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Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia is the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
Farmers used the river water to irrigate fields and grow plentiful
crops. Around 3500 BCE, the Sumerians of southern Mesopotamia
built the world’s first cities, including Ur, Uruk, and Eridu.
FIND OUT MORE. Ancient Religions 282 • Western Asia and the Middle East 264–265
HOW WERE THE SUMERIAN CITIES RULED?
Mighty kings, who commanded large armies, had
strong cities, great palaces, and magnificent royal
tombs made. The kings were assisted by priests and
well-trained scribes, who collected taxes, controlled
irrigation projects, and took charge of laws governing
city crafts and trade. Priests also served the gods in
ziggurats (temples).CARVING OF ROYAL PRIEST 3
This figure, carved from
limestone in around
2500 BCE, was found at
Mohenjo-Daro.Indus Valley
Between around 3500 BCE and 2000 BCE, people in the Indus Valley
built more than 100 towns. The largest were Mohenjo-Daro and
Harappa, with populations of 40,000. These towns had large temples,
granaries, brick-built houses, and streets laid out in neat grid patterns.
HOW DID THE PEOPLE OF THE INDUS VALLEY LIVE?
Farmers grew wheat, barley, cotton, and rice on land
fertilized by yearly River Indus floods. They also
raised animals. In towns, people made cloth, pottery,
metalwork, and jewellery. On the coast, they
went abroad to trade.WHY DID INDUS VALLEY CITIES DISAPPEAR?
At Mohenjo-Daro, the River Indus changed its course,
causing a water shortage. Other towns may have been
destroyed by floods, disease, or invaders. But nobody
knows for sure why the Indus Valley
civilization collapsed.HOW WERE THE ZIGGURATS BUILT?
Mesopotamian builders built ziggurats and houses from
bricks made of mud mixed with chopped straw (left to
dry and harden in the sun). Teams of workmen moved
huge loads of bricks using sleds on wooden rollers, or
carried smaller quantities in baskets on their backs.
Mud was used as a mortar to bind the bricks.1 QUEEN’S TREASURE
This bull’s head decorates a harp
from the tomb of Queen Shub-ad of Ur, who died
in around 2500 BCE. The harp-player’s skeleton
was found close by, still holding the harp strings.
She had been buried alive to entertain the
queen in the afterlife.4 TWO-WHEELED CART
This ceramic model of a farm cart pulled by mules, from
around 2500 BCE, was found in Mohenjo-Daro.2 ZIGGURAT AT UR
Ziggurats were holy mountains,
where people could get closer to
the gods. The ziggurat at Ur (in
modern Iraq) was built in around
2100 BCE. Originally, it had three
tall terraces (raised levels), one
on top of the other, which were
planted with trees and flowers.
A shrine to Nanna, the Moon god,
stood at the top. Today, only the
temple’s lower section survives.Bull’s head
made of goldFIND OUT MORE. Western Asia and the Middle East 264–265
Mesopotamia
Indus Valley