Search result for mesopotamia

Mesopotamia | Historyworld

HISTORY OF MESOPOTAMIA

including headings Between the rivers, Sumer and Gilgamesh, Sargon and Akkad, Babylon and Assyria, Baghdad, ...

Mesopotamia | HISTORY OF LITERATURE

The earliest uses of writing are strictly practical - lists of commodities, temple accounts, details of a contract. Such documents are short and not too daunting to a Mesopotamian scribe, writing with a reed stylus on a...

Mesopotamia | CREATION STORIES

Mesopotamia

The Mesopotamian creation story survives on clay tablets found in Ashurbanipal's library, in the saga known as Enuma elish (named from its first two words, meaning 'When on high'). The tablets are written in the 7...

Mesopotamia | HISTORY OF THE FIRST WORLD WAR

Mesopotamia

With the collapse of the Gallipoli campaign in 1915, the only untried route of attack against the Turkish empire is in the Middle East, up through Mesopotamia or Palestine.

From the start of the war Mesopotamia ha...

Mesopotamia and the Babylonians | HISTORY OF ASTRONOMY

Mesopotamia and the Babylonians

Astronomical observation begins with the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, where prominent constellations (the patterns formed by stars in the galaxy) are recognized and named soon after 3000 BC. Similarly the sky-watc...

Mesopotamia and the Babylonians | HISTORY OF ASTROLOGY

Mesopotamia and the Babylonians

Astronomical observation begins with the early civilizations of Mesopotamia, where prominent constellations (the patterns formed by stars in the galaxy) are recognized and named soon after 3000 BC. Similarly the sky-watc...

Mesopotamia and Egypt | HISTORY OF ARCHITECTURE

Mesopotamia and Egypt

The two areas which first develop civilization - Mesopotamia and Egypt - share a natural product which is ideal for relatively small buildings in a warm climate. Bundles of reeds can be bound together to form pillars and...

Mesopotamia and Egypt | HISTORY OF CIVILIZATION

Mesopotamia and Egypt

In about 3200 BC the two earliest civilizations develop in the region where southwest Asia joins northeast Africa. Great rivers are a crucial part of the story. The Sumerians settle in what is now southern Iraq, between...

Egypt and Mesopotamia | HISTORY OF BOATS AND SHIPS

Egypt and Mesopotamia

Both the earliest civilizations, the Egyptian and the Mesopotamian, make extensive use of boats for transport on the Nile, Euphrates and Tigris. The Nile in particular provides a superbly predictable thoroughfare, for th...

Backgammon in Mesopotamia | HISTORY OF SPORTS AND GAMES

Backgammon in Mesopotamia

Among the treasures found at Ur is a board laid out as if for the game of backgammon - which remains to this day one of the most popular board games in the Middle East.

Like senet and other board games of...

In Persia and Mesopotamia | HISTORY OF IRAN (PERSIA)

In Persia and Mesopotamia

Hulagu crosses the Amu Darya river in January 1256, beginning the Mongol campaign against Islamic Persia. The region has been terrorized in recent years by the Assassins, but this extremist Ismaili sect meets its match i...

In Persia and Mesopotamia | HISTORY OF THE MONGOLS

In Persia and Mesopotamia

Hulagu crosses the Amu Darya river in January 1256, beginning the Mongol campaign against Islamic Persia. The region has been terrorized in recent years by the Assassins, but this extremist Ismaili sect meets its match i...

Cuneiform | HISTORY OF WRITING

Cuneiform

In about 3200 BC temple officials in Sumer develop a reliable and lasting method of keeping track of the animals and other goods which are the temple's wealth. On lumps of wet clay the scribes draw a simpified picture of...

Foot soldiers | HISTORY OF WARFARE - LAND

Foot soldiers

An early glimpse of ranks of soldiers can be seen in the decoration of a musical instrument of about 2500 BC, found in the royal cemetery at Ur. They wear copper helmets (as do the soldiers buried with the ruler) and hea...

Preliminary skirmishes | HISTORY OF WARFARE - LAND

Preliminary skirmishes

Fighting between primitive tribes consists either of raids on rival settlements (where surprise is important, and disorder inevitable) or of structured and even ritualistic clashes. In either case the struggle is made up...

Fortification and siege | HISTORY OF WARFARE - LAND

Fortification and siege

The towns which Sargon marches to attack are well fortified - a precaution which has been considered necessary in this part of the world for many centuries. The tower at Jericho dates from not long after 8000 BC. Uruk, a...

The Assyrian war machine | HISTORY OF WARFARE - LAND

The Assyrian war machine

Assyria is the first society to make militarism the central policy of state. A regular event each spring is the departure of the army for conquest. At the head of the march are standard bearers and priests; behind them c...

The Assyrian war machine | HISTORY OF ASSYRIA

The Assyrian war machine

Assyria is the first society to make militarism the central policy of state. A regular event each spring is the departure of the army for conquest. At the head of the march are standard bearers and priests; behind them c...