-king Gilgamesh, who tried to escape death by going on a journey to find the sole survivor of the great flood. The most imposing religious structure was the ziggurat, a tower in stages. Poetry about ziggurats was often compared to

They destroyed the Kassite in Akkad and Sumer. Not long after the Assyrians new capital Nineveh was built. It was very beautiful with a library, and a zoo. The water supply was poor. The Assyrians were very hated. The Medes took over Assyrian in 612 BCE and invades Anatolia. The Chaldeans (New Babylonians) became the new masters of Mesopotamia. Their greatest cultural accomplishments were in astronomy. They studied the sky because they believed gods lived there.

The Persian Empire was ruled by Darius the Great from 522 to 485 BCE. He spent years improving administrative organization then worked on expanding the empire. This empire lasted longer than all the others because people could keep their own laws as long as they pay their taxes. The Persian army also allowed more protection from invasions. They used cuneiform writing borrowed from Summerians. More unifying forces they use was Universal System of Weights and Measure, Highway System, Postal service, and Zoroastrianism which was based on individual