102,854
edits
Changes
From Nordan Symposia
Jump to navigationJump to searchCreated page with "File:lighterstill.jpgright|frame ==Origin== The regional toponym ''Mesopotamia'' comes from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek anci..."
[[File:lighterstill.jpg]][[File:Mesopotamia.jpg|right|frame]]
==Origin==
The regional toponym ''Mesopotamia'' comes from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek ancient Greek] root words μέσος (meso) "middle" and ποταμός (potamos) "river" and literally means "(Land) between rivers". It is used throughout the Greek [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint Septuagint] (ca. 250 BC) to translate the Hebrew equivalent ''Naharaim''.
An even earlier Greek usage of the name Mesopotamia is evident from ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anabasis_of_Alexander The Anabasis of Alexander]'', which was written in the late 2nd century AD, but specifically refers to sources from the time of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great Alexander the Great]. In the ''Anabasis'', Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrates Euphrates] in north Syria.
The Aramaic term ''biritum/birit narim'' corresponded to a similar geographical concept. Later, the term Mesopotamia was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigris Tigris], thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all of Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagros_Mountains Zagros Mountains] are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia.
==Definition==
*1: an ancient region of southwestern Asia in present-day Iraq, lying between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Its alluvial plains were the site of the civilizations of Akkad, Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria.
==Description==
'''Mesopotamia''' (/ˌmɛsəpəˈteɪmiə/, from the Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία "[land] between rivers"; from Ancient Armenian՝ Միջագետք(Mijagetq), Arabic: بلاد الرافدين bilād ar-rāfidayn; Persian: میانرودان miyān rodān; Syriac: Beth Nahrain "land of rivers") is a name for the area of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigris%E2%80%93Euphrates_river_system Tigris–Euphrates river system], roughly corresponding to modern-day Iraq, Syria and Kuwait, including regions along the Turkish-Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders.
Widely considered to be the one of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradles_of_civilization cradles of civilization] by the Western world, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_Empire Akkadian], Babylonian, and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria Assyrian] empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires.
The indigenous Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire Achaemenid Empire]. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucid_Empire Seleucid Empire].
Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_Empire Parthian Empire]. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD 226, it fell to the Sassanid Persians and remained under Persian rule until the 7th century [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_Persia Muslim conquest of Persia] of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_Empire Sasanian Empire]. 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.
Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Revolution 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." A modern [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_nationalism Mesopotamian identity] is espoused by the ethnically indigenous Mesopotamian and Eastern Aramaic speaking people, known as Assyrians and Chaldean Christians.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia]
==Quote==
All this explains how the [[Sumerians]] appeared so suddenly and mysteriously on
the stage of action in ''Mesopotamia''. Investigators will never be able to trace out and follow these tribes back to the beginning of the Sumerians, who had their origin two hundred thousand years ago after the submergence of [[Dalamatia]]. Without a trace of origin elsewhere in the world, these ancient tribes suddenly loom upon the horizon of civilization with a full-grown and superior [[culture]], embracing temples, metalwork, agriculture, animals, pottery, weaving, commercial law, civil codes, religious ceremonial, and an old system of writing. At the beginning of the historical era they had long since lost the alphabet of Dalamatia, having adopted the peculiar writing system originating in [[Dilmun]]. The Sumerian language, though virtually lost to the world, was not Semitic; it had much in common with the so-called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan Aryan] tongues. ([[77:4|77:4.7]])
[[Category: History]]
==Origin==
The regional toponym ''Mesopotamia'' comes from the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Greek ancient Greek] root words μέσος (meso) "middle" and ποταμός (potamos) "river" and literally means "(Land) between rivers". It is used throughout the Greek [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septuagint Septuagint] (ca. 250 BC) to translate the Hebrew equivalent ''Naharaim''.
An even earlier Greek usage of the name Mesopotamia is evident from ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anabasis_of_Alexander The Anabasis of Alexander]'', which was written in the late 2nd century AD, but specifically refers to sources from the time of [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_the_Great Alexander the Great]. In the ''Anabasis'', Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euphrates Euphrates] in north Syria.
The Aramaic term ''biritum/birit narim'' corresponded to a similar geographical concept. Later, the term Mesopotamia was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigris Tigris], thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all of Iraq and southeastern Turkey. The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zagros_Mountains Zagros Mountains] are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia.
==Definition==
*1: an ancient region of southwestern Asia in present-day Iraq, lying between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Its alluvial plains were the site of the civilizations of Akkad, Sumer, Babylonia, and Assyria.
==Description==
'''Mesopotamia''' (/ˌmɛsəpəˈteɪmiə/, from the Ancient Greek: Μεσοποταμία "[land] between rivers"; from Ancient Armenian՝ Միջագետք(Mijagetq), Arabic: بلاد الرافدين bilād ar-rāfidayn; Persian: میانرودان miyān rodān; Syriac: Beth Nahrain "land of rivers") is a name for the area of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tigris%E2%80%93Euphrates_river_system Tigris–Euphrates river system], roughly corresponding to modern-day Iraq, Syria and Kuwait, including regions along the Turkish-Syrian and Iran–Iraq borders.
Widely considered to be the one of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cradles_of_civilization cradles of civilization] by the Western world, Bronze Age Mesopotamia included Sumer and the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akkadian_Empire Akkadian], Babylonian, and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyria Assyrian] empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. In the Iron Age, it was controlled by the Neo-Assyrian and Neo-Babylonian Empires.
The indigenous Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians) dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achaemenid_Empire Achaemenid Empire]. It fell to Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seleucid_Empire Seleucid Empire].
Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parthian_Empire Parthian Empire]. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD 226, it fell to the Sassanid Persians and remained under Persian rule until the 7th century [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_conquest_of_Persia Muslim conquest of Persia] of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sasanian_Empire Sasanian Empire]. 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.
Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neolithic_Revolution 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." A modern [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assyrian_nationalism Mesopotamian identity] is espoused by the ethnically indigenous Mesopotamian and Eastern Aramaic speaking people, known as Assyrians and Chaldean Christians.[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesopotamia]
==Quote==
All this explains how the [[Sumerians]] appeared so suddenly and mysteriously on
the stage of action in ''Mesopotamia''. Investigators will never be able to trace out and follow these tribes back to the beginning of the Sumerians, who had their origin two hundred thousand years ago after the submergence of [[Dalamatia]]. Without a trace of origin elsewhere in the world, these ancient tribes suddenly loom upon the horizon of civilization with a full-grown and superior [[culture]], embracing temples, metalwork, agriculture, animals, pottery, weaving, commercial law, civil codes, religious ceremonial, and an old system of writing. At the beginning of the historical era they had long since lost the alphabet of Dalamatia, having adopted the peculiar writing system originating in [[Dilmun]]. The Sumerian language, though virtually lost to the world, was not Semitic; it had much in common with the so-called [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aryan Aryan] tongues. ([[77:4|77:4.7]])
[[Category: History]]
