Mesopotamia | DMA Staging Content Management System

GENERAL DESCRIPTION

Mesopotamia, located in modern day Iraq, is known by several names, including the "Cradle of Civilization" and "Land Between Two Rivers." This land is known for its innovative move to farming culture from hunting and gathering practices. These new practices of domesticating animals and plants led to the development of larger societies. In the 4th millennium BCE, the inhabitants of ancient Sumer, the first great Mesopotamian civilization, also established the earliest complex urban societies, called city-states, and invented writing. They may also have been the first culture to use pictures to tell coherent stories, far surpassing Stone Age artists' tentative efforts at pictorial narration.

Soon, societies became entirely made up of food developers and artisans, and eventually the Secondary Products Revolution emerged. The Secondary Products Revolution allowed people to trade their product surpluses. Trade was particularly successful in these Central Asian areas thus creating the Urban Revolution in which the first cities were built. Mesopotamia underwent several changes in leadership, falling under the power of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE.

The Parthian Empire established itself in the area in 200 BCE Then Persians ruled until the 7th century. The highly developed Abbasid Dynasty took over what is now Baghdad in 77 CE. The Sassinians established their empire in 200 CE. Next, Islamic conquest reigned in 600 CE until they were destroyed by the Mongols in 1200. Each of these powers craved the fertile land and trading oasis of the former Mesopotamia and fought for their desire to obtain it. Thus, the Silk Road regions within modern day Iraq were managed by a wide variety of rulers, giving them a high traffic and ultimately, high profit.

Adapted from

"Silk Road Docent Training," 2011. File on TAZ.

NOTES

September 15, 2016- This note is currently located in the CC-Geography notebook and being moved to the New-Time & Place notebook in order to consolidate all existing D3C content. There are no tags assigned to this note and the lack of a template suggests that it may no longer be intended for inclusion in the online collection. In order to avoid losing track of the note, I am assigning status, department, and keyword tags. Although the note says it was created by JBG, this information is often incorrect in Evernote. I will assign my author tag for now, but Jeelan or another D3C can easily complete the note or move it to a different notebook as they see fit. (EAS)
Mesopotamia, a core of the region often called the Fertile Crescent, was where humans first learned how to use the wheel and plow, and how to control floods and construct irrigation canals. In the 4th millennium B.C.E., the inhabitants of ancient Sumer, the first great Mesopotamian civilization, also established the earliest complex urban societies, called city-states, and invented writing. They may also have been the first culture to use pictures to tell coherent stories, far surpassing Stone Age artists' tentative efforts at pictorial narration.

ASSOCIATED CONTENT CHUNKS (list applicable note links)

AUDIO ASSETS

VIDEO ASSETS

IMAGE ASSETS

WEB RESOURCES

Smarthistory~Read, "Ancient Near East: Cradle of Civilization."
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History~Read more about Mesopotamia.

ARCHIVAL RESOURCES (digitized/non-digitized)

FUN FACTS

The name "Mesopotamia" derives from the Greek mesos (between) and potamus (river or stream), and refers to its location between the Tigris and Euprates rivers.

TEACHING IDEAS

RULES

set operator as OR

apply to objects where public_notes contains mesopotamia

apply to content where content contains mesopotamia

apply to content where tag_value equals 7001554

apply to objects where geography_id equals 7001554

General Description

Mesopotamia, located in modern day Iraq, is known by several names, including the "Cradle of Civilization" and "Land Between Two Rivers." This land is known for its innovative move to farming culture from hunting and gathering practices. These new practices of domesticating animals and plants led to the development of larger societies. In the 4th millennium BCE, the inhabitants of ancient Sumer, the first great Mesopotamian civilization, also established the earliest complex urban societies, called city-states, and invented writing. They may also have been the first culture to use pictures to tell coherent stories, far surpassing Stone Age artists' tentative efforts at pictorial narration.

Soon, societies became entirely made up of food developers and artisans, and eventually the Secondary Products Revolution emerged. The Secondary Products Revolution allowed people to trade their product surpluses. Trade was particularly successful in these Central Asian areas thus creating the Urban Revolution in which the first cities were built. Mesopotamia underwent several changes in leadership, falling under the power of Alexander the Great in 332 BCE.

The Parthian Empire established itself in the area in 200 BCE Then Persians ruled until the 7th century. The highly developed Abbasid Dynasty took over what is now Baghdad in 77 CE. The Sassinians established their empire in 200 CE. Next, Islamic conquest reigned in 600 CE until they were destroyed by the Mongols in 1200. Each of these powers craved the fertile land and trading oasis of the former Mesopotamia and fought for their desire to obtain it. Thus, the Silk Road regions within modern day Iraq were managed by a wide variety of rulers, giving them a high traffic and ultimately, high profit.

Adapted from

"Silk Road Docent Training," 2011. File on TAZ.

Fun Facts

The name "Mesopotamia" derives from the Greek mesos (between) and potamus (river or stream), and refers to its location between the Tigris and Euprates rivers.

Archival Resources

(digitized/non-digitized)

Web Resources

Smarthistory~Read, "Ancient Near East: Cradle of Civilization."
Heilbrunn Timeline of Art History~Read more about Mesopotamia.

Notes

September 15, 2016- This note is currently located in the CC-Geography notebook and being moved to the New-Time & Place notebook in order to consolidate all existing D3C content. There are no tags assigned to this note and the lack of a template suggests that it may no longer be intended for inclusion in the online collection. In order to avoid losing track of the note, I am assigning status, department, and keyword tags. Although the note says it was created by JBG, this information is often incorrect in Evernote. I will assign my author tag for now, but Jeelan or another D3C can easily complete the note or move it to a different notebook as they see fit. (EAS)
Mesopotamia, a core of the region often called the Fertile Crescent, was where humans first learned how to use the wheel and plow, and how to control floods and construct irrigation canals. In the 4th millennium B.C.E., the inhabitants of ancient Sumer, the first great Mesopotamian civilization, also established the earliest complex urban societies, called city-states, and invented writing. They may also have been the first culture to use pictures to tell coherent stories, far surpassing Stone Age artists' tentative efforts at pictorial narration.