MMEESOPOTAMIA

MESOPOTAMIATHE WORLDS FIRST CIVILIZATION

1Civilizations are complex societies. They have cities, organized governments, art, religion, class divisions, and a writing system.

MESOPOTAMIATHE LAND BETWEEN TWO RIVER

THE FOUR SUBCULTURES SUMERAKKADIANBABYLONIANASSYRIAN

SUMERSUMER WAS THE MOST SOUTHERMOST REGION OF ANCIENT MESOPOTAMIA {MODERN DAY IRAQ AND KUWAIT} WHICH IS GENERALLY CONSIDERED THE CRADLE OF CIVILIZATION.SUMERIAN CALLED THEMSELVES BLACK HEADED PEOPLE AND THEIR LAND ,IN CUNEIFORM SCRIPT WAS SIMPLY THE LAND OR THE LAND OF BLACK HEADED PEOPLE

AKKADIANThe Akkadian Empire was an ancient Semitic empire centered in the city of Akkad and its surrounding region, also called Akkad in ancient Mesopotamia.

BABYLONIANThe name is thought to derive from bav-il or bav-ilim which, in the Akkadian language of the time, meant Gate of God or `Gate of the Gods and `Babylon coming from Greek.

ASSYRIANAssyria is named for its original capital, the ancient city of Aur which dates to c. 2600 BC (located in what is now the Saladin Province of northern Iraq), originally one of a number of Akkadian city states in Mesopotamia

ETYMOLOGYMESO--- Means MIDDLEPOTAMIA--- Means RIVER Literally means land between rivers

ARCHITECTURE The architecture of Mesopotamian is the ancient architecture of the region of the TigrisEuphrates river system (also known as Mesopotamia), encompassing several distinct cultures and spanning a period from the 10th millennium BC, when the first permanent structures were built, to the 6th century BC. Among the Mesopotamian architectural accomplishments are the development of urban planning, the courtyard house, and ziggurats. No architectural profession existed in Mesopotamia; however, scribes drafted and managed construction for the government, nobility, or royalty. The Mesopotamians regarded 'the craft of building' as a divine gift taught to men by the gods as listed .

MESOPOTAMIA TRADE AND TRANSPORTATIONMesopotamia was a region which did not have many natural resources. Therefore, the people who lived there needed to trade with neighboring countries in order to acquire the resources they needed to live. Grain, oils and textiles were taken from Babylonia to foreign cities and exchanged for timber, wine, precious metals and stones. In addition, merchants from other countries travelled to Babylonia to exchange their goods.Merchants used several different methods for transporting their goods depending on what they were transporting. For example, grain was quite bulky and was best transported on a boat, whereas precious stones were likely to be small, so they could be transported on foot or by donkey.ART AND CRAFTThe art of Mesopotamia has survived in the archaeological record from early hunter-gatherer societies on to the Bronze Age cultures .Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia brought significant cultural developments, including the oldest examples of writing. The art of Mesopotamia rivalled that of Ancient Egypt as the most grand, sophisticated and elaborate in western Eurasia . The main emphasis was on various, very durable, forms of sculpture in stone and clay; little painting has survived, but what has suggests that painting was mainly used for geometrical and plant-based decorative schemes, though most sculptures were also painted.

14