Th e production of food begat a societal revolution, as hu-
mans would never live the same lifestyles as their foraging
ancestors. Food production demanded that people stay in one
place to care for fi elds. Th ese fi elds were not interchangeable,
as some plots were more productive than others. With the de-
sire to control the more productive fi elds came the concept
of property ownership. As the concept of private property
evolved, society changed at its core. A prime example was
that of the role of marriage. Concerns about the devolution
of property from generation to generation spurred most agri-
cultural societies to begin to monopolize access to women to
ensure paternity. Many anthropologists believe the subjuga-
tion of women arose from this agricultural revolution.
Moreover, the ability to create surpluses meant that
wealth, or surplus products, became common for certain
members of society while remaining out of reach for oth-
ers. Economic classes emerged that were mirrored in politi-
cal structures as the economic elite created societal laws to
protect their position. Another change was found in the col-
lection, storage, and distribution of agricultural surpluses.
Protecting these surpluses required city walls, which were
fi rst built in Jericho in Israel about 8000 b.c.e. Silos with lime
plaster also appeared there for the fi rst time.
It is assumed that public works demanded a centralized
political system with enough power to coerce citizens into
building and maintaining such works. Complex political sys-
tems tend to arise in such circumstances, and the fi rst empire
to encompass a number of ethnic groups was founded at the
Mesopotamian city of Akkad by Sargon (r. 2334–2279 b.c.e.)
in the 24th century b.c.e.
Th e need to keep track of property was clearly the motive
in the development of cuneiform, the world’s earliest form
of writing. Fired clay tokens, as means of legal proof of own-
ership, fi rst appeared in Syria in 8000 b.c.e. Seals, which by
imprinting established ownership, appeared by 4000 b.c.e.
Th e earliest clay envelopes came from Syria about 3500 b.c.e.,
followed by the earliest cuneiform writing, Sumerian, around
3300 b.c.e. Th e oldest datable preserved contract is from 2700
b.c.e. Th e fi rst decipherable alphabet appeared at Ugarit in
Syria approximately 1500 b.c.e. Th e Phoenician alphabet, the
precursor to European alphabets, was developed around 1100
b.c.e. Mathematical innovations, too, were tied to the need to
keep track of economic actions. Geometry, for example, was
developed for the fi guring of taxes. Th e concept of positional
values for numerical expressions emerged in the Near East
about 2000 b.c.e.
Th e wheel made its fi rst appearance at Ur in Iraq about
3500 b.c.e., at the same time that the pottery wheel was
known to exist in Mesopotamia. Th e wheel is the prerequisite
for most machines. One use of the wheel was in the creation
of an astrolabe-like device, around 1250 b.c.e., for plotting
items due south of the viewer from Babylon.
Th e Near East was the innovation center for early metal-
work and glasswork. Copper was being cast by at least 6400
b.c.e. in Anatolia. Silver and gold were smelted in Sumer by
4000 b.c.e. By 3000 b.c.e. tin had appeared in Iran, and gold
was being soldered at Ur. An iron dagger from Anatolia is
dated to 2200 b.c.e., and large-scale iron smelting was un-
dertaken by 1500 b.c.e. in Mitanni. Th e Assyrian army of the
10th century b.c.e. is the fi rst army known to have used iron
weapons. Lead glazing was being applied to bricks by 1000
b.c.e. Glass was manufactured by at least 2000 b.c.e. (though
later Akkadian texts claim it was a Sumerian invention) and
was manipulated while hot by 1500 b.c.e. Glassblowing was
developed in Syria by 100 b.c.e. Coinage, which revolution-
ized economic systems, appeared fi rst at Lydia in Anatolia
around 700 b.c.e.
Th e need to corral the fl oodwaters of the Tigris, which
came at harvest time, and to dissipate and store the waters
of the Euphrates led to the development of irrigation by 6000
b.c.e. Th e Sumerians did large-scale work, with massive pub-
lic works projects, including one preserved canal regulator
at Girsu that required 750,000 bricks. Th e shaduf, a rotating
lever for moving water from one canal to another, was devel-
oped in Mesopotamia by 2000 b.c.e.
One can make a case for Mesopotamia being the birth-
place of modern science. Th e cosmos, according to local
thought, was ordered by the gods. When an oddity occurred
in nature, it implied to these cultures an indirect message
that the gods could not reveal directly to humans. Th us, the
practice of recording odd natural events (such as a malformed
sheep liver) and associating the oddity in nature with an event
in the human realm (such as the birth of a king) became a
means of predicting the future by unraveling the clandestine
communication of the gods. Searching for cause and eff ect by
recording empirical observations in a universe that is under-
stood to function regularly is the basis for Western science.
All of these fi rsts were diff used to the rest of the world within
centuries of their innovation in this region. Virtually every
society can be considered the off spring of the ancient Near
East on some level.An administrative text in cuneiform (the world’s earliest form of
writing) recording food supplies, probably from southern Iraq (about
3000 b.c.e.). (© Th e Trustees of the British Museum)
inventions: The Middle East 597