Mesopotamia why is it important

Smelting was a significant contribution of the Hittites, allowing for more sophisticated weaponry that lead them to expand the empire even further. Their attempts to keep the technology to themselves eventually failed, and other empires became a match for them. The Hittites pulled out shortly after sacking Babylon, and the Kassites took control of the city. Hailing from the mountains east of Mesopotamia, their period of rule saw immigrants from India and Europe arriving, and travel sped up thanks to the use of horses with chariots and carts.

The Kassites abandoned their own culture after a couple of generations of dominance, allowing themselves to be absorbed into Babylonian civilization. Reception of a victorious general of the Assyrian Empire in Mesopotamia. Around B. The Assyrian Empire continued to expand over the next two centuries, moving into modern-day Palestine and Syria.

Under the rule of Ashurnasirpal II in B. His son Shalmaneser spent the majority of his reign fighting off an alliance between Syria, Babylon and Egypt, and conquering Israel. One of his sons rebelled against him, and Shalmaneser sent another son, Shamshi-Adad, to fight for him. Three years later, Shamshi-Adad ruled.

A new dynasty began in B. Modeling himself on Sargon the Great, he divided the empire into provinces and kept the peace. His undoing came when the Chaldeans attempted to invade and Sargon II sought an alliance with them. The Chaldeans made a separate alliance with the Elamites, and together they took Babylonia. Sargon II lost to the Chaldeans but switched to attacking Syria and parts of Egypt and Gaza, embarking on a spree of conquest before eventually dying in battle against the Cimmerians from Russia.

Esarhaddon struggled to rule his expanded empire. A paranoid leader, he suspected many in his court of conspiring against him and had them killed. His son Ashurbanipal is considered to be the final great ruler of the Assyrian empire. Ruling from to B. Nabopolassar attempted to take Assyria but failed. His son Nebuchadnezzar reigned over the Babylonian Empire following an invasion effort in B. Nebuchadnezzar is known for his ornate architecture, especially the Hanging Gardens of Babylon , the Walls of Babylon and the Ishtar Gate.

Under his rule, women and men had equal rights. Nebuchadnezzar is also responsible for the conquest of Jerusalem , which he destroyed in B. He appears in the Old Testament because of this action. Nabonidus was such an unpopular king that Mesopotamians did not rise to defend him during the invasion. Babylonian culture is considered to have ended under Persian rule, following a slow decline of use in cuneiform and other cultural hallmarks. Eventually, the region was taken by the Romans in A.

Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic, with followers worshipping several main gods and thousands of minor gods. The three main gods were Ea Sumerian: Enki , the god of wisdom and magic, Anu Sumerian: An , the sky god, and Enlil Ellil , the god of earth, storms and agriculture and the controller of fates.

There are pieces of royal palaces, including the Babylonian home to the famous Nebuchadnezzar, that survived war, invasions, neglect and the elements. What could be a dull depiction of long-ago civilizations is an absorbing, even enthralling depiction of their artistry and skills and a recognition that we use many of their inventions to this day.

By dividing up the cavernous hall into a coherent series of halls and annexes into a coherent, yet never crowded, exhibition, the ROM has transformed what can be an awkward space into something that beckons visitors to slow down and peer into cul-de-sacs and around corners. Even the information panels have enough information to satisfy the curious, but not so much that visitors would be overwhelmed.

Culture How Mesopotamia invented our world and created the best beer stein A look at the only Canadian stop on a world tour of treasures from the cradle of civilization. University of Pennsylvania. For 3, years the peoples of Mesopotamia maintained a significant degree of cultural unity, even though politically they were much more fragmented. The rulers of various regions—Sumer, Akkad, Babylonia, and Assyria—dominated Mesopotamia as a whole at one time or another. During times of great political unity, kings expanded their control beyond the two rivers, dominating neighboring lands and controlling the trade routes of the Near East.

Additionally, he notes, the marsh provided a connection to sea routes on the Persian Gulf, which made it possible for people who lived in the south to eventually develop long-distance trade with other places. They also had access to mountains and forests, where they could hunt for game and cut down trees for wood. Their areas also had land routes to places to the north beyond the mountains, where they could obtain materials such as obsidian , a type of rock that can be used in jewelry or for making cutting tools.

But they also created gardens shaded by date palms, where they cultivated a wide variety of crops including beans, peas, lentils, cucumbers, leeks, lettuce and garlic, as well as fruit such as grapes, apples, melons and figs. They also milked sheep, goats and cows to make butter, and slaughtered them for meat. Eventually, the agricultural revolution in Mesopotamia led to what Diamond describes as the next big step in progress, the Urban Revolution.

Roughly 5, to 6, years ago in Sumer, villages evolved into cities. One of the earliest and most prominent was Uruk , a walled community with 40, to 50, inhabitants.