Mesopotemia

Mesopotamia (from the Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία: "[land] between rivers"; Arabic: بلاد الرافدين‎ (bilād al-rāfidayn); Syriac: ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪܝܢ (beth nahrain): "land of rivers") is a toponym for the area of the Tigris–Euphrates river system, largely corresponding to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran.

Widely considered to be the cradle of civilization in the West, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires. In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian empires. The indigenous 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.

Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthians. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD 226, it fell to the Sassanid Persians, and remained under Persian rule until the 7th century Arab Islamic conquest of the Sassanid Empire. A number of primarily neo Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, including Adiabene, Osroene and Hatra.

Contents [hide]

1 Etymology

2 Geography

3 History

3.1 Periodization

4 Language and writing

4.1 Literature

5 Science and technology

5.1 Mathematics

5.2 Astronomy

5.3 Medicine

5.4 Technology

6 Religion and philosophy

6.1 Philosophy

7 Culture

7.1 Festivals

7.2 Music

7.3 Games

7.4 Family life

7.5 Burials

8 Economy and agriculture

9 Government

9.1 Kings

9.2 Power

9.3 Warfare

9.4 Laws

10 Architecture

11 See also

12 References

13 Further reading

14 External links

Etymology

map showing the Tigris–Euphrates river system, which...