| PLOWRIGHT WORLD Ancient History - Mesopotamia Page |
| Mesopotamia Mesopotamia, an ancient region located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what is now Iraq and eastern Syria, is often called the cradle of civilization. By 3000 bc the ancient country of Sumer was the center of a sophisticated culture. The Sumerians irrigated their fields from precisely measured canals, used bronze and polished stone tools, made textiles and wheel-turned pottery, built temples and palaces, and traveled in wheeled carts and sailing ships. Their accurate calendars predicted seasons and their writing, known as cuneiform, was an international script. They worshiped a sun god and they lived by written laws. The Akkadian dynasty gained control of the entire country in the 24th century bc, and the land became known as Sumer and Akkad. Although the region fell to northern invaders about 2200 bc, Mesopotamia remained the center of western Asian civilization until the 6th century bc. Most important of the later countries was Babylonia, which was ruled as Chaldea from the 7th to the 6th century bc. Nebuchadnezzer II, the Chaldean dynasty�s most powerful ruler, conquered Jerusalem and deported the Jews in 586 bc, beginning an important period in Jewish history known as the Babylonian Captivity. From the 9th to the 7th century bc, Babylonia�s northern neighbor, Assyria, amassed significant territory under the rule of Ashirnasirpur II and his successors. Assyria�s attempt to conquer Babylonia in the 7th century bc failed, and the region was absorbed into Babylonia. During the 6th century bc the entire region fell to Iranian invaders, becoming part of Persia. |