Mesopotamia
City-States in Mesopotamia
SETTING THE STAGE Two rivers flow from the mountains of what is now Turkey, down through Syria and Iraq, and finally to the Persian Gulf. Over six thousand years ago, the waters of these rivers provided the lifeblood that allowed the formation of farming settlements. These grew into villages and then cities.
Geography of the Fertile Crescent
A desert climate dominates the landscape between the Persian Gulf and the Mediterranean Sea in Southwest Asia. Yet within this dry region lies an arc of land that provided some of the best farming in Southwest Asia. The region’s curved shape and the richness of its land led scholars to call it the Fertile Crescent. It includes the lands facing the Mediterranean Sea and a plain that became known as Mesopotamia (MEHS•uh•puh•TAY•mee•uh). The word in Greek means “land between the rivers.”
The rivers framing Mesopotamia are the Tigris (TY•grihs) and Euphrates (yoo•FRAY•teez). They flow southeastward to the Persian Gulf. The Tigris and Euphrates rivers flooded Mesopotamia at least once a year. As the floodwater receded, it left a thick bed of mud called silt. Farmers planted grain in this rich, new soil and irrigated the fields with river water. The results were large quantities of wheat and barley at harvest time. The surpluses from their harvests allowed villages to grow.
Environmental Challenges People first began to settle and farm the flat, swampy lands in southern Mesopotamia before 4500 B.C. Around 3300 B.C., the people called the Sumerians, whom you read about in Chapter 1, arrived on the scene. Good soil was the advantage that attracted these settlers. However, there were three disadvantages to their new environment.
- Unpredictable flooding combined with a period of little or no rain. The land sometimes became almost a desert.
- With no natural barriers for protection, a Sumerian village was nearly defenseless.
- The natural resources of Sumer were limited. Building materials and other necessary items were scarce.
Solving Problems Through Organization Over a long period of time, the people of Sumer created solutions to deal with these problems.
- To provide water, they dug irrigation ditches that carried river water to their fields and allowed them to produce a surplus of crops.
- For defense, they built city walls with mud bricks.
- Sumerians traded their grain, cloth, and crafted tools with the peoples of the mountains and the desert. In exchange, they received raw materials such as stone, wood, and metal.
These projects also created a need for laws to settle disputes over how land and water would be distributed. These leaders and laws were the beginning of organized government—and eventually of civilization.
Hammurabi’s Code Hammurabi recognized that a single, uniform code of laws would help to unify the diverse groups within his empire. He collected existing rules, judgments, and laws into the Code of Hammurabi. Hammurabi had the code engraved in stone, and copies were placed all over his empire.
The code lists 282 specific laws dealing with everything that affected the community, including family relations,
business conduct, and crime. Since many people were merchants, traders, or farmers, for example, many of the
laws related to property issues. Additionally, the laws sought to protect women and children from unfair treatment.
The laws tell us a great deal about the Mesopotamians’ beliefs and what they valued.
Although the code applied to everyone, it set different punishments for rich and poor and for men and women. It
frequently applied the principle of retaliation (an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth) to punish crimes.
The code lists 282 specific laws dealing with everything that affected the community, including family relations,
business conduct, and crime. Since many people were merchants, traders, or farmers, for example, many of the
laws related to property issues. Additionally, the laws sought to protect women and children from unfair treatment.
The laws tell us a great deal about the Mesopotamians’ beliefs and what they valued.
Although the code applied to everyone, it set different punishments for rich and poor and for men and women. It
frequently applied the principle of retaliation (an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth) to punish crimes.