Ancient Mesopotamian Culture
By: Emily Tsairis, Alison Gilpatrick and Siobhan Mathews
Culture Introduction
Culture is an important aspect of a civilization. Culture is the beliefs, art, music, traditions, food and way of life of a particular society. It makes a group of people unique and distinguishes them from everyone else. Culture is also a strong part of people’s lives. It influences people’s views, values, humor, hopes, loyalty, worries and fears. Cultures evolve within groups of people based on many elements of those people’s lives, such as family duties and responsibilities, community needs, physical location and belief systems of a group. Culture is beneficial because it makes up the lifestyle of a certain group of people. Without culture, people wouldn’t know what to believe in and celebrate. People have culture because it brings people together to celebrate traditions, holidays and customs. There were five ways that impacted Mesopotamia’s, one of the River Valley Civilizations, cultural growth. Religion controlled and decided the main activities in the Mesopotamians' daily lives. In Mesopotamia, people believed in many gods and goddesses. That meant that they were polytheistic. Also, writing changed the way business dealings were done and how records were kept. They invented a writing system to record information called cuneiform. Architecture influenced their studies of mathematics, science and engineering. The ancient Mesopotamians built many ziggurats to worship their gods and goddesses. In addition, innovations helped create more specializations of labor and created a wider space between social classes. They created a twelve month calendar based on the phases of the moon. This helped them know when to plant crops and when to harvest them. Lastly, achievements helped create a more complex and elaborate economy and military. The greatest achievement of ancient Mesopotamia was its government system. They developed the first government system to run a city, which later led to written laws concerning the rights of individuals. These were all examples of ancient Mesopotamia’s culture. In conclusion, the cultural development in Mesopotamia made the biggest impact on the people.
Mesopotamian Culture Photo Gallery
Ziggurat
Cuneiform: Mesopotamia's Writing System
Standard of Ur
Praying Statues
Daily Life in Mesopotamia
Wheel
Homes Based on Social Classes
Irrigation Canals
Irrigation canals were a way to water crops by digging channels, which drew their water supplies from rivers. These artificial waterways diverted the river water into multiple ditches that provided irrigation to the crops. During the summer when the land became dry, they poked holes in raised areas of soil. The river water that ran through the holes made channels in the soil. The Mesopotamians made the channels larger until they became canals.
Gods, Goddesses and Deities
The Mesopotamians believed in and worshiped thousands of gods, goddesses and deities called dingir. The Mesopotamians thought they acted very similarly to humans. The gods had feasts, marriages, children and wars. The gods and goddesses also could feel sad, happy, or angry. If the gods were angry at the people, they created floods or natural disasters to punish them. Even though the Mesopotamians worshiped the gods and goddesses, they were often afraid of them.
Religion
Writing
Writing changed the way business dealings were done and history was kept. Written language transformed life in Mesopotamia.
Architecture
Innovations
Achievements
Culture Conclusion
In conclusion, Mesopotamia’s cultural developments made the greatest influence on its people. There were five ways that affected and impacted Mesopotamia’s cultural growth. Religion directed and determined most of daily life activities and choices in life. Writing adjusted the way business trading and commerce were done and history was kept. Architecture influenced the studies, engineering, science and mathematics. Innovations authorized for the creation of different specializations of labor and a more extensive gap between the social classes. Achievements made progress and development easier for more advanced economic and military organizations. Culture typically consists of beliefs, ideas, language and customs. These factors combine to provide members of a society with a set of shared values and beliefs that define how people envision themselves. Culture influences the way in which people communicate with each other. Culture had such a big impact on Mesopotamia and its people because culture is the way that people live their lives. Culture existed everywhere because Mesopotamia had its own way of doing things, practicing religion, and acting. Culture affected their everyday lives. Culture unified the Mesopotamians and brought them together. Culture helped them building amazing structures, or buildings, create written laws and stories and a decimal system involving the base of 60. The cultural developments in religion, writing, architecture, innovations and achievements made the largest impact on the people of Mesopotamia.