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[[Image:Mesopotamia.jpg|right]]

[[Image:Mesopotamia.jpg|right]]

Mesopotamia (mes-uh-puh-TAY-mee-uh) was an ancient civilization that lasted from  3500 to 500 B.C., when it was conquered by Persia and is the name for a region in the [[Middle East]].

'''Mesopotamia''' (''mes-uh-puh-TAY-mee-uh'') was an ancient civilization that lasted from  3500 to 500 B.C., when it was conquered by Persia and is the name for a region in the [[Middle East]].

Civilization began in a region known as Mesopotamia, which is Greek for "land between the rivers."  The "rivers" are the Tigris and Euphrates, located in Western Asia, in fertile areas of Iraq northeast of the desert.  This region is known as part of the "Fertile Crescent" that extends along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (including modern Israel, Lebanon and Syria) and the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that run southeast into the Persian Gulf.  These rivers deposited silt in the surrounding land, creating rich alluvial soil.  Today the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are not far from the location of our soldiers in Iraq.  However, our soldiers are mostly pictured in sandy areas, while the ancient people would have stayed close to the water.  Moreover, ancient floods would have changed the landscape over time.

Civilization began in a region known as Mesopotamia, which is [[Greek]] for "land between the rivers."  The "rivers" are the [[Tigris]] and Euphrates, located in Western Asia, in fertile areas of Iraq northeast of the desert.  This region is known as part of the "Fertile Crescent" that extends along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea (including modern Israel, Lebanon and Syria) and the fertile valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers that run southeast into the Persian Gulf.  These rivers deposited silt in the surrounding land, creating rich alluvial soil.  Today the Tigris and Euphrates rivers are not far from the location of our soldiers in Iraq.  However, our soldiers are mostly pictured in sandy areas, while the ancient people would have stayed close to the water.  Moreover, ancient floods would have changed the landscape over time.

Genesis 2:8-17 (NAS) describes the beginning in Mesopotamia as follows: "The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. … Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ... The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates."  Using the ages mentioned in the Bible and counting backwards, biblical scholars have dated this as about 6000 years ago, or about 4000 B.C.  This is about 500 years before our earliest record of ancient writings.

Genesis 2:8-17 (NAS) describes the beginning in Mesopotamia as follows: "The LORD God planted a garden toward the east, in Eden; and there He placed the man whom He had formed. … Now a river flowed out of Eden to water the garden; and from there it divided and became four rivers. The name of the first is Pishon; it flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. ... The name of the third river is Tigris; it flows east of Assyria. And the fourth river is the Euphrates."  Using the ages mentioned in the Bible and counting backwards, biblical scholars have dated this as about 6000 years ago, or about 4000 B.C.  This is about 500 years before our earliest record of ancient writings.

In the fourth millennium before Christ, between about 3500 and 3000 B.C., two things happened: writing was invented and cities began to sprout up with their own political and economic systems.  Both of these developments occurred in southern Mesopotamia.  This was known as Sumer, and the occupants were the Sumerians.

In the fourth millennium before [[Christ]], between about 3500 and 3000 B.C., two things happened: writing was invented and cities began to sprout up with their own political and economic systems.  Both of these developments occurred in southern Mesopotamia.  This was known as Sumer, and the occupants were the Sumerians.

We owe a great deal to the work of the Sumerians.  They developed the first system of writing (the cuneiform), the first codes of law and the first "city-state" (essentially a nation consisting only of a large city).  Their inventions were marvelous: the seed plow, the sailboat, and the potter's wheel.  (Distinguish "cuneiforms" from "ideograms", which show ideas with symbols such as arrows for war, from "phonograms", in which symbols represent sounds).

We owe a great deal to the work of the Sumerians.  They developed the first system of writing (the cuneiform), the first codes of law and the first "city-state" (essentially a nation consisting only of a large city).  Their inventions were marvelous: the seed plow, the sailboat, and the potter's wheel.  (Distinguish "cuneiforms" from "ideograms", which show ideas with symbols such as arrows for war, from "phonograms", in which symbols represent sounds).