10 characteristics of MESOPOTAMIA

Name Mesopotamia it has been used with varying connotations by ancient writers. For convenience, it is considered synonymous with the modern state of Iraq. It can be divided into two fairly well-defined provinces: a flat floodplain in the south and, in the north, the highlands through which the country's rivers flow in their middle courses. This geographical division of the area is reflected in the history of its cultural development from the earliest times.

Characteristics of Mesopotamia

1. The use of irrigation was systematic.
2. Barley and flax were the two basic things that surely produced and flourished.
3. The Mesopotamian solar calendar had two seasons, summer and winter. Each new year began on the first visible crescent moon, after the vernal equinox. Enthusiastic astronomers, the Mesopotamians understood the heliocentric model of planetary movement, knowing that the earth rotates on its own axis and, in turn, revolves around the sun.
4. The society was very well organized. Unlike the Egyptian system, the government was not centralized, but rather worked in the city-state organization.
5. The palm tree was very useful to the Mesopotamians. And it helped improve crops and their growth through cross-pollination.



6. The organization was so well created that all written records and documents were excavated on the site of the cities of this civilization. Their documents were found in the form of clay tablets, and their language was an older version of the region's predominant languages, a strange mixture of Hebrew and Arabic.
7. Civilization flourished due to its modern approach. Contrary to what was perceived to be the Egyptian way of thinking, the Mesopotamians seemed to be a bit more advanced in their approach, but yes, they certainly lacked unity due to the lack of centralized governance. Civilization is supposed to have perished because of its interstate wars which were a source of constant disturbance, socially and politically. But it is marked by a remarkable degree of being urban because civilization is crucial to world history.
8. The first civilizations began to form at the time of the Neolithic Revolution, 12,000 BC.
9. Mesopotamian religion was polytheistic, meaning there were many gods and goddesses, as well as henotheistic, meaning certain gods are seen as superior to others. In the late Mesopotamian period, people began to rank the deities in order of importance. Each god has a priest, a temple, and a traditional ritual, and there were hundreds of temples scattered throughout each city.
10. The Mesopotamian social strata had three main classes; government officials, nobles, and priests were at the top; the second was a class consisting of merchants, artisans, craftsmen, and farmers; In the background were prisoners of war and slaves. The commoners were considered free citizens and were protected by law.

The first vestiges of settled communities are found in the northern region and date from the middle of the sixth millennium BC. C.. , a period that archaeologists associate with the transition from a Neolithic to a Chalcolithic age. It is of some importance that this period also corresponds with the first use of painted ornament on ceramic vessels, since the designs used for this purpose are the most reliable criteria by which ethnological groups and migratory movements can be distinguished. Archaeologically, such groupings are named, for the most part, arbitrarily, the name of the place in which they were first found, and the same names are sometimes attributed to the prehistoric periods during which they were predominant. Thus Hassuna, Hassuna-Sāmarrāʾ, and Halaf, in northern Iraq, are the names given to the first three periods during which the known early settlements were successively occupied by peoples whose relations were apparently with Syria and Anatolia.

The ceramic designs, sometimes in more than one color, generally consist of areas filled with "geometric" ornaments in patterns reminiscent of woven fabrics. These designs are often adapted to the shape of the vessels with creditable artifice. Only in Hassuna-Sāmarrāʾ pottery do objects consisting of ingeniously stylized and aesthetically appealing animal, bird or even human figures appear from time to time. Such motifs, however, appear to be borrowed from contemporary Iranian ceramics. The only other notable art form at this time is that of stone or clay hominoid figurines, associated with primitive religious cults; however, their formal idiosyncrasies vary greatly from group to group, and the meaning of their symbolism is unknown. Neither can they, nor the ceramic designs, be considered as an antecedent of the Mesopotamian art of historic times, whose antecedents must be sought in southern Iraq.

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