What is the meaning of Mesopotamia? Concept, Definition of Mesopotamia

Definition of Mesopotamia



1 Meaning of Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia (Greek: Μεσοποταμία, meso-potamia, 'between rivers', translation from the old Persian Miyanrudan, 'the land between rivers', or of the Aramaic beth nahrin, 'between two rivers') is the name by which is known to the Middle East area located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, but extends to the fertile areas adjacent to the Strip between the two rivers, and which coincides approximately with the current Iraq not desert areas and the border area of Northeastern Syria.
The term mainly refers to this area in the ancient age which was divided into North, Assyria and Babylon to the South. Babylon, in turn, was divided in Sumeria and Acadia (top) (bottom). Its rulers were called patesi.
In the interior of Mesopotamia, the agriculture and livestock were imposed between the 6000 and the 5000 a. C., assuming the full entrance to the neolitico.2 during this period, new production techniques that had been developed in the initial Neolithic area expanded by the region's latest development, including internal Mesopotamia. This fact led to the development of the cities. Some of the first were Buqras, Umm Dabaghiyah and Yarim, and more belatedly, Tell es-Sawwan and Choga Mami, who formed the so-called culture Umm Dabaghiyah. Later this was replaced by the cultures of Hassuna-Samarra, between the 5600 and the 5000 BC and by the Halaf culture between the 5600 and the 4000 BC (late Halaf).
Approximately in the 3000 b.c., appeared the writing, at that time used only to carry the Community administrative accounts. The earliest writings that have been found are written on clay (very common in that area) with a few drawings formed by lines (pictograms).
Urban civilization continued to make progress during the period of the Obeid4 (5000 a. C.-3700 BC) with advances in ceramic techniques and irrigation and the construction of the first urban temples.
After El Obeid, occurs the Uruk period, in which urban civilization settled definitively with enormous technical advances such as the wheel and the calculation, using annotations in clay tablets and that would evolve into the earliest forms of writing.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Mesopotamian_Chronology_2.png
Chronology of the major villages in power (domination).


2. Definition of Mesopotamia

Ancient Mesopotamia is the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and which in antiquity was the cradle of civilization.
Say Mesopotamia means to say a melting pot of cultures: Sumerians, Akkadians, Amorites, Assyria, Babylon, Persia... and within each culture a without end of Kings, City States and wars.
There was great variety of peoples in ancient Mesopotamia, but they can be divided into two large groups: the sedentary and nomadic. Relations between the two groups greatly marked the history of the region of Mesopotamia.
The Sumerians and Akkadians developed their civilization in Mesopotamia already during the III and IV millennia BC. Centuries later the Assyrian Empire was one of the most fascinating ancient history, but the heyday of Mesopotamia was not just in the Assyrian or Babylonian Empires. During the Arab period Mesopotamia was headquarters of the Caliphate although thereafter it began to decline.
Not only the technical advances that the peoples of Mesopotamia, developed as wheel, the first cities, the exploitation of the natural resources of Mesopotamia, math or writing etc, but also the culture of ancient Mesopotamia has transcended and influenced today's Western European culture. Studying ancient Mesopotamia is to study the origin of our way of thinking and living.
Sumeria may be considered as the most ancient civilization in the world. Probably the Sumerian culture began to build in the city of Uruk spreading later by the rest of the lower Mesopotamian. In this city appears wheel lathe to 3500 BC and writing around 3300 B.c. This latter event marks the transition between prehistory and history.
The Akkadian empire begins with the conquests of Sargon of Akkad the great who was the first monarch capable of unifying the ancient Mesopotamia.
After a dark period resurfaced the Sumerians and after them the amorritas dynasties. It would soon begin the Paleobabilonico Empire, with the arrival in power in Babylon of Hammurabi.
After a period marked by the conquests of the Hittites, Assyria culture was developed in the region of ancient Mesopotamia between 1800 and 600 a.J. Met them by their Warrior ability and great cruelty with the defeated enemy.
Babylon ends up defeating the Assyrian and Chaldean Empire develops until Persia with Ciro II the great conquers all Mesopotamia.

3 Concept of Mesopotamia

It is called Mesopotamia to the area located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, which corresponds to the current Iraq, Northeastern Syria and parts of what corresponds to Turkey and Iran. Its importance lies in that it is widely considered as one of the cradles of Western civilization. During its splendor was dominated by several different Empires, all born in the current Iraq, and fell in the year 332 BC at the hands of the army of Alexander the great.
The history of Mesopotamia is marked as the home of the first urban societies, during the period known as the period of El Obeid, near the 5300 before of Christ. In addition, Mesopotamia is credited the creation of the first States really complex in social terms, as well as the development of Cuneiform. This system, first used only by a few studied, managed to be extended during the reign of Sargon, to the point that a considerable percentage of the population gained the ability to read and write these symbols, including men and women alike.
In matter of literature, many of the Mesopotamian texts are still studied today in day, as it is the case of the epic of Gilgamesh, divided into twelve books and considered the first narration written in the history of mankind.
The civilization of Mesopotamia also developed mathematics, astronomy and medicine. In a matter of mathematics, for example, used a number of base 60 system, which gave rise at the time of 60 minutes, 24 hours a day and the circle of 360 degrees. In addition, they developed the first strokes of maps and possessed theorems on how to calculate the area of many figures and solids, most of them not far from the way in which we calculate them today.
The advances made by Mesopotamia in other areas such as technology, the Government and the economy marked the passage and left an important precedent for the future civilizacines.