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Ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is viewed as the origin of world's ancient Civilization. It is a historical
region located in West Asia and in between two rivers; Tigris and Euphrates. In the modern days,
it is said to have been located in most of Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Turkey, and Iran. The region was
dominated by a group of people known as Sumerians and Akkadians. Mesopotamia inspired lots
of developments in ancient human history, for example, the invention of the wheel,
domestication of cereal crops as well as animals, developments in mathematics, cursive script,
astronomy as well as other aspects of agriculture. "Geographically, Mesopotamia (from the
Greek "between the rivers") encompasses present-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, and southeastern
Turkey. Urban civilization originated in the area, with the establishment of the first cities and
complex forms of social organization and economic activity. Significant developments during
this period include the invention of writing, long-distance communication, trade networks, and
the first empires. Sophisticated art and literature began and flourished concurrently with
remarkable intellectual, spiritual, and scientific advances.
During the third millennium BCE, southern Mesopotamia consisted of two main regions.
Sumer, in the far south, and Akkad to the north. A common culture of shared beliefs and artistic
traditions united southern Mesopotamia for much of the period between 3000 and 2000 BCE.
One of the most significant advancements taking place in Mesopotamia was the emergence of
the city. While large towns had evolved before 3500 BCE, there was a massive change in scale
around this time. The largest city was Uruk, and by about 2600 BCE it displayed the elements of
the period's important centers: administrative buildings, residential areas, streets, canals, and, the
most visible feature, cultic high terraces with temples. True writing began in Mesopotamia, with
the earliest script found on clay tablets excavated in the cities of Uruk and Susa dating to about
3300 BCE. These cuneiform tablets provided important administrative information, such as the
tracking of quantities of malt and barley or oxen. (Queen's Quarterly)" This is a direct quote from
the Journal explaining how Mesopotamia was the source of world's civilization and about the
people who lived there.
Religion in Mesopotamia
Over millennia of development, the internal needs of the people of Mesopotamia led to
the development of their religion. The earliest religious thought in Mesopotamia is believed to
have involved the worshiping of the forces of nature as the people depended on them to provide
for their sustenance. This was back in the 4th millennium BC. As the people entered the 3rd
millennium BC, they personified the objects of worship. They now had a number of divinities
which they believed had different functions or rather responsibilities to the people. During the
2nd and 1st millenniums, the last Mesopotamian polytheism stages which introduced more
emphasis on personal religion, as well as the structuring of gods, were developed. The gods were
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classified into a monarchical hierarchy whereby the head of pantheon was the national god. "One
premise behind this evaluation is that Mesopotamian religion changed over time — what
Mesopotamian religion was differed throughout the various historical periods" (Schneider p.6).
This is a direct quote from the book An Introduction to Ancient Mesopotamia Religion which
explains the development of the beliefs of the ancient people which were changing with time.
The religion of the ancient people of Mesopotamia eventually declined following the spread of
Christianity brought by the Iranians during the Achaemenid Empire.
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