Download Mesopotamia Mesopotamia and Egypt are believed to be the world`s

Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia
and
Egypt
are
believed
to
be
the
world's
first
civilizations.
Mesopotamia,
"between
rivers,"
is
the
territory
located
between
the
Tigris
and
Euphrates
rivers,
in
modern
day
Iraq.
A
civilization,
according
to
Voyages
in
World
History,
is
a
large
urban
center
with
a
population
of
tens
of
thousands
of
people.
These
people
had
different
jobs
resulting
in
specialized
labor.
Initially,
scholars
believed
a
civilization
had
to
have
a
system
of
writing,
but
over
time
this
belief
has
changed.
The
land
of
early
Mesopotamia
overall
was
harsh
and
hard
to
farm
since
the
Euphrates
and
Tigris
rivers
often
flooded
during
the
early
summer.
Farmers
developed
an
irrigation
system
and
settled
into
the
lower
Mesopotamian
plain
between
6000
‐
5000
BCE.
Early
villages
were
small,
but
by
4000
BCE,
villages
grew
to
over
10,000
people.
City
states
began
to
develop
as
well.
A
city‐state
had
a
ruler
who
not
only
governed
the
urban
center
but
also
the
surrounding
countryside.
The
king
of
the
city‐state
was
the
intermediary
between
the
gods
and
the
people.
The
king,
it
was
thought,
not
only
consulted
the
gods
but
also,
they
believed,
with
temple
priests
and
people
of
prominent
families.
Sumerians
were
polytheistic,
believing
in
many
gods.
The
gods
managed
the
environment.
Within
the
city‐state
was
a
ziggurat.
The
ziggurat
is
the
platform
or
terrace
upon
which
temples
for
the
gods
were
placed.
Sumer,
which
is
the
term
referring
to
the
area
of
Southern
Mesopotamia,
is
believed
to
be
where
the
world's
first
writing
system
developed.
Initially,
Sumerians
wrote
on
clay
tablets
with
a
stylus.
Around
3300
BCE,
clay
tablets
had
pictures
on
them
representing
different
animals.
Next
to
the
pictures,
there
would
be
tally
markings.
Eventually,
a
writing
system
with
over
700
signs
emerged.
By
700
BCE,
a
phonetic
system
had
developed.
Later
Sumerian
writing
was
known
as
cuneiform.
Cuneiform
is
the
Latin
term
for
"wedge
shaped".