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Ancient Mesopotamian History
Mesopotamia is a Greek term meaning "(the land) between the rivers" and corresponds to the area that is now the country of Iraq. In the fourth millennium B.C., one of the world's great civilizations arose in this region, forming a cultural entity that lasted for more than 3,000 years. Mesopotamia was the birthplace of some of the world's earliest cities. The Mesopotamians developed one of the earliest writing systems, sophisticated mathematics and astronomy, the sail, and the wheel. They also divided time units into 60 parts—a concept that led to our 60-second minute and 60-minute hour.
The ancient Mesopotamians had no name for the whole of the area between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, but instead called sections of it "Sumer," "Akkad," "Assyria," and "Babylonia," at different times.
Mesopotamia does not appear at first glance to provide the environmental advantages necessary for the development of a great civilization. The region experiences significant contrasts in weather, with temperatures reaching 130° Fahrenheit in summer and dropping to below freezing in winter. Rain fed mountains, foothills, and grassy or cultivated plains in the north contrast with gravel deserts in the west and flat alluvial (laid down by rivers) silts and marshes in the south. The northern plains have sufficient rainfall to support fields of grain, gardens, and orchards, and wild grasslands for the grazing of herds. In contrast, the central and southern parts of the country receive insufficient rainfall to grow crops to support life. The southern plain, with fertile silt deposited through many thousands of years by the rivers, can produce rich crops if properly irrigated, but the rivers’ erratic rate of flow can produce either drought or floods which cover the land and sometimes result in the rivers changing course.
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