Background
Mesopotamia (Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία Mesopotamíā; Arabic: بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن Bilād ar-Rāfidayn; Classical Syriac: ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, Ārām-Nahrīn or ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, Bēṯ Nahrīn) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Mesopotamia occupies most of present-day Iraq and Kuwait. The historical region includes the head of the Persian Gulf and parts of present-day Iran, Syria, and Turkey.

The Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire. Later the Arameans dominated major parts of Mesopotamia (c. 900 BC – 270 AD).

Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthian Empire. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with western parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In 226 AD, the eastern regions of Mesopotamia fell to the Sassanid Persians. The division of Mesopotamia between Roman (Byzantine from 395 AD) and Sassanid Empires lasted until the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia of the Sasanian Empire and Muslim conquest of the Levant from Byzantines. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century BC, including Adiabene, Osroene, and Hatra.

Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history, including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops, and the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture". It has been known as one of the earliest civilizations to ever exist in the world.

Mesopotamian Map shows the locations of Babylonian, Assyrian, Akkadian and Sumerian kingdoms

Mesopotamian Clay Tablet


Etymology
The regional toponym Mesopotamia (/ˌmɛsəpəˈteɪmiə/, Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία '[land] between rivers'; Arabic: بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن Bilād ar-Rāfidayn or بَيْن ٱلنَّهْرَيْن Bayn an-Nahrayn; Persian: میان‌رودان miyân rudân; Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ Beth Nahrain "land of rivers") comes from the ancient Greek root words μέσος (mesos, 'middle') and ποταμός (potamos, 'river') and translates to '(land) between rivers'. It is used throughout the Greek Septuagint (c. 250 BC) to translate the Hebrew and Aramaic equivalent Naharaim. An even earlier Greek usage of the name Mesopotamia is evident from The Anabasis of Alexander, which was written in the late 2nd century AD but specifically refers to sources from the time of Alexander the Great. In the Anabasis, Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the Euphrates in north Syria. The term Ārām Nahrīn (Classical Syriac: ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ) (Hebrew: ארם נהריים, Aram Naharayim) was used multiple times in the Old Testament of the Bible to describe "Aram between the (two) rivers".

The Aramaic term biritum/birit narim corresponded to a similar geographical concept. Later, the term Mesopotamia was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and the Tigris, thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all of Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of the Zagros Mountains are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia. A further distinction is usually made between Northern or Upper Mesopotamia and Southern or Lower Mesopotamia. Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the Jazira, is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to Baghdad.[18] Lower Mesopotamia is the area from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf and includes Kuwait and parts of western Iran.

In modern academic usage, the term Mesopotamia often also has a chronological connotation. It is usually used to designate the area until the Muslim conquests, with names like Syria, Jazira, and Iraq being used to describe the region after that date. It has been argued that these later euphemisms[clarification needed] are Eurocentric terms attributed to the region in the midst of various 19th-century Western encroachments.

Periodization

Pre- and protohistory
  • Pre-Pottery Neolithic A (10,000–8700 BC)
  • Pre-Pottery Neolithic B (8700–6800 BC)
  • Jarmo (7500–5000 BC)
  • Hassuna (~6000 BC–? BC), Samarra (~5700–4900 BC) and Halaf cultures (~6000–5300 BC) cultures
  • Ubaid period (~6500–4000 BC)
  • Uruk period (~4000–3100 BC)
  • Jemdet Nasr period (~3100–2900 BC)
Early Bronze Age
  • Early Dynastic period (~2900–2350 BC)
  • Akkadian Empire (~2350–2100 BC)
  • Third Dynasty of Ur (2112–2004 BC)
  • Early Assyrian kingdom (24th to 18th century BC)
Middle Bronze Age
  • Isin-Larsa period (19th to 18th century BC)
  • First Babylonian dynasty (18th to 17th century BC)
  • Minoan eruption (c. 1620 BC)
Late Bronze Age
  • Old Assyrian period (16th to 11th century BC)
  • Middle Assyrian period (c. 1365–1076 BC)
  • Kassites in Babylon, (c. 1595–1155 BC)
  • Late Bronze Age collapse (12th to 11th century BC)
Iron Age
  • Syro-Hittite states (11th to 7th century BC)
  • Neo-Assyrian Empire (10th to 7th century BC)
  • Neo-Babylonian Empire (7th to 6th century BC)
Classical antiquity
  • Persian Babylonia, Achaemenid Assyria (6th to 4th century BC)
  • Seleucid Mesopotamia (4th to 3rd century BC)
  • Parthian Babylonia (3rd century BC to 3rd century AD)
  • Osroene (2nd century BC to 3rd century AD)
  • Adiabene (1st to 2nd century AD)
  • Hatra (1st to 2nd century AD)
  • Roman Mesopotamia (2nd to 7th centuries AD), Roman Assyria (2nd century AD)
Late Antiquity
  • Palmyrene Empire (3nd century AD)
  • Asōristān (3rd to 7th century AD)
  • Euphratensis (mid-4th century AD to 7th century AD)
  • Muslim conquest (mid-7th century AD)

Gilgamesh - An Ancient Mesopotamian Mythological Hero

Lamassu - An Assyrian Protective Deity

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      Created by Haven Eldebaque