Ancient Mesopotamia (revised, 1976)

for more than 2,000 years these ruins remained undiscovered for centuries the only people who saw these remains were occasional Nomads who camped near here we archaeologists often find more information than we originally hoped for this is exactly what happened in the Middle East at the turn of this century when archaeologists first came to Iraq or as it was called then Mesopotamia they were looking for the biblical City Babylon but they uncovered even older civilizations the diggings started here in the Fertile Crescent the land between the rivers looked promising because of the possibilities for irrigation agriculture archaeologists knew that early civilizations grew along the banks of major rivers here it was the Tigris and Euphrates these Rivers were fed by Waters from the mountains to the north not far from here ancient cities have been discovered around 2700 BC they were populated by Sumerians in this area archaeologists have found proof that serial agriculture was the basis of that Civilization irrigated Fields produced a Dependable food supply for samarians they dug ditches and brought river water to their dry lands the first step toward large-scale farming Farmers have been irrigating this area for nearly 5,000 years Canal systems crisscross the whole land the Sumerians turned the desert into a fertile Delta with an abundant food supply the population grew with Sumer divided into several city states this pattern was quite different from Egypt which at the same time was developing into a unified country we think about 200,000 people lived in a typical Sumerian city state the temple was the center of Sumerian city life at Ur archaeologists uncovered another Temple called a zigurat each city state was organized around the worship of the deity whose home was the temple I remember thinking what great shape the samarians had to be in it was a long way up to the high platform but when I reached the top I could see the ruins of the entire city to the right the river not far from where it empties into the harbor in ancient times Merchants sailed the river River Trading Goods some going as far as India they also used wagons for transportation which brings us to the wheel one of the greatest contributions handed down by the samarians if you doubt its importance just take a look around [Music] [Music] this is a photograph at the excavation site of another ancient city not far from ER all of the various pots and jars and bowls were found in just one home the samarians were among the first people to use the wheel in pottery making the Artisan who made Pottery also made statues these figurines were placed in the temples they give us an indication of how the Sumerians dressed and what they looked like some cities even had toy manufacturers working with Clay the Sumerians produced toys that resemble some of ours only the most skilled and gifted people were allowed to work in silver and bronze since Precious Metals were not found in Mesopotamia the silver in this bracelet probably came from Egypt although the Sumerians traded for certain materials most of their domestic utensils were made of clay mud and Sun were about the only resources available even in Iraq today some homes are made with Clay bricks the Sumerians also developed the principle of the arch this method of spanning and opening in a wall was the Sumerian contribution to architecture since 2500 BC the arch has been essential in the building of bridges and temples perhaps the most important use of clay was in the development of writing writing was first used as a way of keeping track of business in the temples more than half of all ancient history was recorded on clay tablets and this is where it began cylinder seals were the first form of written communication they were used to identify land ownership and water rights a seal was rolled across clay tablet leaving an official Mark in this way Sumerians notorized documents these pictographs soon were replaced by copor writing but even this new method could not eliminate disputes the cities continued to fight for Centuries by 2300 BC a people called the semites had become dominant in the land of the Sumerians eventually the semites and the Sumerians intermixed in 1750 BC both the semites and the Sumerians were brought under one rule by King hamurabi the land became known as Babylonia with its capital at Babylon this is King hamurabi at his throne below is written his famous code of laws inspired by an earlier Sumerian code these laws were publicly displayed hamurabi built a powerful Empire which included Mesopotamia Syria and part of Asia Minor all ancient empires fell and this was no exception about 1400 BC and another people had their Beginnings around the city of assur these were the Assyrians the Assyrians lived in the mountains north of Babylonia they were Nomads and herders but mainly Hunters compared to Babylonia theirs Was A Primitive Society however the Assyrians had something that enabled them to conquer Empires they had the horse they were the first to use the horse for Warfare in Mesopotamia men on Horseback must have been a terrifying sight to a people accustomed to fighting on foot they use Shields and designed chariots for fighting the Assyrians established their Capital at Nineveh and were Invincible until the caldian Empire defeated them around 570 BC it reached its height under King Nebuchadnezzar power shifted back to Babylon under the new King Babylon became one of the most Splendid cities in the world architectural principles developed earlier by by the Sumerians reached their fullest expression Behind These Gates and through these streets visitors saw the famed Hanging Gardens of Babylon the ziggurats the temple Towers were put to further use from their tops caldian astronomers studied the heavens the entire history of this Middle Eastern Area is one of conquest and reconquest to an historian it's quite clear that Empire's rise and Empires fall but to an archaeologist there's an unanswered question why are these cities little more than dust today some believe that the Mesopotamians method of irrigation may have gradually increased the amounts of salts present in the soil until agriculture was ruined without agriculture the cities died but ancient Mesopotamia left a foundation on which later complex cultures were developed I [Music]