Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia
Map
Mesopotamia
Map showing the extent of Mesopotamia. Shown are Washukanni, Nineveh, Hatra, Assur, Nuzi, Palmyra, Mari, Sippar, Babylon, Kish, Nippur, Isin, Lagash, Uruk, Charax Spasinu and Ur, from north to south.
A modern satellite view of Mesopotamia (October 2020).

Mesopotamia[a] is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia is known as present-day Iraq and north-east Syria.[1][2] In the broader sense, the historical region of Mesopotamia also includes parts of present-day Kuwait and Turkey.[3][4]

The Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians), each originating from different areas, dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of recorded history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. Mesopotamia was next conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire.

Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history, including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops, and the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture". It is recognised as the cradle of some of the world's earliest civilizations.[5]

Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthian Empire. It became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with western parts of the region coming under ephemeral Roman control. In 226 AD, the eastern regions of Mesopotamia fell to the Sassanid Persians. The division of the region between the Roman (Byzantine Empire from 395 AD) and Sassanid Empires lasted until the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia of the Sasanian Empire and Muslim conquest of the Levant from Byzantines. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, including Adiabene, Osroene, and Hatra.


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  1. ^ Seymour, Michael (2004). "Ancient Mesopotamia and Modern Iraq in the British Press, 1980–2003". Current Anthropology. 45 (3): 351–368. doi:10.1086/383004. ISSN 0011-3204. JSTOR 10.1086/383004. S2CID 224788984. Archived from the original on 30 April 2022. Retrieved 30 April 2022.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference miqueletal was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Sissakian, Varoujan K.; Adamo, Nasrat; Al-Ansari, Nadhir; Mukhalad, Talal; Laue, Jan (January 2020). "Sea Level Changes in the Mesopotamian Plain and Limits of the Arabian Gulf: A Critical Review". Journal of Earth Sciences and Geotechnical Engineering. 10 (4): 88–110.
  4. ^ Pollock, Susan (1999), Ancient Mesopotamia. The Eden that never was, Case Studies in Early Societies, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 1, ISBN 978-0-521-57568-3
  5. ^ Milton-Edwards, Beverley (May 2003). "Iraq, past, present and future: a thoroughly-modern mandate?". History & Policy. United Kingdom. Archived from the original on 8 December 2010. Retrieved 9 December 2010.