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The Cradle of Civilization is the term given to the land in
the Middle East, ancient Mesopotamia, meaning “the land between the rivers.” Located
between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the land became known as the Fertile Crescent
because the land was moist and rich due to the proximity of the two rivers and
the Mediterranean Sea. Because the land was rich, it was the first place that
people settled down and created a community, this was the first place where
complex urban centers grew and flourished. The importance of the location not
only provided suitable land for agriculture, the location was also key for
hunting, fishing, irrigation, and protection. The nomadic lifestyle soon became
irrelevant because the people didn’t need to continue traveling; everything
they needed was there, so they began establishing permanent villages and
cities. It is said that Mesopotamia was the place of the legendary Garden of Eden. On the
spot where the Tigris meets the Euphrates Rivers, the holy tree of Adam emerged
symbolizing the Tree of Life in the Garden of Eden. Mesopotamia does not refer to any particular civilization.
Over the course of thousands of years, many civilizations developed, collapsed,
and were replaced in this region including the Sumerians, Babylonians and Assyrians.
Around 10,200 BC, the first fully developed Neolithic cultures
appeared. From the Fertile Crescent, people spread eastwards and westwards. One
of the first settlements, thought to be settled around 8500 BC, was Jericho in
the Levant region. It was during the Ubaid period (6500 BC to 3800 BC)
that the movement towards urbanization began. Agriculture and animal breeding
were widely practiced in communities in Northern Mesopotamia, and irrigated
hydraulic agriculture began to be practiced in the south. Eridu and Ur
date to around 5300 BC and are the oldest Sumerian settlements around this
period. In the south, the Ubaid period had a very long duration from around
6500 to 3800 BCE, when it was replaced by the Uruk Period, named after the Sumerian city of Uruk. This period saw the early stages of urban life in
Mesopotamia. During this period pottery
painting declined as copper started to become popular, Uruk trade networks
started to expand to other parts of Mesopotamia and strong signs of
governmental organization and social classes began. The earliest ziggurats date to the end of this time period.
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Cities often had large
gateways which were used to enter and exit the fortification walls. The most
famous of these was the Ishtar Gate from Babylon. It was decorated with
carvings of animals and patterns. Today, some of it is reconstructed and is in
the Pergamon Museum in Berlin.
Image: archeoloogy-travel.com |
The most notable architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at uruk from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from theEarly Dynistic period sites in the River valley
Sources:
1- Watkin, David. A History of Western Architecture: Sixth ed. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1986. Print.
2- KhanAcademy.com
3- Encyclopædia Britannica, September, 2014
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