Ancient Mesopotamian Travel Guide
Exploring the Sumer and 4 Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia
Guide to Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is the place between the two rivers--Euphrates river and Tigris river. It is the place where the civilzations first came into being, there once was a lot of them--Sumer and the four empires: Akkadian Empire, Babylonian Empire, Assyria Empire and Neo-babylonian Empire.
Guide to Sumer
In the area of Sumer, cities first appeared in the south of this land. The earliest cities appeared 3500 B.C. These cities have there own ruler and they are called city-states. Sumerian farmers created the first irrigation systems, irrigation systems provide water to crops. And they have an very important invention--cunieform, one of the earliest written language.Also, they are able to do math and astromony. And finally, maybe the best invention the wheel.
Guide to the Akkadian Empire
Around 2300 B.C., the Akkadian conquered this land. They were led by a great king called Sargon.Sargon created his empire through powerful military strategies, he used his military skills to win territory for his empire, and he was a smart politician. When Sargon died they made their greatest achievement, the first empire. Agade was the empires capital an it was built on tributes it became the richest and most powerful city in the world. The Akkadians made beautiful three dimensional statues. These stones are called steles.
Guide to the Babylonian Empire
The most famous king is Hammurabi, he creates the first set of law apply to everyone in the world--Hammurabi's code, it listed 282 laws. Even though there is a few unjust parts in this law, it still have the idea of protecting the weak from the strong people.And in this empire, Agriculture, math and astronomy were developed. And their trade flourished, and the city of Babylon became the trade center. And art flourished , too. And, most important, under Hammurabi´s laws, all the people have their rights, it was unusually fair in that time.
Guide to the Assyrian Empire
In this Empire, the people began to use iron to make their tools, and this also make the army stronger. The invention of saddle make cavalryman a lot stronger and can be a lot useful in the wars. Also with the invention of the saddle they perfected the use of horses and iron weapons. The Assyrian empire was the first to use battering rams. The battering rams were long poles on wheels used to poke holes in the walls of cities. Also they used aqueducts (the first) to bring water to cities from up to 50 miles away. Also they made bas-reliefs which is a sculpture that sticks out from a flat surface. They became extremely good at creating these.
Guide to Neo-babylonian Empire
For the Neo-Babylonian Empire, their king is called Nebucharezzar II, he is a military leader, and built a very thick wall for the city of Babylon. They are skilled in astromony and math, they made the first sundial, and led us to 60-minute hour and 7-day week. One thing they built that is very famous is the Hanging Garden, and it is one of the great wonders of the ancient world. Also, one more thing-- The Babel tower, it is very high and great.