7 Characteristics Of A Civilization
Mesopotamia
Language
The people in Mesopotamia used language to communicate with other people. Without language, how would people communicate with each other?
Language means a group or a system of using words and grammar used by a crowd of people. Language was written mostly on clay tablets and not on paper because paper wasn't invented yet.Mesopotamia's language was Akkadian because Mesopotamia was located close to the present day countries of Turkey,Syria,Iraq,Lebanon,Israel, and Jordan. Today most people use their language to speak instead of writing it on paper.
Art
Art was used in Mesopotamia because they had their skill of using art to paint pictures in caves and they made bronze using tin and copper (Tin+Copper=Bronze). Art is the process of making things look beautiful. People in Mesopotamia used animal skins and powder to create pictures. Today, we paint pictures on drawing paper instead of painting it on caves.
Religion
Many people in Mesopotamia had their own religion. Most people in Mesopotamia had religious beliefs and practices followed by the Sumerian, and East Semitic Akkadian, Assyrian, and Babylonian and later migrant Arameans and Chaldeans living in Mesopotamia. Religions are sets of beliefs that tries to answer questions about human existence. Religion describes us who are we?,where did we come from?,what types of gods do we believe?, and what happens to us when we die? In Mesopotamia people believed in many gods and each city-state had it's own god. They had a ziggurat. The ziggurat had to be highly visible so that people could see the god's home. Today, we have many religions no matter where we are from.
Government
Mesopotamia's government set up laws,defend their land,and carry out large building projects, Government is the system or form by which a community or other political unit is governed. Government was a combination of monarchy and democracy. The king in Mesopotamia had to have permission from the assembly. Today, our government has the three branches: judicial, exectutive, and legaslative branches.
Technology
In Mesopotamia, the technology the people use consists of clay to make pottery,they made clothing using the animal's fur and skin. They also used the animal bones to make super-sharped tools. Technology means an easier way to make life easier for the people in Mesopotamia. Everything was crumbling down in Mesopotamia like a drought where the land had cracks all over. But finally, Archeaologists dug up artifacts about old thing that had been destroyed during that time. Today, we use phones, computers, microwaves, and even cars to make our lives faster and easier.
Surplus of food
People in Mesopotamia had a surplus of food and people had to store the food for future use. And just in case, if floods or droughts come and destroy the plants and crops and wash away the villages then people had leftover food that they could share with other people. A surplus of food is an extra amount of food that you can store for future use. People in Mesopotamia had to store food just in case if there was a drought or a flood that destroyed thier crops. Then they don't have to worry because they can save food. We do the same thing today!
Social classes
People in Mesopotamia were divided into social classes such as upper,middle and lower classes. The upper class consists of kings,priests,warriors, and government officials. The middle classes was the largest of all classes. Those include: merchants, farmers, fishermans, and artisans. The lowest class has enslaved men and women. Also criminal and people who couldn't afford to pay taxes were enslaved. Social classes is the classification of the groups of people in Mesopotamia based on their status. People had to remain in this social class when they were born. Today, economic status, where a person lives and other materials like clothing and vehicles could impact the people status.