History begins in Mesopotamia
The ways of cultural diffusion are manifold, intricate and complex but for Mesopotamia, it set the stage on which many civilizations rose and inventions were made. Notable contributors to the history of Mesopotamia include Sumerians, Phoenicians and Babylonians.Living on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, Sumerians gave the world its first irrigation system. Set to control the river waters for irrigation, they dug primitive yet functional canals that not only improved their agricultural production but made them members of the earliest civilization. Irrigation led to communal effort and organization, making it necessary to establish a form of leadership for control. As a result, the Sumerian states were unified by Sargon (a warlord form the city state of Akkad) to form the world's first empire. Sumerians boasted of a number of achievements that carried on into later centuries. Cuneiform, the name given to Sumerian writing, was the earliest known form of writing. Sir Henry Rawlinson, an archaeologist, excavated the "Rock of Bebistun", a tablet containing ancient Sumerian writing. Although primitive in that it was mainly symbolic, it was the basis for the development of writing in anci
ent times and a forerunner to the modern art of writing. In the matter of scientific achievement, it is probably in the field of mathematics that the Sumerians made their major contribution to future generations. Sumerians composed some of the world's earliest known literature, most notably the "Epic of Gilgamesh", a Sumerian poem that deals with immortality. One of the most characteristic features of the Babylonian social order was written law. Sumerians also developed cylinder seals, which were special markers, used by trades' people as signatures and for ownership confirmation. This eventually led to the change from the traditional barter system to a more convenient monetary system, laying the foundation for money as a legal tender for trade. Tablets excavated at Nippur showed curing instructions that did not rely upon magic and rituals as was the case in ancient civilizations. There was also the development of a new metrological numeration system based on weights and measures, a system that was used until the Roman period. To be able to travel across the water regions that bordered them, they developed the sail. This was the basis for the present day stamp seals used for the exact same purposes. The "hanging walls of Babylon", a marvelous work of horticultural collections considered to be one of the eight wonders of the world was also created by the Babylonians. Being a military conscious group, they introduced the first form of army organization in the world, using ranks to divide the military in order of importance as is the trend today. Another mathematical achievement was the development of the earliest concepts of algebra and geometry, using conversion factors based on fractions of 60. Being a highly agricultural society, most Sumerian inventions revolved around agriculture. Still on science, Sumerians are known to be the first civilization to use medicine to cure diseases.
Common topics in this essay:
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Rock Bebistun,
BEGINS MESOPOTAMIA,
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Henry Rawlinson,
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