Chapter 2
Writing and City Life
a) What does Mesopotamia mean?
Answer: Mesopotamia means the place between rivers.
Answer: Agriculture started between 7,000 -6,000 BC.
c) What was the first language of the Mesopotamians?
Answer: The first language of the Mesopotamians was Sumartan.
d) Who is referred to as the land of the brick city of Chuma?
Answer: Mesopotamia is referred to as the land of the brick cities of Suma.
e) In what AD did Alexander invade Babylon?
Answer: Alexander invaded Babylon in 331 BC.
f) How many years ago was the Warkha Shir idol carved in white marble in Urok?
Answer: Before 3000 BC, the Barkha Shir idol was carved in white marble in Urok.
g) Who was Gilgamesh?
Answer: Gilgamesh was a tribal warrior.
h) In how many ADs did the Achaemenids of Iran conquer the kingdom of Babylon?
Answer: In 539 BC, the Akamenids of Iran conquered the kingdom of Babylon.
i) Who was Nebupulus?
Answer: There was a man from the southern Jalah region.
j) In how many BCs did cuneiform script begin to be written?
Answer: Cuneiform script was written around 2600 BC.
Write short questions:
1. How many years ago did the Akkadian language come into use?
Answer: The Akkadian language was introduced in 2400 BC.
2. Name two scripts.
Answer: The names of two scripts are
a) Kharoshti script.
b) Cuneiform script.
3. Mesopotamia is held between which two rivers?
Answer: Mesopotamia is located between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
4. The Name two rivers in Mesopotamia.
Answer: The names of two rivers in Mesopotamia
a) The Euphrates River.
b) The Tigris River.
5. How many BC was the Assyrian Empire established?
Answer: The Assyrian Empire was established in 1100 BC.
Write a brief
a) Use of scripts
Answer: A long epic Sumerian poem about an enmarker of the first rulers of Urok describes the relationship between urban life, trade and the author. According to Mesopotamian tradition, Urok was a very good city and was known as the great city.
Enmarker was involved in the early trade organizations of Sumer. The epic says that there was no trade in the past. Enmarker sent envoys to the distant kingdom of Aratta in search of sapphires and precious metals to build a temple in the city. But the messenger did not meet the ruler of Ara. Meanwhile, the king of Urok threatened him for sapphires and silver. The messenger failed to promise, and he had to return empty-handed. Finally, the messenger became so depressed that he could not express himself properly, confusing the enmarker's message. Then King Enmarker took clay and made a tablet and wrote the words on it. It was not customary to write letters on the ground at that time. When the messenger gave the written tablet to the king of Aratti, he examined it carefully and saw that there were only some nails inserted in it.
b) Urban life
Answer: We saw that a ruling class emerged: a small number of people had most of the wealth. This is clearly evidenced by the discovery of large amounts of valuables buried along with some kings and queens in Ur. But what was the situation of the common people? Although a married son and his family can often live with his parents, as far as we know, the smallest family group or ideal family in Mesopotamian society was legally consisted of a husband and wife and their children. The father is the head of the family. Little is known about the marriage process. The marriage is proposed and the bride's parents agree. After that, the groom's family presents gifts to the bride's family. In the wedding, both parties gather at a temple and offer offerings to the gods. They also exchange gifts among themselves, and when the father-in-law comes to pick up the daughter-in-law, the father accompanies the daughter's inheritance. The son inherits the father's house, cattle, fields, etc. Consider the oldest of the discovered cities, Ur. The ordinary dwellings of Ur, discovered in the 1930s, have been systematically excavated. The roads were rough and steep, and it seems that donkeys were used to carry goods to their homes.
c) Letter development
Answer: Every people or society has a language. The words pronounced here seem to have a specific meaning. There are also some differences in verbal communication. When we talk about handwriting, we mean the expression of spoken words in visible signs.
The first tablets found in Mesopotamia date back to about 7000 BC and contained symbols such as figures and numbers. About 5,000 lists of bulls, fish, bread, etc. have been found. These may be lists of items brought to or distributed from the temple in the city of Uruk in southern Mesopotamia. It is clear that scripting begins when it becomes necessary to keep records of exchanges and movements in society. This is because in an urban system, you have to deal with different things with different people at different times. The Mesopotamians wrote letters on pottery tablets. A writer flattens the clay with his hands, makes the tablets the size he can hold in one hand and carefully grinds them. They make a V-shaped mark by pressing the back of the tablet, which is still dry, with the slanted end of the tube. After drying in the sun, these tablets become hard like pottery. Tablet text is discarded when it is no longer needed.
D. The tradition of the art of writing
Answer: Many stories are passed down by word of mouth but written books are needed so that scholars can study them from generation to generation and make new inventions on the basis of them. Perhaps the greatest treasure Mesopotamia left to the world is the heritage of time and mathematics. Some tablets dating from about 1800 BC contain tables of addition and subtraction, tables of squares and square roots, and tables of compound formulas. The division of the year into twelve months, 1 month into 4 weeks and the division of the day into 24 hours and the hour into 60 minutes as the Moon revolves around the Earth came from the Mesopotamians. This division of time was adopted by Alexander's successors. From them the Roman Empire expanded, then to Islamic countries and then to medieval Europe. Whenever a solar or lunar eclipse was observed, the year, month, and date of these events were recorded. The positions of stars and constellations in the night sky were also recorded.
Without writing, it would not be possible today to know about such past and important achievements of Mesopotamia. There would be a lack of institutions like urban schools. Students read booklets in old script and copied them. Some students were not created as ordinary administrative accountants but as such gifted individuals. They could not have advanced the intellectual realization of their ancestors. This would be a mistake, if we think that the urban dwellers of Mesopotamia were familiar with modern life. They tried to recover and preserve the writings and traditions of the past through two or two types of initial measures.
e) Write about Mesopotamia and its geography.
Iraq is a country with a variety of natural environments . The green plains of Dou-Khela are in the northeast. Gradually it merges with mountain ranges full of trees , streams and rivers. It receives abundant rainfall which is essential for crops. Agriculture began between 7,000-6,000 BC. Steppe highlands to the north - more suitable for animal husbandry than agriculture. The short shrub grasses that grow after the winter rains provide grazing for sheep and goats. To the east, the tributaries of the Tigris River provide access to the mountains of Iran. To the south is the desert ---- this is where the first cities and writing appeared. This desert also helped in the formation of cities. This is because the Euphrates and Tigris rivers carry fertile mud from the mountains - which flood and fill the plains.
The water of the Euphrates River enters the desert through small drains. They flood the surrounding areas during floods and in the past provided natural irrigation. The drains could be used to carry water to the fields of barley, barley, peas or lentils as required. Southern Mesopotamia produced the most food of all ancient systems such as the Roman Empire. In addition to agriculture, sheep grazing on the steppes, northeastern plains and mountain slopes, and goat meat, milk and wool were abundant. On the other hand, the river was rich in fish and dates in summer. We need to know that only rural development creates cities.
Important Question
1. In which decade did archaeological research begin in Mesopotamia?
Archaeological research began in Mesopotamia in the 1940s .
2. Write a characteristic of urban life.
Answer: One of the characteristics of urban life is the division of labour.
3. Write about one of the best cities in Mesopotamia.
Answer: One of the best cities in Mesopotamia is the city of Urok.
4. What is the name of the city that Gilgamesh ruled?
Answer: The name of the city that Gilgamesh ruled was Urok.
5. What is the name of the last king of Babylon?
Answer: The last king of Babylon was Nebonidus.
6. What is the name of the epic written by Gilgamesh?
Answer: The epic written by Gilgamesh is called the Epic of Gilgamesh.
7. What was the name of the last king of the Assyrians?
Answer: The last king of the Assyrians was Osbarnipal.
8. What was the name of the capital of the Assyrian Empire?
Answer: The capital of the Assyrian Empire was Nineveh.
9. In how many BC did the Achaemenids of Iran conquer Babylon?
Answer: Babylon was conquered by the Akamenids of Iran in 539 BC.
10. In how many BCs did agriculture begin in Mesopotamia?
Answer: Agriculture began in Mesopotamia about 7000-6000 years ago.
