Mesopotamian Innovations
By: Preston Melvin
Introduction
Mesopotamia created many innovations that influenced us today. Without the creation of these innovations the world now could look different from how it looks now. For example, the wheel. If it did not get made by the Mesopotamians so long ago it would be created later on. Causing it to be less evolved now.
What The Mesopotamians Used Their Innovations For
The Mesopotamians used there innovations to solve many problems. They made wheels for transportation, Mathematics for keeping track of days,currency for trading, and measurement systems along with many more innovations. A very large amount of problems they had in their daily life they were able to fix through these innovations
The Evolution of The Wheel.
Mesopotamian Wheel
This was one of the first wheels. It was excavated from a Mesopotamian dig site. It is dated to be made around 3500 BC. The main materials used to make this wheel were stone.
The Wooden Wheel
This was one of the first wheels that used spokes and was made of wood that had metal supporting it. The wooden wheel was used in around 1000 BCE. It was the mid-stage of the wheel and is when the wheel really started to develop.
Modern Wheel
This is the type of wheel we use today. It is extremely different from the Mesopotamian wheel (which is the first wheel). The materials used to make this wheel are rubber, and metal. The next wheels possibility's are basically unlimited
Transportation
Transportation innovations that Mesopotamia created were very advanced at the time there were made. For example Mesopotamia created two types of boats, the coracle and the sailboat. The coracle was used for transporting goods up and down the Euphrates and Tigris River. It was shaped like a bowl and used paddles to row. The sailboat we still used today. An example of the Mesopotamian sailboat (which is known as a gulf boat) is in the picture. They used these boats for transporting goods such as grain from Southern Mesopotamia to the gulf. Boats were used to transport larger items while valuable items such as gems and pottery were transported by donkey, carts, and by foot.
The Legacy
The Driving Question: What Legacy Helped Us The Most?
Mesopotamia created a load of ideas that helped create this world that is here today. My personal opinion is that the innovations they created are the most important. This is because without it we would most likely not have math or even the wheel. Eventually we would have them but like I said they would be less evolved now. Laws and Cuneiform are important but we don't use Cuneiform now and use a completely different languages and laws really would not be that much different. Mesopotamia made so many innovations that it would be easier to get a less evolved version of laws and writing then transportation, architecture, the formation of entire city's and many more innovations.
Conclusion
How Mesopotamian Innovations Changed Throughout Time
Mesopotamian Innovations started a lot of bright ideas. They made currency that was made of silver coins called shekels and minas. Currency now is not very different. We still use coins, but primarily we trade money digitally through credit and debit cards. They made a number system based on the number 60. That same system is still used today to track time. A large amount of math innovations that they invented are used today, they said that there would be 360 degrees in a circle. We still say the same thing. Almost all of the innovations they made are used today, just in a more advanced form.