What is Mesopotamia known for?
Mesopotamia, Greek for "between the rivers", is the region around the Tigris and Euphrates, mostly in modern Iraq with parts of Syria and Turkey. Some of the world's first cities, temples and writing appeared here.
Its history runs through a series of peoples and states: the Sumerian city-states in the south, the Akkadian empire of Sargon, Babylon under Hammurabi and later Nebuchadnezzar II, and Assyria in the north with capitals such as Nineveh. Their scribes wrote in cuneiform on clay tablets, and libraries such as the one at Nineveh kept copies of older texts.
Many of the oldest stories on this site come from Mesopotamian tablets: the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Atrahasis flood story, the Enuma Elish, the Sumerian King List and the apkallu sages.
The region behind the Gilgamesh epic, the Mesopotamian flood stories, the Enuma Elish and the Sumerian King List.
Mentioned on these pages
- FileInanna
- FileMahway, Ohyah and Hahyah (giants of the Book of Giants)
- FileManu and Matsya (the fish)
- FileNimrod
- PersonCush
- PersonEphrem the Syrian
- PersonGraham Hancock
- PersonHammurabi
- PersonSargon of Akkad
- PersonSeton Lloyd
- PersonUbara-Tutu
- PlaceAkkad (Agade)
- PlaceBabylon
- PlaceBritish Museum
- PlaceGarden of Eden
- PlaceIsin
- PlaceSumer
- PlaceUr
- PlaceUruk
Linked people and places
Sources
- Encyclopaedia BritannicaAn encyclopedia first published in Scotland in 1768 and now online. Its articles are written and checked by named experts and editors, which makes it a reliable source for basic facts.Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Mesopotamia'Reference
- WikipediaA free online encyclopedia written and edited by volunteers. It is a good starting point and usually lists its own sources, but anyone can change it, so we treat it as a guide to better sources, not the final word.Wikipedia, 'Mesopotamia'Reference
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