Download Mesopotamian Culture - Pascack Valley Regional High School District

Facts about Mesopotamian Culture
The formation of a complex society and sophisticated cultural traditions:
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With the emergence of cities, and the congregation of dense populations in urban areas, specialized labor
proliferated.
The Mesopotamian economy became diverse and trade linked the region with distant peoples.
Economic Specialization and Trade
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Pottery, textile manufacture, woodworking, leather production, brick making, stonecutting, and masonry all
became distinct occupations in a world’s earliest cities.
Bronze Metallurgy: Metallurgical innovations ranked among the most important developments that came about
because of specialized labor. Around 4,000 b.c.e. Mesopotamians alloyed tin and copper, leading to the
invention of bronze. Bronze is an invented metal. It was used militarily and for knives and plows instead of bone,
wood, stone and obsidian.
Iron Metallurgy: About 1,300 b.c.e. craftsmen from Hittite society in Anatolia developed techniques for forging
strong iron tools and weapons. News spread quickly and iron became the metal of choice for Mesopotamians.
The Wheel: the wheel is the most important innovation in trade and transportation. The wheel enabled long
distance trade. The Sumerians built wheeled carts by 3,000 b.c.e.
Shipbuilding: Sumerians also experimented with technologies of maritime transportation. By 3500 b.c.e. they
built watercraft that allowed them to venture into the Persian Gulf. By 2300 b.c.e. they were trading regularly
with merchants in the Indus River valley of northern India. Ships revolutionized trade.
The Emergence of a Stratified Patriarchal Society
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Compared to Neolithic cultures, cities provided more opportunities for wealth. Social distinctions in
Mesopotamia therefore became much more sharply defined than those of Neolithic villages.
Elites: In early Mesopotamia, ruling classes consisted of kings and nobles. Legends portrayed them as offspring
of the gods.
Priests and priestesses were allied with the elites. They intervened with the gods to ensure good fortune for the
community. They lived in temples
Free Commoners and slaves also encompassed much of the society. Slaves were from one of three sources: 1.
Prisoners of war 2. Convicted criminals 3. Debtors. Most served a certain duration and then were let free.
Patriarchy: Men dominated public affairs; they were kings and policy makers. Hammurabi’s code recognized
men as heads of their households
Women: legally subjugated. However, some women advised kings in their governments and others were
influential priestesses. Others were formally educated and worked as scribes. Women could be midwives,
shopkeepers, brewers, bakers, tavern keepers and textile manufactures. No women held high level
administrative positions.
o Continuity in history: During the second millennium, Mesopotamian men insisted on the virginity of
brides at marriage and forbade casual socializing between married women and men outside the family.
o By 1,500 b.c.e. women in Mesopotamian cities had begun to wear veils when they ventured beyond
their households to discourage outside attention. A way of controlling women’s social and sexual
behavior and reinforcing patriarchal social structures.
The Development of written Cultural Traditions:
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Sumerians invented a system of writing to keep track of commercial transactions and tax collecting.
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Cuneiform—Latin word that means wedge shaped. Wrote on clay tablets.
Education: Most education was vocational. Yet Mesopotamians also established formal schools. Most who
learned to read and write became scribes or government officials. Some became priests, physicians or
engineers. Literacy was very important for Mesopotamia. Leads to the expansion of knowledge.
Astronomy and Math: Knowledge of astronomy made them prepare accurate calendars. Enabled them to chart
the rhythms of the seasons for harvesting crops. They used math to allocate land plots. Mesopotamian scientists
divided the year into 12 months. They divided the hours of the day into 60 minutes composed of 60 seconds
each! Pretty good!
Continuity and Change:
It is essential that you understand, and can demonstrate, that as civilizations were conquered their
cultural heritage, religions, laws, customs and technologies were rarely lost. Commonly, conquering
civilizations adopted and adapted the customs and technologies of those they defeated. This is reflected
in the series of civilizations that grew, and then fell, in Mesopotamia.
Other notable groups in and around Mesopotamia:
The Phoenicians:
Established the first powerful naval city-state along the Mediterranean. They were
epic traders all over the Mediterranean. Historians have called Phoenicians
“carriers of civilization” because they spread Middle Eastern civilization around
the Mediterranean. They are credited with developing the first alphabet. Unlike
cuneiform, in which symbols represent syllables or whole words, an
alphabet is a writing system in which each symbol represents a single
basic sound, such as a consonant or vowel. Greeks adapted the 22
letter alphabet of the Phoenicians into their own, adding only a few.
Our alphabet is a further derivation. CONTINUITYYYY!!
The Hebrews: The Hebrews were the first Jews. Unlike others in the
Fertile Crescent, they were monotheistic. Around 1,000 b.c.e. the Hebrews established Israel in Palestine on the eastern
shore of the Mediterranean. They believed they were God’s chosen people and maintained their identity through their
belief in this.