Events from Mesopotamia
Most of the items of everyday use are most likely invented by Mesopotamians. As people starting coming together to form cities, laws were becoming enforced. The wheel and chariot are two of the inventions that Mesopotamians invented. Gilgamesh, Abraham, and Moses are all part of some famous stories. All of Mesopotamia started with the development of the city-states.
Mesopotamia started with the development of the city-states. Around 5000 B.C. the first cities were arising. The Sumerians were the first group of people in Mesopotamia developing the first city, Uruk. Each city had its own ruler, which was most likely a king. Cities were built around a temple, a ziggurat. As cities grew laws were formed. One of the best known codes of laws was Hammurabi's Code.
Hammurabi is known for the first written code of laws, known as Hammurabi’s code. Hammurabi’s code is made up of 282 laws. Hammurabi was the king of Babylon. In the code, everyone was treated differently, all the way from a priest to a slave. The code was written down on clay tablets. One of the most known laws is an eye for a eye. In the light of laws, there were a lot of inventions being invented for instance the wheel.
The wheel was one of the greatest inventions from Mesopotamia. The wheel is traced back to 3500 B.C. Before they were wheels, they were known as rollers. A Uruk craftsmen was the person who invented the wheel. Each wheel was made up of solid wood sections. Sooner or later somebody used the wheel as a part of the chariot carts.
The chariot is one of the first wheeled vehicles in the world.The chariot originated in Mesopotamia around 3000 B.C. Chariots had either two or four wheels and was drawn by one or more horses. The chariot was a light vehicle. Its strength came from its platform in battle. From battles to gods stories began to be told passing down through generations. One of them being the Epic of Gilgamesh.
Gilgamesh was the 5th king of Uruk. Folktales tell that the gods were mad at Gilgamesh, so they sent Enkidu to battle with him. The battle ended with a draw. After the battle Enkidu and Gilgamesh became best friends. Enkidu and Gilgamesh went to the Cedar Forest to find the Humbaba. They found him and killed him. The tale was recorded on a Babylonian scribe around 2000 B.C. Gilgamesh and Enkidu went on many quests together. After Enkidu’s death Gilgamesh sets out on a journey to find the meaning of life. When Gilgamesh dies, he is buried at the bottom of the Euphrates River. While stories were told events were recorded, counting the exoduses.
Exoduses happen when a huge group of people leave a civilization. The first exodus happened around 2000 B.C. When Abraham left Mesopotamia for Canaan. The sons of Jacob are the founders of the twelve tribes of Israel. When Canaan hit severe famine, the people left Canaan to Egypt. After years the king saw the Israelites as a threat, so he enslaved them. This led to the exodus from Egypt led by Moses Israelites out of Egypt to the Promised Land.
As history continued inventions from Mesopotamia led to the developments of today. The development of city-states and Hammurabi's Code were probably two of the most important events in Mesopotamia. The wheel and the chariot are two inventions that we use today, improvised throughout time. Epic of Gilgamesh and the exoduses were some of the greatest stories in history. Would you go back and watch these events happen?