Mesopotamia (redirected from Mesoptamia)

Mesopotamia (mĕs'əpətā`mēə) [Gr.,=between rivers], ancient region of Asia, the territory about the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, included in modern Iraq. The region extends from the Persian Gulf north to the mountains of Armenia and from the Zagros and Kurdish mountains on the east to the Syrian Desert. From the mountainous north, Mesopotamia slopes down through grassy steppes to a central alluvial plain, which was once rendered exceedingly fertile by a network of canals.

Earliest Cultures

The south was long thought to be the cradle of civilization until earlier settlements (which probably date from about 7000 B.C.) were found in N Mesopotamia; Jarmo, the earliest of these, was superseded by a succession of cultures: Tell Hassuna, Samarra, and Tell Halaf. Tell Halaf, the most advanced of these early cultures, is famous for Halaf ware, the finest prehistoric pottery in Mesopotamia. It is found at such sites as Nineveh and Tepe Gawra. While these advances were being made in the north, civilization was just beginning in the south, particularly at Eridu. The Al Ubaid culture that followed flourished in both N and S Mesopotamia.

The Proto-Literate and Early Dynastic Phases

During the next period (called the proto-literate phase) the south was the important region, and the transformation of the village culture into an urban civilization took place. Uruk (modern Tall al Warka), the foremost site at the beginning of this period, has yielded such monumental architecture as the temple of Inanna and the ziggurat of Anu. Also found at Uruk were tablets including the earliest pictographic writing. At the same time and apparently independently, smaller organized settlements arose at sites such as Tell Hamoukar and Tell Brak in NE Syria and Hacinebi and Arslantepe in SE Turkey.

The early dynastic phase that followed saw the development of city-states all over the Middle East as far as N Syria, N Mesopotamia, and probably Elam. The famous sites of this period are Tell Asmar, Kafaje, Ur, Kish, Mari, Farah, and Telloh (Lagash). The Sumerians (see Sumer), the inhabitants of these city-states of S Mesopotamia, were unified at Nippur, where they gathered together to worship Enlil, the wind god. The famous first dynasty of Ur came at the end of the early dynastic period.

Dynasties and Empires

Sargon founded (c.2340) the Akkadian dynasty, the first empire in Mesopotamia, whose example of empire building was later followed by the old Babylonian dynasty and late Assyrian Empire (see Babylonia; Assyria). There was also a great cultural exchange between the Mesopotamians and the Elamites (and other Iranians), who for centuries had threatened each other. Mesopotamia still had prestige at the time of Alexander the Great, but later it was generally a part of the Roman Empire. The Arabs took it from the Sassanid Empire, and it rose to great prominence after Baghdad was made (A.D. 762) the capital of the Abbasid caliphate. This glory was destroyed when the Mongols under Hulagu Khan devastated the area in 1258, destroying the ancient irrigation system.

The Region in Modern Times

In the centuries following, Mesopotamia never regained its former prominence. In World War I, however, it was an important battlefield. The kingdom of Iraq was formed in 1921 (Iraq became a republic in 1958) and is of international importance because of its rich oil fields, but its status in the world is enhanced by the rich archaeological finds of the incredibly distant past.

Bibliography

See H. Frankfort, The Birth of Civilization in the Near East (1951, repr. 1968); S. N. Kramer, Cradle of Civilization (1967); D. Oates, Studies in the Ancient History of Northern Iraq (1968); L. Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia (1968).

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Mesopotamia

Region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East, constituting the greater part of modern Iraq. The region's location and fertility gave rise to settlements some 10,000 years ago, and it became the cradle of some of the world's earliest civilizations and the birthplace of writing. It was first settled by the Sumerians, who were succeeded by the Akkadians and later by the Babylonians. Successive peoples came to dominate the region until the rise of the Persian Achaemenian dynasty in the 6th century BC. The Achaemenids were overthrown by Alexander the Great in the early 4th century BC, and Mesopotamia was ruled by the Seleucid dynasty from c. 312 BC until the mid-2nd century BC, when it became part of the Parthian empire. In the 7th century AD the region was conquered by Muslim Arabs. The region's importance declined after the Mongol invasion in 1258. Rule by the Ottoman Empire over most of the region began in the 16th century. The area became a British mandate in 1920; the following year Iraq was established there.

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Mesopotamia

a region of SW Asia between the lower and middle reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers: site of several ancient civilizations

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Mesopotamia 

(Entre Ráos), a natural region in Argentina (Corrientes and Entre Ríos provinces) in the interfluve of the Paraná and Uruguay rivers.

Northern Mesopotamia is a flat lowland with ancient channel swells between swamps and lakes. The central and southern areas consist of a well-drained plain (elevation, 90-110 m) with light park forests (palms, acacias, quebracho, species of Prosopis, and other low trees), with tall cereal herbage or savanna on reddish chernozem-like soils. The climate is subtropical and consistently humid (precipitation, 1,000-1,500 mm per year). The average January temperature is 24°-27°C and the average July temperature, from 10° to 18°C. Mesopotamia is Argentina’s primary region for growing and harvesting mate and citrus fruit; rice, tobacco, and tea are also grown. Meat and dairy animals are raised in the south. Mesopotamia is a main area for the timber and paper-and-pulp industries. Posadas and Corrientes are the chief economic centers.

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Mesopotamia 

a natural region in western Asia in the basin of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. It includes the Mesopotamian Depression and the Jazira Plateau.

Mesopotamia was one of the most important centers of civilization in the ancient East, which originally developed on the basis of artificial irrigation in the lower reaches of the Euphrates (the waters of the Tigris later also came to be used for irrigation). In the fourth and third millennia B.C., early class societies formed in Mesopotamia. By the end of the third millennium B.C., Akkad, Ur, and other ancient states existed here. In the beginning of the second millennium B.C., the state of Babylonia formed in southern Mesopotamia. Subsequently, the region was part of Assyria (ninth to seventh centuries B.C.), the New Babylonian Empire (seventh and sixth centuries B.C.), the Achaemenid state (sixth to fourth centuries B.C.), the empire of Alexander the Great (fourth century B.C.), the Seleucid state (fourth to second centuries B.C.), Parthia (third century B.C. to third century A.D.), the Sassanid state (third to seventh centuries), and the Arabian Caliphate, beginning with the seventh century.

In the 11th century, Mesopotamia was conquered by the Seljuks, and in the 13th by the Mongols. It came under Safawid power in the early 16th century and formed part of the Ottoman Empire from the 17th century to 1918. After World War I most of Mesopotamia became part of Iraq, and the remainder part of Syria and Turkey.