WORLD HISTORY

THE CRADLE OF CIYIIMesopotamia was a land of many firsts—including superheroes

C Words to Know

HTÏÏTTn (n): a worker whopractices a trade; craftsperson

[n]: a system of writing usedin ancient Middle Easterncivilizations that becamewidespread long before modernalphabets were developed

(v): to make fitto humans; to tame

• ffTTO (n): a member of apeople who move from placeto place, usually seasonally

Jomesticata

Key Dates15000 Village

settlements are formedin Mesopotamia.

Uruk, onerst city-

states, is established.The epic of

Gilgamesh is writtenblets.

1792 B.CHammurabi, authoofoneoftheearlieknown codes of la\,becomes King ofBabylonia, a kingdorr

Mesopotamiabecomes part of thePersian Empire.

O ne of the world's oldest loveletters is signed, simply,"your loving wife who has

had a child." But it's not written ina language we use today, and the"letters" look like jumbled trianglesstamped into a lump of clay.

This heartfelt message was com-posed more than 4,000 years ago incuneiform—the world's first sys-tem of writing. It was the languageof ancient Mesopotamia (see map).

A region in the Middle East thatis now part of Iraq and three othercountries, Mesopotamia was a landof many firsts. Its people inventedfarming, the wheel, cities, legalcodes, and even the first knownsuperheroes. It's often called "thecradle of civilization. "

Inventing the WheelMesopotamia is Greek for

"between the rivers." The riversare the Tigris and the

'^tTf^.r ^ Euphrates (yoo-f^-^ FRAY-teez),

muddy water-ways flowingthrough dry,brown country-side. Around7000 B.c., they

provided enoughwater to allow

people to experi-ment with farming. Before that,most lived as nomads, followingwild-animal herds for their food.

Using complex irrigation systems.

the people of Mesopotamia grewcrops such as wheat and barley.They also learned to domesticateanimals, including sheep and goats.Their studies of the sun and starswere among the earliest contribu-tions to the science of astronomy.

But perhaps their most revolu-tionary innovation was the wheel.An ox or a donkey hitched to awheeled cart could pull three timesthe load of an animal hauling thingson its back. This allowed farming tobecome much more productive.

Around 3500 B.C., Uruk, one ofthe world's first city-states, wasestablished in Sumer (SOO-mur),a region in southern Mesopotamia.

2 0 JUNI0RSCH0LASTIC/0CT0BERll,2010

ZATION

A VANISHED WORLDRight: In this sculpture, Gilgamesh clutches acaptured lion. Below far left: A clay tablettallies sheep and goats in cuneiform. Belowleft: Farmers lay mats over drying marshland.

With the development of civiliza-tion came the need for merchants,artisans, scribes, and a host of spe-cialized trades.

Soon, Uruk and other city-states were flourishing. Peoplebegan to trade crops, textiles, andother goods, with trade eventuallyspreading to nearby lands such asAsia Minor (present-day Turkey)and Iran.

Hammurabi's CodeTo help them govern, Mesopo-

tamian kings wrote the world'sfirst legal codes. In the 1700s B.C.,Hammurabi, the King of Babylonia,handed down the most famous ofthese codes. It addressed manylegal matters familiar to us today,including what to do about taxes.

debts, and false accusations.Mesopotamians also came up

with the first known superheroes.Gilgamesh (CIL-guh-mesh), one ofthe most renowned, may have beenmodeled after a real king of Uruk.But the story passed down was afantastic tale in which its hero fear-lessly conquered the natural world:

He is the furious ß)od-wave.Who destroys even stone wails....He opened the mountain passes.He dug the well on the

mountain's flank.Clearly, Gilgamesh had super-

human strength. But history doesnot tell us if he could stick to wallsand ceilings as Spider-Man would domillennia later. —Sean Stewart Price

Area of Sutneraround 3000 B c

Lost HistoryIraq, much of which was the

site of Mesopotamia, issometimes referred to as thebirthplace of history. Yethistory—especially the recentpast—is now a difficult topic.

In 2003, a U.S.-led invasiontoppled Iraq's dictator, SaddamHussein. "Some of the Iraqipeople call it OperationFreedom," an Iraqi official toldThe New York Times. "Some callit an occupation. So we don'taddress this subject."

Hussein's long, brutal reignis also painful to recall. "If theyadd him to the history [books]in 35 years," an Iraqi highschool principal told the Times,"that would be too soon. Wedon't want to hear about him."

In an effort not to offenddiffering Islamic factions,many textbooks have beencondensed. One book, whichcovers the 13th century to thepresent day, is only 96 pages.

Much of the country'sancient heritage has alsodisappeared. After the warbegan, Iraqis looted museumsand pillaged archaeologicalsites. Countless pricelessartifacts were smuggled out ofthe country to be sold.

As a scholar told The ChicagoTribune, "We lost history."

JUNIOR SCHOLASTIC/OCTOBER 11, 2010 2 1

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