Hello friends! Welcome to a new happy learning video! Today we're going to learn about the first and most important of human civilisations.
Today we're going to learn about... Mesopotamia! The word Mesopotamia means between two rivers in Greek.
So this civilisation was named because it's situated between two rivers. Tigris and Euphrates. Within these fertile lands, the first ever city-states were born 4,000 years before Christ. The most important cities were Ur, Uruk and Lagash. These city-states were independent from each other.
They were surrounded by a great wall to protect themselves. The ziggurat, a temple where priests lived, was built in the centre of the city. Here they controlled trade, agriculture and taxes. The supreme priest had the city's political and religious power. Agricultural fields spread across these cities which were traversed by irrigation channels that used the river's water to water cultivations and animals would drink.
Most of the city's citizens were farmers and shepherds, but there were also artisans that sold their own products at markets. Because of their well-being, both cities began to grow, but so did the conflicts between them due to the control of land. These battles arose military leaders that little by little turned into monarchs, into kings. Between the years 3000 and 1000 BC, Mesopotamian lands were conquered by various towns or cities. The first one was the Arcadian Empire, then the Babylonian Empire, followed by the Assyrian Empire and finally the Persian Empire.
So we've got to know part of Mesopotamia's history, but do you know why it has been such an important civilization for humanity? Well, there are many reasons, but the first one is because Mesopotamia was where around 3500 BC the first written language was found. At first it was composed by simple drawings called pictograms.
Look at these examples. Over time these drawings were simplified and started to transform into symbols, which is what we know today as cuneiform writing. As you can see, this writing was made with a wooden punch over clay boards.
Another great contribution Mesopotamia made was its art. They created the Ark and Vault. that helps them construct magnificent temples and palaces.
To decorate the walls and doors within these temples and palaces, they used paintings like this one, where the King Ashurbanipal is hunting lions. By the way, before we say goodbye, do you know what country Mesopotamia is today? Well, it's Iraq!
You can see it here. Goodbye friends, and don't forget to subscribe to Happy Learning TV!