Ancient history

Trends in Mesopotamia

The region that built civilization in the oldest age is Mesopotamia Tigris River / Euphrates River It is the basin of. The agricultural revolution began around 8000 BC, and it is also the earliest farming and livestock farming area in the world.

Irrigated agriculture was invented in areas with little water, as I wrote earlier.

Since the penetration of irrigated agriculture, the population has increased dramatically. Especially Mesopotamia In the south, it is said that the number has increased sharply since about 3500 BC.

What is the beginning of the Mesopotamian civilization by the Sumerians, the oldest civilization in the world? ??

Irrigated agriculture It was religion that stabilized the social life of a large group from a small group of blood-related groups when the sedentary life began to spread. is.

In the first place, human beings were in a situation next to death in the harsh environment of the old age, and it is said that they had religious thoughts such as the recognition of life and death, the afterlife, and the world after death from the pre-agriculture era.

As agriculture creates a gap between rich and poor, the beliefs of the same religion connect the fragile ties, while the ties between individuals who are already fragile and have no kinship at all quickly collapse (if nothing). He played a role. The symbol of that faith is the temple is.

This is only an imagination, but it helped the rich to build temples and statues to help their faith (the temple was built 3500 BC) and provided a place for the poor to relieve their anxieties. By doing so, I think it helped to ensure the safety of myself and my family.

The creation of a place for the poor to relieve anxiety also contributes to the stability of public security. It is thought that the people who lived in the surrounding villages saw the villages where the security was improved by the construction of the temple, and strengthened their religious beliefs, saying, "It is probably because of the temple."

Probably Mesopotamia for the above reasons. A large village centered around the temple was built in. Among them, Sumerians of unknown ethnicity Has made remarkable progress.

Sumerian city-state

Sumerians Is

  • Invention of characters (cuneiform)
  • Popularization of metal objects such as copperware and bronze ware

We have created a society that has introduced the latest technology at that time.

The number of non-farmer workers such as priests, warriors, craftsmen, and merchants will increase, and many former Omura villages that have developed into cities will be completed. The more people there are, the more irrigation equipment is needed, and leadership is essential. The leader born there was the king.

A city-state that has become a class society with various human resources gathered around the king Will be created. City-state centered on the king Is gorgeous and has magnificent temples, palaces and royal tombs.

However, the Sumerians who prospered that much. By city-state In Mesopotamia, multiple similar forces will be formed and a dynasty will be built up. City-state There will be constant conflict between them. Gradually Sumerians The nation of the nation has declined its power.

Mesopotamia It was Sem language that became a prominent presence while reducing its power in. Akkad was. That said, Akkadians Is a Sumerian It is said that it was a close symbiotic relationship with Akkad people . Sumerian without letters Cuneiform Seems to have used.

Unification of Mesopotamia and surrounding areas

The Akkadians began to stand out around the 24th century BC. .. Sargon I is Akkadian Empire Founded Mesopotamia Unify the city-states of Syria We are expanding its territory to.

Syria The reason for expanding the territory to Mesopotamia Sumerian Egypt was established while the city-state was being created. To create a base for trading with the dynasty of. If you look at the map, you can grasp it somehow.

However, this Akkadian Rebellion broke out in various parts of the empire. Perhaps it was the Akkadian Empire that originally unified the independent city-state. Therefore, it would have been difficult to put it together and a rebellion broke out.

Akkad , maybe to prevent such a rebellion In this era, you can see the autographs that represent "King =God". So-called deification of kingship is.

When the king (Naram-Sin), who began to deify the kingship in order to increase his leadership, died, the rebellion in each region would surely increase and his leadership would surely decline. The powers of each region will begin to become independent. By the way, after Naram-Sin, it seems that the method of governing with the scheme of "King =God" has slowed down because it caused decline and divine punishment was given after making "King =God".

The Akkadian Empire who lost power in that way After the collapse, Mesopotamia Third Dynasty of Ur in the south But Mesopotamia Later Assyrian Kingdom in the north of The forces that lead to are becoming more prominent.

Third Dynasty of Ur Has a short lifespan of about 100 years, but is the oldest code of the world ( Code of Ur-Nammu ) ), And has influenced the dynasties that will be built later. Assyrian Kingdom Although it is a limited area, it continues to maintain its power for a long time.

That Third Dynasty of Ur Mesopotamia after the fall It was the Babylonian dynasty that unified the whole area It was ( Assyrian Kingdom Has secured power at this time as well).

Let's take a look at the situation in Mesopotamia after the Akkadian Empire

Akkad All Mesopotamia instead of The Babylonian dynasty that ruled Is Sem language Amorites Made by Code of Hammurabi familiar with "eye for an eye, tooth for a tooth" And King Hammurabi Is famous.

This Code of Hammurabi Is Mesopotamia Third Dynasty of Ur It is heavily influenced by the Code of Ur-Nammu created by. Furthermore, what King Hammurabi did is indispensable for talking about "hydraulic control and irrigation by major construction of the canal".

After large-scale hydraulic control and irrigation work, the number of people will increase and civilization will prosper as the number of safer areas increases. As civilization prospered and wealth increased, the people around it saw the situation Babylonian . Invasion and migration to the Babylonian dynasty To decline.

Among them, the Indo-European language family that emerged on the Anatolian Peninsula. Hittite Country by Hittite However, he began to grow in power by using iron weapons that had not been used in history.

Because they use iron weapons, they have more advanced military power than other countries, Mesopotamia . We are also actively exploring. Mesopotamia , albeit in decline Babylonian dynasty boasting power in such a rich land Destroy and rule the north. It is also invading Egypt and seems to have ruled part of Syria for a while.

However, the forces in this area are often invaded by different ethnic groups, as has been the trend from before, and the nation's ups and downs are fierce. Hittite Is no exception, and we will gradually reduce the area of ​​control in northern Mesopotamia. It was the Mitanni Kingdom that took control of the reduced former Hittite territory. is.

Mitanni Kingdom Was founded by the Hurrians and was Egypt in the early days. And Hittite After that, Egypt Let's marry and build a friendly relationship. In the 14th century BC, in addition to the conflict within the royal family, Hittites It declines due to a conflict with. The Kingdom of Mitanni is a vassal to the Hittites.

The Assyrian Kingdom that belonged to the Kingdom of Mitanni because the Kingdom of Mitanni belonged to the Hittites. Became independent, and the relationship between the Kingdom of Mitanni and Assyria was reversed. Finally, due to the invasion of different races (=sea people), Hittite And Assyrian Kingdom Is Hittite Was destroyed first and the curtain was closed.

Further in the 15th-14th centuries BC, Palestine And Syria , Anatolia The kingdoms are crowded. Assyrian Kingdom to the area where those kingdoms were It is the territory of control of.

What is the culture and civilization that spread in Mesopotamia?

First of all, ancient Mesopotamia From the religion used as a means of governance.

It is said that it was a polytheistic world, but the gods who worship have changed with the change of ethnic groups. The method of using the king as a god was Mesopotamia in the old days. However, it can be seen, but it is almost nonexistent after Naram-Sin. If anything, it seems that there were many places that took the form of listening to the voices of the gods.

Cuneiform started by Sumerians Is a repeated Mesopotamia It has been used in many areas by the unified dynasty of.

Cuneiform is a logogram (a single character, such as Chinese, makes sense). Even if the language is different, cuneiform characters are engraved on the clay tablet, and records such as the number of slaves, the number of livestock, and the number of goods are kept.

Furthermore, highly practical disciplines such as ephemeris, calendar, mathematics, and agriculture are developing in this area. Astronomy, rekihou, and agriculture are thought to have evolved to efficiently carry out farming and livestock farming, which are the basis of civilization, and mathematics may have evolved to make those studies more accurate. Sexagesimal to support these disciplines Seems to have been used.

There are various theories as to why the sexagesimal system was born instead of the decimal system, which is easy to count with your fingers, but

  • Among the planets worshiped as God in Mesopotamia, those derived from the period of Jupiter and Saturn
  • There are many about, because it is the final common multiple of 10 fingers and the phases of the moon (full moon to full moon, or new moon to new moon) 12.

There seems to be a theory such as. In Mesopotamia, the lunar calendar was decided based on the lunar calendar, which is based on the phases of the moon, so the latter reason seems to be more likely.


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