Mesopotamia: Geography, Urbanism, and the Rise of Temples and Kings

The first cities rose in a land with almost no rain. Two rivers made it possible. Then temples and kings turned villages into powers.

This lesson covers the land, the four names of its regions, what makes a city, and who ran the first ones. It ends with a link to the Indus Valley.

1Where and what was Mesopotamia?

The name comes from Greek words meaning “between rivers”. The rivers are the Tigris and the Euphrates. The region matches roughly the land of modern Iraq.

It lies in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. The north gets enough rain for farming. In the south, irrigation is essential.

Water came from far away. Melting snow from the Zagros Mountains and the Armenian Highlands fed the two rivers. A high water table also helped. So a dry south could still grow crops.

• Mesopotamia = “between rivers”: Tigris and Euphrates.
• North: rain-fed farming. South: irrigation is essential.
• River water came from mountain snow.

2Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, Assyria: who was who?

Sumer was the early home of the Sumerians. They spoke a language unlike any other known one. It is called a language isolate. Writing first appears at Uruk and Jemdet Nasr about 3350 BC.

Akkad came next. Sargon of Akkad defeated Lugal-zage-si. He joined the old city-states under one government. The Akkadian period is dated to about 2334-2154 BC.

Babylonia emerged about 1894 BC. Amorite kings ruled it. Hammurabi later ruled this state. People afterwards called it “the country of Akkad”.

Assyria is older than many expect. Its early period starts about 2600 BC. The Neo-Assyrian period ran from 911 to 609 BC. Assur was the first capital.

The flood myth links these lands to the Bible. Ziusudra and Utnapishtim are Mesopotamian flood heroes. They share many story parts with Noah.

• Sumer: first writing, about 3350 BC.
• Akkad: Sargon, about 2334-2154 BC.
• Babylonia: from about 1894 BC.
• Assyria: Neo-Assyrian 911-609 BC.

3What makes a place a city?

A city is more than a big village. People in cities stop being self-sufficient. One person carves seals. Another makes bronze tools. Each needs what the other makes.

Trade and storage matter as much as farmland. Cylinder seals show this link. They were rolled across wet clay. They are thought to have been invented about 3500 BC at Uruk.

Southern Mesopotamia had little stone, wood or metal. Such goods had to come from outside. So trade routes were part of city life.

• City life = division of labour and trade.
• Cylinder seals: about 3500 BC, Uruk.
• The south lacked stone, wood and metal.

4Why were temples the first big institutions?

The Ubaid period ran from about 6500 to 3800 BC. Villages grew around shrines. Eridu is traditionally called the earliest city in southern Mesopotamia. The Sumerian King List says so. Its god was Enki.

Uruk had a temple district called Eanna. The name means “House of Heaven”. It was the home of Inanna. She was the goddess of war and love. Eanna had workshops and was walled off from the city.

Later came the ziggurat. It is a terraced tower of successive levels. Ur-Nammu dedicated the Great Ziggurat of Ur to the moon god Nanna, also called Sin. This was about the 21st century BC. Ziggurats marked Mesopotamian cities from about 2200 to 500 BCE.

• Eridu: traditionally the earliest city, god Enki.
• Eanna at Uruk: temple of Inanna.
• Ur-Nammu built the Great Ziggurat of Ur.

5How did kings and Uruk rise?

Uruk grew in two stages. Early Uruk lasted from 4000 to 3500 BC. Late Uruk lasted from 3500 to 3100 BC. The city formed when two Ubaid settlements merged.

Around 3100 BC Uruk may have held up to 50,000 people. Many more lived nearby. It was probably the largest urban area in the world then. Other settlements were mostly near 10 hectares.

Uruk also gave us a famous king. The Sumerian King List puts Gilgamesh in the 27th century BC. The Epic of Gilgamesh says he built Uruk’s city wall.

The King List shows how people saw power. In early versions, kingship passed from Kish to Akkad in a line. Later versions show it moving between many cities.

• Uruk: two Ubaid settlements merged.
• About 3100 BC: up to 50,000 people.
• Gilgamesh: 27th century BC, per the King List.

6What was the link with the Indus Valley?

Mesopotamian texts name a far-off trading partner. They call it Meluhha, or Meluha. Most scholars link it with the Indus Valley Civilisation.

Indus goods reached Mesopotamia. Carnelian beads turn up as far away as royal tombs.

Some think Sumerian and Akkadian words for sesame come from a Dravidian root. This is a theory, not a settled fact. Scholars still argue about who the Meluhhans were.

• Meluha = most likely the Indus Valley.
• Carnelian beads reached Mesopotamian royal tombs.
• The identification is widely held, but still open.

7What are the exam traps?

• Meluha is the Indus Valley. Dilmun and Magan are other places.
• Sargon’s Akkad comes before Hammurabi’s Babylon.
• Sumerian writing is cuneiform, not hieroglyphics.
• The south needed irrigation. The north had rain.

Try the past paper question: NDA & NA II 2017, Q150 on the Mesopotamian name for the Indus Valley.