Western civilization arose in Mesopotamia and Egypt about 3500-3000 BCE ruled by kings supported by educated priestly classes and share power with an economic and military elite. However, it was slave-based with a society of hierarchical and stratified surrounded by palaces and temples. Mesopotamia means “between the rivers,” which is where it all started known as Iraq and part of Turkey and Syria located between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers in the valleys of the Middle East (Matthews et al., 2014). Therefore, the three cultures that arose and were successful in the Mesopotamia region from 3000-1600 B.C. were the Sumerian, Akkadian, and Babylonian (Matthews et al., 2014). The three cultures were responsible for the same geography, climate,
…show more content…
The religion expanded from polytheistic, which were gods and goddesses that competed with one another; anthropomorphic was the human form with their own personalities and unique traits; and pantheistic was animate or inanimate with divinity (Matthews et al., 2014).
The Mesopotamia history began with the city of Sumer, Ur possibly one of the biggest cities ruled by King Gilgamesh that established roughly a dozen city-states by the fourth millennium B.C. (Andrews, 2015). The Sumerians were the first cultural civilization to develop powerful city-states building massive ziggurats at the center of their cities as temples to their gods, which they use to socialize and worship. The Sumerians lived stable lives, and they were more accustomed to a productive cultured life, and use irrigation to farm large areas of land and religion played a vital role in Sumerian culture and politics. Therefore, the Sumerian were energetic farmers, traders, and sailors; however, religion was an …show more content…
d.). The Akkadians rulers between 2350 and 2000 BCE in which they incorporated Sumerian culture into their society (Matthew et al., 2014). However, King Sargon of the Akkadian conquers most of the Sumerian city-states and creates the world's first empire, the Akkadian Empire (Guisepi & Williams, n. d.). King Sargon was described as the secret child of a high priestess who placed him in a basket and cast him off into a river, a story that was later utilized for Moses in the Old Testament (Andrew, 2015). The Sumerian claim that the Sargon was the son of a gardener who worked his way up to be on the Sumerian Court as the king of Kish, which was not a servant position; however, a high official. Therefore, King Sargon became so powerful using his militaristic reign that reached to the Persian Gulf and took over Sumer from Egypt to India. Thus, word got around about how powerful he became. King Sargon controlled the religious cultures of the Akkadians and the Sumerians, making his daughter Enheduanna the head priestess of the moon god culture of Ur (Matthews et al., 2014). Consequently, even with all that power, King Sargon lost control and could not hold on to his Akkadian Empire in which he dies
The religion expanded from polytheistic, which were gods and goddesses that competed with one another; anthropomorphic was the human form with their own personalities and unique traits; and pantheistic was animate or inanimate with divinity (Matthews et al., 2014).
The Mesopotamia history began with the city of Sumer, Ur possibly one of the biggest cities ruled by King Gilgamesh that established roughly a dozen city-states by the fourth millennium B.C. (Andrews, 2015). The Sumerians were the first cultural civilization to develop powerful city-states building massive ziggurats at the center of their cities as temples to their gods, which they use to socialize and worship. The Sumerians lived stable lives, and they were more accustomed to a productive cultured life, and use irrigation to farm large areas of land and religion played a vital role in Sumerian culture and politics. Therefore, the Sumerian were energetic farmers, traders, and sailors; however, religion was an …show more content…
d.). The Akkadians rulers between 2350 and 2000 BCE in which they incorporated Sumerian culture into their society (Matthew et al., 2014). However, King Sargon of the Akkadian conquers most of the Sumerian city-states and creates the world's first empire, the Akkadian Empire (Guisepi & Williams, n. d.). King Sargon was described as the secret child of a high priestess who placed him in a basket and cast him off into a river, a story that was later utilized for Moses in the Old Testament (Andrew, 2015). The Sumerian claim that the Sargon was the son of a gardener who worked his way up to be on the Sumerian Court as the king of Kish, which was not a servant position; however, a high official. Therefore, King Sargon became so powerful using his militaristic reign that reached to the Persian Gulf and took over Sumer from Egypt to India. Thus, word got around about how powerful he became. King Sargon controlled the religious cultures of the Akkadians and the Sumerians, making his daughter Enheduanna the head priestess of the moon god culture of Ur (Matthews et al., 2014). Consequently, even with all that power, King Sargon lost control and could not hold on to his Akkadian Empire in which he dies