Theme 2

Writing and City life

 City life began in Mesopotamia.
 The word ‘Mesopotamia’ is derived from two Greek words ‘mesos’ meaning
midd leand ‘Potamas’ meaning river.
 Mesopotamia means land between two rivers- Euphrates and Tigris. Today it
is part of modern Iraq. Mesopotamian civilisation is known for its
prosperity, city life, its voluminous and rich literature and its
mathematics and astronomy.
 Mesopotamia’s writing system and literature spread to the eastern
Mediterranean, northern Syria, and Turkey after 2000 BCE. The
kingdoms of that entire region used the language and script of
Mesopotamia to communicate one another and up to the kingdom of
Pharaoh in Egypt.
 In this theme, the connection between city life and writing and the
tradition of writing are examined.
 The urbanised southern region of Mesopotamia was called Sumer and
Akkad. From 2000 BCE onwards, the southern region was called Babylon.
 The Assyirians established their kingdom in the northern part around
1100 BCE. From this time onwards this region was known as Assyria.
 The first known language of this region was Sumerian. Gradually the
Akkadiyan language replaced this around 2400 BCE. This language was
in use till the time of Alexander the great with some regional changes.
 The Aramic, that has close resemblance to Hebrew became popular from
1000 BCE. This is spoken in some part of Iraq even today.

Sources for the study Mesopotamian History

The study of Mesopotamian history is mainly based on archaeological sources.
Archaeology in Mesopotamia began in the 1840s. At one or two sites including Uruk
and Mari, excavations continued for decades. Other sources include buildings,
statutes, ornaments, graves, tools, seals and hundreds of written documents for
reconstructing the history. Mesopotamia was important to Europeans because of
references to it in the Old Testament. The book of Genesis of the Old Testament
refers to a land called ‘Shimar’ which means Sumer. It was described as a land of
brick – built cities. Travellers and scholars of Europe looked on Mesopotamia as a
kind of ancestral land, and when archaeological work began in the area, there was an
attempt to prove the literal truth of the Old Testament. In 1873, a British newspaper
funded an expedition of the British Museum to search for a tablet narrating the story
of the Flood, mentioned in the Bible.

Mesopotamia and its Geography.

Iraq is a land of diverse environments. In the north-east lie green, undulating plains,
gradually rising to tree-covered mountain ranges with clear streams and wild flowers,
with enough rainfall to grow crops. Agriculture started in this region between 7000
BCE and 6000 BCE. The northern region is a stretch of upland called a steppe,
where animal herding was the main occupation of the people. To the east, tributaries
of the Tigris provide routes of communication into the mountains of Iran. It was in
the southern region of Iraq was desert and it was in this region, the first cities and
writing emerged. The alluvial deposit of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris made this
region fertile and provided transport and communication facilities.
 One of the important reasons for the growth of cities in Mesopotamia was its
rural prosperity. Agriculture, herding and fishing led the rural areas of

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 Mesopotamia into prosperity.
 The reason for cultivation in the desert regions is the abundance of water
brought by the Euphrates – Tigris river systems. The distributaries of these
rivers acted as channels for irrigation. This made Mesopotamia the most
productive region among all ancient economies including the Roman Empire.
 cattle herding also were an important occupation. The steppes provided good
grazing lands for the Sheep and goats. This provided the people with milk,
meat and wool.
 Fish was available in rivers and the Date palms supplemented with fruit in
summer.
The surplus production in villages was the major reason for the rise of cities. The
people of cities depended the villages for food as they did not engage in agriculture.
Rural prosperity was not the sole reason for the growth of cities.
The significance of Urbanism
Cities are not merely places with large populations. They are centers of many
economic activities. Urban economies comprise besides food production, development
in trade, manufactures and services.
 An important feature of urbanism is interdependence. Urban people do not
engage in food production. The urban people engaged in activities like trade,
manufactures, handicrafts and various services.
 There is continuous interaction among them. People engaged in different
activities or specialized in certain activities like fine carving of stones or
smelting of metal or experts in bringing precious stones and ores form distant
places etc.
 The division of labour is an important mark of urban life.
 Social organization is another aspect of urbanization. Cities do not have
existence without a powerful social organization. The storage and distribution
of raw materials and fuel requires organized trade. Different activities have to
be coordinated all these points to the need of a powerful social organisation. Or
in such a system some people give commands that others obey,
 Urban economies often require the keeping of written records.
Urbanism: Features and Bronze: The earliest cities in Mesopotamia
significance date back to the bronze age, c.3000 BCE.
Bronze is an alloy of copper and tin. Using
 Interdependence
bronze meant procuring these metals, often
 Division of labour
from great distances. Metal tools were
 Social organization
necessary for accurate carpentry, drilling
 Writing
Movements of Goods into Cities beads, carving stone seals, cutting shell for
inlaid furniture, etc. Mesopotamian weapons
were also of bronze
Mesopotamia was rich the food resources but had only few mineral resources. The
requirement of stones for making tools, seals and jewels and wood for making wheels
and boats.
 The Mesopotamians were forced to trade textiles and agricultural produce
which they had in surplus for wood, copper, tin, silver, gold, shell and various
stones from Turkey and Iran, or across the Gulf where food was scarce.
 Regular exchange was made possible only because of the existence of a social
system in Mesopotamia.
 An efficient system of transport is also necessary for urban development.

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Carrying grain or charcoal into cities on pack animals or bullock carts was
practically difficult as it was expensive. The Euphrates – Tigris river systems provided
easy and cheapest mode of transport. The canals and natural channels of ancient
Mesopotamia were in fact routes of goods transport between large and small
settlements, and in the account on the city of Mari Euphrates was referred as a
‘world route.’
The Development of Writing
All societies have languages in which certain spoken sounds convey certain
meanings. This is verbal communication. Writing too is verbal communication in a
different way. When spoken sounds are represented in visible signs it is called
writing or a script.
 The first Mesopotamian tablets, written around 3200 BCE, contained picture-
like signs and numbers. These were about 5,000 lists of oxen, fish, bread
loaves, etc.
 writing began when society needed to keep records of transactions – because in
city life transactions occurred at different times, and involved many people and
a variety of goods.
 Mesopotamians wrote on tablets of clay. A scribe would wet clay and pat it into
a size he could hold comfortably in one hand. He would carefully smoothen its
surfaces. With the sharp end of a reed cut obliquely, he would press wedge-
shaped (‘cuneiform*’) signs on to the smoothened surface while it was still
moist. Once dried in the sun, the clay would harden and tablets would be
almost as indestructible as pottery.
 When the use of a written record was over the tablets was thrown away since
re - writing was not possible
 The writing of Mesopotamians is a useful source for the historians. The
richness of the sources helps us to know more about Mesopotamia.
Cuneiform
 The term Cuneiform is derived from the Latin words Cunes and forma.
 Cuneus means ‘wedge’ and forma means ‘wedge shaped.’
 The Cuneiform writing is distinguished by its wedge – shaped marks on clay
tablets.
 By 2600 BCE, the letters became Cuneiform, and the language was Sumerian.
 Writing was mainly used for keeping administrative records and royal decrees.
It was also used for making dictionaries.
 The Cuneiform writing of the Sumerians was the earliest known language of
Mesopotamia. In Akkadiayan language also cuneiform remained as the script.
The System of Writing
The sound that a cuneiform sign represented was not a single consonant or
vowel (such as m or a in the English alphabet), but syllables (say, -put-, or -la-,
or -in-). Thus, the signs that a Mesopotamian scribe had to learn ran into
hundreds, and he had to be able to handle a wet tablet and get it written before
it dried. So, writing wasa skilled craft but, more important, it was an enormous
intellectual achievement.
Literacy
Majority of the Mesopotamians could read and write. There were hundreds of
signs to learn, and many of them were complex. If a king could read, he made
sure that this was recorded in one of his boastful inscriptions! Writing reflected
the mode of speaking.
The Uses of Writing
There is a connection between city life, trade and writing. This is evident in a
long Sumerian epic poem about Enmarker, one of the earliest rulers of Uruk.
Uruk was a magnificent city often referred simply as the City.

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 In Sumer, trade was first organized by Enmarker. The epic says that in the
early days trade was not known. He sent his messenger to bring precious
stones like lapis lazuli to beautify his city temple. He sent his messenger out to
get them from the chief of a very distant land called Aratta. The messenger
obeyed the order of his king and after many hardships he reached Aratta. The
messenger could not get the chief of Aratta to part with lapis lazuli or silver,
and he had to make the long journey back and forth, again and again, carrying
threats and promises from the king of Uruk. Since confused, Enmarker wrote
the message on a clay tablet to the king of Aratta but to him it looked like nails
on clay.
This should not be taken as the literal truth, but it can be inferred that in
Mesopotamian understanding it was kingship that organised trade and writing.
This poem also tells us that, besides being a means of storing information and
of sending messages afar, writing was seen as a sign of the superiority of
Mesopotamian urban culture.
Urbanisation in Southern Mesopotamia: Temples and Kings
From 5000 BCE, settlements had begun to develop in southern Mesopotamia.
The earliest cities emerged from some of these settlements.
There were three kinds of cities
1. Cities developed around temples
2. Cities developed as centers of trade
3. Imperial cities
The features first two cities are discussed here.
Early settlers (their origins are unknown) began to build and rebuild temples at
selected spots in their villages. The earliest known temple was a small shrine
made of unbaked bricks. Temples were the residences of various gods: of the
Moon God of Ur, or of Inanna the Goddess of Love and War.
 Temples were Constructed using bricks. Later, temples became larger
over time, with several rooms around open courtyards.
 Temples were different ordinary houses. – for the temple was the house
of a god. Temples always had their outer walls going in and out at
regular intervals, which no ordinary building ever had.
 The god was the focus of worship: to him or her people brought grain,
curd and fish.
 The god was also the theoretical owner of the agricultural fields, the
fisheries, and the herds of the local community.
 Many economic activities like oil pressing, grain grinding, spinning, and
the weaving of woolen cloth was also done in the temple.
 In the due course, temples became organizer of production, employer of
merchants and keeper of records of distribution and allotments.
 Gradually temples developed as the main urban institution.
Even though Mesopotamia was gifted with natural fertility, agriculture faced many
hazards too. The frequent floods in the river destroyed the crops. Sometimes these
channels changed the course. As the archaeological record shows, villages were
periodically relocated in Mesopotamian history. There were man-made problems as
well. Those who lived on the upstream stretches of a channel could divert so much
water into their fields that villages downstream were left without water. Or they
could neglect to clean out the silt from their stretch of the channel, blocking the
flow of water further down. So the early Mesopotamian countryside saw repeated
conflict over land and water.
The chiefs after a victory in a feud distributed a share to his followers to increase
his power and influence. They took prisoners from the defeated groups to employ
as their guards or servants. In the course of time, the leaders (chiefs) created new

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 institutions and practices for the welfare of the community. Victorious chiefs
began to offer precious booty to the gods and thus beautify the community’s
temples. People were sent to bring coloured stones and precious metal to beautify
the temples and the temple wealth was distributed in an efficient way. As the poem
about Enmarker shows, this gave the king high status and the authority to
command the community.
The war chiefs who tried to organize an army. They made villagers to settle close to
the chief. They did so to ensure the quick organization of an armed group. At
Uruk, one of the earliest temple towns, we find depictions of armed heroes and
their victims. Around 3000 BCE, the extent of Uruk increased to 250 hectors
deserting many villages. There had been a major population shift. Significantly,
Uruk also came to have a defensive wall at a very early date. The site was
continuously occupied from about 4200 BCE to about 400 CE, and by about 2800
BCE it had expanded to 400 hectares.
War captives and local people were put to compulsory work for the temple, or
directly forthe ruler. Those who were put to work were paid rations like grains,
cloth and oil. Regarding the construction of temple, the records (clay tablets)
indicate that it toll 1500 men working 10 hours a day and the work was completed
within five years.
The use of bronze tools for various crafts show the technical advancement of
Mesopotamia and the ruler could command people to bring stones or metal ores
for the construction of the temple. Architects learnt to construct brick columns,
there being no suitable wood to bear the weight of the roof of large halls. Hundreds
of people were employed to bake clay cones and colour it to push it into the temple
walls creating a colourful mosaic. Impressive achievements were made in sculpture
too. They used imported stone to make sculpture. One of the most important
technological landmarks that we can say is appropriate to an urban economy: the
potter’s wheel. In the long run, the wheel enables a potter’s workshop to ‘mass
produce’ dozens of similar pots at a time.
Life in the City
Ruling elite had emerged in the southern cities of Mesopotamia. A small section of
society had a major share of the wealth. The enormous riches like jewelry, gold
vessels, wooden musical instruments inlaid with white shell and lapis lazuli,
ceremonial daggers of gold, etc. were buried with some kings and queens at Ur.
Let’s examine the life of ordinary people
 The legal texts tell that in Mesopotamia there existed nuclear families.
Father was the head of the family and married sons stayed with the parents.
 We know a little about the procedures for marriage. A declaration was made
about the willingness to marry, the bride’s parents giving their consent to
the marriage. Gifts were exchanged during wedding.
 After the marriage when her mother-in-law came to fetch her, the bride was
given her share of the inheritance by her father.
 The father’s house, herds, fields, etc., were inherited by the sons
Ur is one of the ancient Mesopotamian cities that have been excavated. Ur was
a town whose ordinary houses were systematically excavated in the 1930s. The
streets of Ur were very narrow and winding. So, wheeled carts could not reach
many houses. Donkeys were used to carry grains and fire-wood. Narrow
winding streets and the irregular shapes of house plots also indicate an
absence of town planning. There were no street drains of the kind we find in
contemporary Mohenjo-Daro. Drains and clay pipes were instead found in the
inner courtyards of the Ur houses and it is thought that house roofs sloped
inwards and rainwater was channelled via the drainpipes into sumps in the
inner courtyards. This may be to prevent the streets becoming slushy after
heavy rain. The house hold refuse were swept into the streets. This resulted in

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 the rising of the street level and the households have to raise the thresholds to
prevent the inflow of water into the houses. There were no windows opening to
the streets and the light from doorways opening into the courtyards: this would
also have given families their privacy. There were many superstitions about
houses. a raised threshold brought wealth; a front door that did not open
towards another house was lucky. There was a town cemetery at Ur in which
the graves of royalty and commoners have been found. A few individuals were
found buried under the floors of ordinary houses.
A Trading Town in a Pastoral Zone
After 2000 BCE, Mari situated on the upstream of river Euphrates flourished as
the capital of Mesopotamia. Agriculture and animal rearing were carried out
close to each other in this region. Some communities in the kingdom of Mari
had both farmers and pastoralists.
Herders exchanged young animals, cheese, leather and meat in return for
grain, metal tools, etc., and the manure of a penned flock is also of great use to
a farmer. There were disputes between herders and farmers. A shepherd may
take his flock to water across a sown field, to the ruin of the crop. Herdsmen
being mobile can raid agricultural villages and seize their stored goods.
Shepherds would bring their flocks into the sown area in the summer. These
herders sometimes helped the farmer in harvesting and sometimes they served
as soldiers. Occasionally become prosperous, and settle down. A few gained the
power to establish their own rule. These included the Akkadians, Amorites,
Assyrians and Aramaeans.
The king of Mari allowed the herders of various tribes the freedom to move in
the kingdom. They kept a strict watch over the herders. Information about the
camps of the herders were mentioned frequently in the letters between kings
and officials. In one letter, an officer writes to the king that he has been seeing
frequent fire signals at night – sent by one camp to another – and he suspects
that a raid or an attack is being planned.
Mari was Located on the Euphrates and it was a prime position for trade – in
wood, copper, tin, oil, wine, and various other goods that were carried in boats
along the Euphrates – between the south and the mineral-rich uplands of
Turkey, Syria and Lebanon, Mari is a good example of an urban center
prospering on trade. Boats carrying grinding stones, wood, and wine and oil
jars, would stop at Mari on their way to the southern cities. Officers of this
town would go aboard, inspect the cargo (a single river boat could hold 300
wine jars), and levy a charge of about one-tenth the value of the goods before
allowing the boat to continue downstream. Barley came in special grain boats.
Most important, tablets refer to copper from ‘Alashiya’, the island of Cyprus,
known for its copper, and tin was also an item of trade. As bronze was the main
industrial material for tools and weapons. The kingdom of Mari was not
militarily strong, it was exceptionally prosperous.
Cities in Mesopotamian Culture
Mesopotamians gave great value to the city. People of many communities and
cultures lived side by side. After cities were destroyed in war, they recalled them
in poetry.
The pride that Mesopotamians had in their cities was well expressed in the Epic
Gilgamesh. This epic was written on twelve tablets. People’s pride in the cities
was expressed in the last part of the epic.
The Legacy of Writing
Mesopotamians made great contributions in the field of science. Science
requires written texts that generations of scholars can read and build upon.
The greatest legacy of Mesopotamia to the world is its scholarly tradition of time
reckoning and mathematics.
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 In mathematics, they invented arithmetic, multiplication, division, square,
square roots and compound interests.
The Mesopotamians invented a calendar. They divided the year into 12 months
according to the revolution of the moon around the earth. They divided the
month into four weeks, the day into 24 hours, and the hour into 60 minutes.
These time divisions were adopted by the world. The calendar of
Mesopotamians was accepted by the successors of Alexander. These time
divisions were adopted by the successors of Alexander and from there
transmitted to the Roman world, then to the world of Islam, and then to
medieval Europe.
Whenever solar and lunar eclipses were observed, their occurrence was noted
according to year, month and day. So too there were records about the observed
positions of stars and constellations in the night sky.
None of these achievements would have been possible without writing and the
urban institution of schools. In Mesopotamian schools, students read and
copied earlier written tablets. Some of the boys were trained to build on the
work of their predecessors.

Assignments
1. The first known language of Mesopotamia was
a. Akkadiyan b. Assyirian c. Aramic d. Sumerian
2. Identify the Mesopotamian city that has been mentioned as a land of brick
built city in the Book of Genesis of the Old Testament
a. Sumer b. Ur c. Babylon d. Nineveh
3. The moon god of Mesopotamia was
a. Dagan b. Inanna c. Gilgamesh d. Mari
4. Some of the tablets refer to copper for making the alloy bronze was brought
From
a. Turkey b. Alashiya c. Syria d. Iran
5. Given below are two statements, one labelled as Assertion (A) and the other
labelled as Reason (R) Read the statements and choose the correct option.
(A) Water transport was the most popular mode of transport in Ancient
Mesopotamia.
(R) Transporting goods on was not possible in those days as there were no
proper roads.
Options
(a) Both (A) and (B) are correct and (R) is the correct explanation of (A)
(b) Both (A) and (B) are correct and (R) is not the correct explanation of (A)
(c) (A) is correct but, (R ) is not correct.
(d) (R ) is correct but, (A) is not correct.
6. Choose the correct option from the list.
List 1 List 2
I Assurbanipal a. King of Akkad
II Nabodidus b. King of Assyria
III Gilgamesh c. Last ruler of Babylon
IV Sargon d. Ruler of Urk

Options

I II III IV
A c d B a
B b c D a
C d a C b
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 D b d A c

7. List down the languages used by people in Mesopotamia.

8. List down the type of cities developed in Mesopotamia.
9. Analyse the reasons for the development of social organisation in the
Mesopotamian Cities.
10.The geography of Mesopotamia played a key role in making Mesopotamia an
earliest civilisation. Elucidate.
11. Cities and towns are not just places with large population. Substantiate.
12. Ziggurats were not only places of worship, but also centre of economic
activities. Explain.
13. Examine the features of Meospotamian writing.
14. The scribes enjoyed a respectable position in Mesopotamia. Substantiate
15. Early settlers began to build and rebuild temples at selected spots in their
villages. Evaluate this statement and explain the features of early
Mesopotamian temples.
16. The cities of Mesopotamia were not planned cities like that of Harappa.
substantiate.
17. Explain the features of the Mesopotamian Calendar.
18. Mari was a flourishing trading centre in Mesopotamia. Elucidate.
19. The geography of Mesopotamia was favourable for the development of
different occupations. substantiate this statement.
20. The people of Mesopotamia were indebted to the system of writing for their
achievements in the field of science. Do you agree with this statement?
Give reasons.

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