Mesopotamia: The Land of Firsts

By Bridgette Byrd O’Connor

Mesopotamia was a historic region in what is now Iraq. It was a land of firsts. It was where the first empire developed. It created the first written language. In this article, you will learn about Mesopotamia’s many firsts, from c. 3800 to 331 BCE.

A series of three clay tablets inscribed with the hymn “Lady of All Divine Powers.”

Geography and Environment

Two major rivers flow through what was Mesopotamia. One is the Tigris. The other is the Euphrates. Both start in the Zagros Mountains and flow to the Persian Gulf. Mesopotamia’s people settled in the valleys along these two great rivers. The river valley soil was very fertile. It was perfect for farming. Agriculture, or farming, in the region, soon became very advanced. Around 3800 BCE, large city-states such as Eridu, Ur, and Uruk formed in southern Mesopotamia. This group of city-states is known as Sumer. The city-states in northern Mesopotamia are known as Akkad.

Map showing Mesopotamian city-states and the extent of the Akkadian Empire.

Mesopotamia was semi-arid, meaning it didn’t get much rain. But when the snows thawed in the Zagros Mountains, the rivers flooded. When the waters went down, rich soil was left behind. This made large-scale farming possible. Unfortunately, it was difficult to predict when floods would happen. Over time, flooding and the semi-arid climate caused a build-up of salt in the soil. The mix of flooding and salty soil wasn’t good. It meant a city-state’s harvest could be ruined. When this happened, people had a lot less food. They became very hungry.

Infographic timeline for Mesopotamian city-states and empires spanning 3800 BCE–331 BCE.

The Standard of Ur box, decorated on four sides with inlaid mosaic scenes made from shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli, set in bitumen. — *“The Standard of Ur”, decorated on four sides with inlaid mosaic scenes made from shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli, set in bitumen. © The Trustees of the British Museum.*

The box that trade made
This box is called the Standard of Ur. It was made about 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia. One side of the box shows scenes of peace. The other side shows war. The various parts of the box came from a lot of places. Some of these places were more than 1,900 miles away. That tells us that Mesopotamia had highly developed trade networks.

Big Question #1:
How did geography and the environment shape the development of Mesopotamian societies?

Political Structure

Base of a stela decorated on two registers with the victory scene from Sargon of Akkad. — *Victory scene from the stela of Sargon of Akkad, c. 2334–2279 BCE. Courtesy of the Louvre Museum.*

Mesopotamia’s political structure was shaped by its environment. Rich soil usually led to lots of crops. Extra crops had to be stored and given out to people. Someone had to oversee large projects like building irrigation or watering systems and canals. Walls needed to be built to protect food supplies. Each city- state had a ruler who directed these projects. Usually, that ruler was a king. Every city-state needed water and land. As a result, wars often broke out between the city-states. So, a city-state had to have soldiers. It also needed a strong ruler to command those soldiers.

The city-states in the south called Sumer grew weak. This allowed Sargon of Akkad (c. 2334 to 2279 BCE) to conquer the south. He then unified all of Mesopotamia. This created the world’s first empire. Sargon’s empire stretched from the Mediterranean Sea to the Persian Gulf. To control it, Sargon formed the first permanent army. It had about 5,000 soldiers. These reforms helped trade increase. He selected people he trusted for offices. For example, he made his daughter Enheduanna a high priestess of Ur.

After Sargon died, his heirs reigned until 2150 BCE. At that point, a famine or food shortage weakened the empire. A nomadic people from the Zagros Mountains defeated Sargon’s dynasty. The empire then broke apart. But the Akkadian Empire wasn’t forgotten. Sargon served as the model ruler for future kings like Hammurabi of the Babylonian Empire and Sargon II of the Assyrian Empire.

*Map of ancient empires c. 300 BCE including the Akkadian Empire outlined in red. Explore more here. By WHP, CC BY 4.0*

Big Question #2:
What was the political structure of Mesopotamian societies and how did the environment shape politics?

Culture

Writing was invented in Mesopotamia. It first arose around 3400 BCE. The Sumerians wrote on clay tablets. They used a script called cuneiform. Thanks to the climate of Mesopotamia, these tablets still exist. The tablets allow us to see such things as records of trade, letters, and stories.

The first epic poem was written in Akkadian. It is called The Epic of Gilgamesh. Its author is unknown. However, the first author in the world whose name we do know was Mesopotamian. Her name was Enheduanna (c. 2285 to 2250 BCE). Enheduanna was Sargon’s daughter. She was a poet and a priestess.

Writing wasn’t the only cultural accomplishment of the Mesopotamians. The Sumerians used math to survey land. Mesopotamian astronomers were very skilled. They predicted eclipses and created the zodiac signs. They even invented the 24-hour day, with 60-minute hours and 60-second minutes. It is the very same system we still use today!

Tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh from Nineveh, written in Akkadian cuneiform text. — *Third tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh, written in Akkadian, from the library of Nineveh, c. seventh century BCE. © The Trustees of the British Museum.*

Impression and cylinder seal used by Mesopotamian scribes. These depict a goddess in a long striped robe standing with both hands raised behind a worshipper wearing a fringed robe and a skull-cap who stands with his right hand raised facing a warrior god. The god is bearded, wears a robe with a striped skirt and holds a sickle sword in his right hand and an axe over his left shoulder. Between the worshipper and the god is an altar with a palm-leaf and date clusters rising from it. — *Limestone cylinder seal from Ur. © The British Museum.*

The oldest writing in the world
Many of Mesopotamia’s cuneiform tablets still survive today. They tell us a great deal about Mesopotamian life. The word “cuneiform” means “wedge-shaped.” It refers to the look of the writing. Scribes used a reed stylus to write. They wrote on soft clay, which later hardened. They also created cylinder seals like the one in the picture to the left. These seals had words and pictures carved into them. You can view more Mesopotamian cylinder seals at The Morgan Library in New York.

Big Question #3:
What were the cultural characteristics of Mesopotamian society?

Society

Like most complex agrarian societies, Mesopotamian society was hierarchical. That means it was divided into clear levels. The king and nobles were at the top, along with priests and priestesses. The lower classes and the enslaved were at the bottom. Most people were part of the lower classes. They worked as farmers, soldiers, and artisans. A large number of people were enslaved. Most became enslaved after being captured in war. However, some people sold themselves into slavery to pay off debts. People could later buy their freedom.

Men and women had different roles. In general, men had the most power. However, some women held important positions. Women of the lower classes worked as midwives, perfumers, or tavern managers.

Religion was important in everyday life. The king was believed to have a special relationship with the gods. Some kings even claimed to be divine, or god-like. Priests and priestesses like Enheduanna lived in the city’s temples, called ziggurats.

An aerial view shows the Great Ziggurat temple in the ancient city of Ur in the southern province of Dhi Qar. — *Ziggurat of Ur, dedicated to the Moon god Nanna, where Enheduanna was the high priestess. © Getty Images.*

Big Question #4:
How was Mesopotamian society organized?

Decline and Transformation

Mesopotamia had few natural barriers, like mountains or oceans. That meant invaders could easily take over an empire that was becoming weak. That happened often. Environmental changes played a role, too. If flooding could not be controlled or the soil was too salty, then crops failed. This led to famine or a great lack of food. Famines weakened the power of kings and armies. They made people rebel. Outsiders saw these moments of weakness and invaded.

Mesopotamia began as a group of independent city- states. It became a series of different empires. Among these were the Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Persian empires. In 331 BCE, Mesopotamia fell to Alexander the Great. It then became part of his empire.

Alexander the Great
Alexander the Great (356 BCE to 323 BCE) was king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. His empire stretched from Egypt to India. Alexander was very good at conquering. Still, his empire was short-lived. Alexander the Great’s generals split up his empire after his death. See the Macedonian Empire article to learn more about Alexander the Great.

Detailed floor mosaic showing Alexander the Great. — *“Alexander Mosaic” showing Alexander the Great. © Getty Images.*

Big Question #5:
What led to the decline and transformation of Mesopotamian societies?

Sources

LAlgaze, Guillermo, Burchard Brenties, A. Bernard Knapp, Philip L. Kohl, Wade R. Kotter, C.C. Lamberg-Karlovsky, Glenn M. Shwartz, et al. “The Uruk Expansion: Cross-cultural Exchange in Early Mesoptamian Civilization.” Current Anthropology 30, no. 5 (1989): 571–608.

Altaweel, Mark, and Andrea Squitieri. “Long-Distance Trade and Economy before and during the Age of Empires.” In Revolutionizing a World: From Small States to Universalism in the Pre-Islamic Near East, 160–78. UCL Press, 2018. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt21c4td4.10.

“Enheduanna: The world’s first named author.” BBC Culture, October 25, 2022. https://www.bbc.com/culture/article/20221025-enheduanna-the-worlds-first-named-author.

Richardson, Seth. “Early Mesopotamia: The Presumptive State.” Past & Present 215 (2012): 3–49.

Rothman, Mitchell S. “Studying the Development of Complex Society: Mesopotamia in the Late Fifth and Fourth Millennia BC.” Journal of Archaeological Research 12, no. 1 (2004): 75–119.

Stol, M. “Women in Mesopotamia.” Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 38, no. 2 (1995): 123–44.

Tamur, Erhan. “She Who Wrote: Enheduanna and Women of Mesopotamia, ca. 3400 – 2000 BC.” The Morgan Library & Museum, March 29, 2021. https://www.themorgan.org/blog/she-who-wrote-enheduanna-and-women-mesopotamia.

Ur, Jason A. “Cycles of Civilization in Northern Mesopotamia, 4400–2000 BC.” Journal of Archaeological Research 18, no. 4 (2010): 387–431.

Bridgette Byrd O’Connor

Bridgette Byrd O’Connor holds a DPhil in history from the University of Oxford and taught the Big History Project and World History Project courses and AP® US government and politics for 10 years at the high-school level. In addition, she’s been a freelance writer and editor for the Crash Course World History and US History curricula. She’s currently a content manager for the OER Project.

Credit: O’Connor, Bridgette Byrd. “Mesopotamia: The Land of Firsts.” OER Project, 2023. https://www.oerproject.com/

Image credits

Creative Commons This work is licensed under CC BY 4.0 except for the following:

Cover image: “The Exaltation of Inanna” hymn written c. 2300 BCE in Sumerian cuneiform by the priestess and poet Enheduanna. The tablets in the image date from c. 1750 BCE and were probably copies made by Mesopotamian scribes. (YPM BC 018721) Courtesy of the Yale Peabody Museum, Division of Anthropology, Babylonian Collection, Yale University; peabody.yale.edu.

Map showing Mesopotamian city-states and the extent of the Akkadian Empire. By WHP, CC BY 4.0.

This is the peace panel from the Standard of Ur, a box depicting scenes of Sumarian life, c. 2600–2400 BCE. The box is decorated with shells from the Persian Gulf, red limestone from India, and lapis lazuli from Afghanistan—all materials obtained through trade with these societies. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

Map of ancient empires c. 300 BCE including the Akkadian Empire outlined in red. Explore more here: https://www.oerproject.com/OER-Materials/OER-Media/Images/WHP-Maps/300bce-layer-3. By WHP, CC BY 4.0.

Third tablet of the Epic of Gilgamesh, written in Akkadian, from the library at Nineveh, c. seventh century BCE. © The Trustees of the British Museum.

Limestone cylinder seal from Ur depicting the owner of the seal standing between a warrior god and a goddess, c. 2075 BCE. The name of the seal is “May I live by the benevolent wisdom of my master” and the inscription reads in part, “…the seal is dedicated for Shulgi, the strong man, the king of Ur; Kilula. The chair bearer, son of Ur-Bagara, made [this seal].” © The Trustees of the British Museum.

Ziggurat of Ur, dedicated to the Moon god Nanna, where Enheduanna was the high priestess. © Asaad NIAZI / AFP / Getty Images.

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