Captivating History - Mesopotamia: A Captivating Guide to Ancient Mesopotamian History and Civilizations, Including the Sumerians and Sumerian Mythology, Gilgamesh, Ur, Assyrians, Babylon, Hammurabi and the Persian Empire

There are several places around the world that have been dubbed Cradles of Civilization. These areas of the world are where humans first settled. Its where they said goodbye to their nomadic hunter-gatherer lifestyles in favor of agriculture and permanent settlements. And many of these first villages and cities are still around today, providing a visceral connection between human past and human present.

However, of all the different Cradles of Civilization around the world, perhaps no other is as important and influential to the development of human civilization as Mesopotamia. Literally translated from Sumerian to mean the land between the rivers, Mesopotamia refers to the valleys and plains in between and around the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers, which are located in modern-day Iraq. Directly surrounding Mesopotamia, stretching as far west as Israel and Egypt and all the way east to modern-day Iran, is the Fertile Crescent, named for the remarkable fertility of the land that made this region an ideal place for human civilization to prosper.

It was in this region of the world that the first act of humanitys long performance on the world stage would play out. As people settled, different groups became more powerful. Kings and queens popped up in cities and city-states all across the region, and their fight to secure land and resources, as well as their position in history and with the gods, would define some 5,000 years of human history. And in many ways, this story is not over. Much of the current Middle Eastern political landscape, as is the case in most parts of the world, has its roots in these ancient civilizations, making studying these societies just as relevant today as its ever been.

But because of the long history of Mesopotamia and the many different people who lived there and controlled it, keeping track of all the different events, and their significance, can be difficult even for dedicated scholars. And this confusion is often what pushes us away from trying to further understand these societies and the impact theyve had on the world around us.

As a result, its important to lay out the order of events and to spend time grasping some of the overall trends in Ancient Mesopotamian history before diving too deeply into any one civilization. This will provide more context when studying each society, making it easier to understand the importance and significance of each event.