Lu Yung-hsiang - A history of Chinese Science and Technology. 1

Originally referring to the tract of land with fertile soil between Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, the Two River Basin is also called Mesopotamia or Fertile Crescent . In its broader sense, Fertile Crescent includes the Jordan Valley and part of Asia Minor and West Persian Plateau. Sumer and Akkad (corresponding to Banpo culture and Erlitou culture of China), Ancient Babylon (corresponding to the legendary Xia Dynasty (ca. 21 BC16 BC)), Hittite (corresponding to the Shang Dynasty (ca. 17 BC11 BC)), as well as Elam, Urartu, Assyria (at its peak corresponding to the Spring and Autumn Period of China), and other civilizations successively took shape.

At about 3200 BC, Sumerians created the earliest characters. Iconic symbols in their first stages, those characters gained sounds. Due to the fact that they were inscribed on mud plates with arrow-headed sticks, they were called arrow-headed characters. This writing system was succeeded by the Akkadians and became the foundation of the writing system for Babylon and Assyria. Now the research and study of languages, cultures and history of nationalities using arrow-headed characters in ancient Mesopotamia and the adjacent areas were referred to as Assyriology. Because there is a relatively greater number of unearthed Assyrian literatures, and many of them have important reference texts, research of Assyrian civilization fruits better and earlier, despite the fact that it rises later than other civilizations in the region.

The economy of Sumerians and Akkadians featured irrigated agriculture, with barley as the primary crop. Study of early arrow-headed characters has yielded evidences of farming with ploughs. The first copperwares were made, and technologies based on potters wheels were invented to manufacture more exquisite potteries. The states of Sumerians and Akkadians are dispersed in the Mesopotamia. The kings and aristocrats are high-ranking monks wielding the economic lifeline of the temples. Sumerian gods are mainly related to agriculture and astronomy, and its myths including genesis and the flood are influential on the entire Western civilization. The epic Gilgamesh is its most important literary work, whose protagonist is the prototype of Heraclitus or Hercules in Greek mythology.

In about 1900 BC, Babylon united the majority of the Mesopotamia. Known as the first Babylon Dynasty in history, the kingdom reaches peak under the rule of Hammurabi the sixth King. In 1901, black basalt plates inscribed with The Code of Hammurabi was found by archeologists in site of the ancient city of Susa in present-day Iran, furnishing a significant support for research into ancient Babylonian society. The complete code indicated that slavery has matured and state authority established. The ancient Babylonian state extended for about 1,300 years, encompassing four dynasties successively. Aside from outstanding contribution in legislature, ancient Babylonians further developed agriculturetheir irrigation and canal system is especially praiseworthy. Handcraft industry and silver-based trade began to emerge; schools and libraries came along as well. Ancient Babylon boasts advanced mathematics. The sexagesimal numeral system adopted by Babylonians is still used in time keeping, trigonometry, astronomical coordinates, etc. The ancient Babylonians can tell the connection between Pythagorean Proposition and Pythagorean Group, represent algebraic equations with writing symbols and solve many types of equations, and calculate the volume of some polyhedrons.

Soon after the first dynasty of Babylon, a powerful Hittite rose in the northwest. The kingdom looted Babylon late in the sixteenth century BC and reached its peak of power and splendor in fourteenth century BC. Originated in Harris River Basin (in present-day Turkey) and located between Asia and Africa, Hittite Empire is endowed with rich mineral reserves. The Hittites are the first to invent iron smelting. Wielding iron weapons, its army boasts considerable killing power. Hittite is often involved in conflicts with Egypt and Assyria. Via hostilities with Egypt, the Hittite Empire expands its sphere of influence to Syria and Phoenicia. The conquest endeavors of the Hittites accelerated the dissemination of iron smelting and iron tools and played a significant role in communicating the ancient Asian and African civilizations.

Assyria is originally a city on the west bank of Tigris River to the north of the Babylon City. The civilization of ancient Assyria dates back to 2000 BC. In the eighteenth century BC, Assyria became a powerful empire. It is worth mentioning that the textbooks of history and many literary and artistic works are obviously biased in describing the Assyrians, Hittites and the subsequent Persians as blood-thirsty conquerors and war aficionados, and in depicting the ancient Babylon as a peaceful and prosperous kingdom, as well as the only source of Western civilization.