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Ancient Mesopotamia

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Ancient Mesopotamia
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* Mesopotamia means the land between the rivers in Greek. (rivers = Tigris and Euphrates) * It is located in western Asia. * It is also known as the world's earliest urban civilizations. (arose around: 3500 bc) * Mesopotamia, known as “the cradle of civilization”, was the centre of Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian, and Chaldean civilizations. * The area now forms most of modern Iraq, south-eastern Turkey, and eastern Syria. * The natural wealth of Mesopotamia has always attracted people from poorer neighbouring regions, and its history is one of continuous migration and invasion. * The growth of date palms in the south provides a rich supply of food, fibre, wood, and fodder. Mesopotamia Revolution * About ten thousand years ago, the people of this area began the agricultural revolution. * Instead of hunting and gathering their food, they tamed animals, beginning with the sheep. * They lived in houses built from mud-brick, grouped in villages where they take care of their crops. * They built granaries (store house for grains) to store their grain, and they began developing a token system to record trade and accounts. http://it.stlawu.edu/~dmelvill/mesomath/history.html
Rivers: Tigris and Euphrates * The Tigris and Euphrates lie about 400 km (250 mi) apart as they flow south out of Turkey; the Euphrates runs for 1,300 km (800 mi), and the Tigris for 885 km (550 mi) before they join, reaching the Persian Gulf as the Shatt Al Arab. * Rainfall is low in most of the region, but when irrigated (watered) by canals the fertile soil results heavy crops. * Both rivers have fish, and the southern marshes contain wildfowl.
Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
Gods, Goddesses, Demons and Monsters * The people of Mesopotamia believed that their world was controlled by gods and goddesses, demons and monsters. * There were hundreds

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