How did agriculture develop in Mesopotamia?
The first agricultural evidence comes from the Levant from where it spread to Mesopotamia, enabling the rise of large-scale cities and empires in the region. In the 4th millennium BCE, this area was more temperate than it is today, and it had fertile soil, two great rivers (the Euphrates and the Tigris), as well as hills and mountains to the north.
What was the economy of Mesopotamia based on?
Mesopotamia was home to one of the most plentiful agricultural systems in the ancient world. The societies of Mesopotamia depended largely on agriculture and access to water. Initially, the majority of the land was owned by the palace and the temples, but in the 18th century BCE, large swathes of land were privatized.
When did irrigation start in Mesopotamia?
The first archaeological signs of irrigation in Mesopotamia appear around 6000 BC at Choga Mami in central Mesopotamia, during the Samarra culture (6200-5700 BC). Mesopotamia south of this site is very poorly attested in this period - it is possible that the first communities developed there at the same time and also made use of irrigation.
Did Mesopotamians use manure to fertilize the soil?
Due to a Sumerian "Farmer's Almanac" dated to 1700 BCE, we know that Mesopotamians already understood crop rotation and left fields fallow to maintain the fertility of the ground. The practice of using manure to fertilize the soil does not appear to have been known yet, though.
How and when did farming develop in Mesopotamia?
The regular flooding along the Tigris and the Euphrates made the land around them especially fertile and ideal for growing crops for food. That made it a prime spot for the Neolithic Revolution, also called the Agricultural Revolution, that began to take place almost 12,000 years ago.
How was farming in Mesopotamia?
There were two types of agriculture: Dry agriculture without irrigation, where people mostly cultivated cereals and relied on rainfall, which was primarily practiced in the hill country of upper Mesopotamia and the Levant. Irrigation agriculture, which was centered in the alluvial plains of Lower Mesopotamia.
Did Mesopotamia invent farming?
The cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia, was the birthplace of many valuable inventions and discoveries. It was here that agriculture began. Irrigation and farming were commonplace in this area because of the fertile land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.
How did farming affect Mesopotamia?
Operating under harsh constraints, notably the arid climate, the Mesopotamian farmers developed effective strategies that enabled them to support the development of the first states, the first cities, and then the first known empires, under the supervision of the institutions which dominated the economy: the royal and ...
What did a farmer do in ancient Mesopotamia?
In fact, farmers could produce a food surplus, or more than they needed. Farmers also used irrigation to water grazing areas for cattle and sheep. As a result, Mesopotamians ate a variety of foods. Fish, meat, wheat, barley, and dates were plentiful.
What tools did farmers use in Mesopotamia?
The farmers of Mesopotamia were inventive. They made bronze hand tools, like hammers, sickles, axes, and hoes. Mesopotamians were probably the first to use the wheel. By 3000 BCE, they had invented the plow and plow seeder.
What techniques did farmers in Mesopotamia use to survive?
The wheel, plow, and writing (a system which we call cuneiform) are examples of their achievements. The farmers in Sumer created levees to hold back the floods from their fields and cut canals to channel river water to the fields. The use of levees and canals is called irrigation, another Sumerian invention.
How did farming spread?
The Spread of Farming Modern genetic techniques suggest that agriculture was largely spread by the slow migration of farmers themselves. It also seems clear that in some times and places, such as in northern South Asia, it was spread by the passing on of agricultural techniques to hunter-gatherers.
What tools did Mesopotamian farmers use?
The farmers of Mesopotamia were inventive. They made bronze hand tools, like hammers, sickles, axes, and hoes. Mesopotamians were probably the first to use the wheel. By 3000 BCE, they had invented the plow and plow seeder.
How did Mesopotamians store food?
Sumerians had two major ways of creating a stable food supply. The first was all of their complex irrigation systems. They built networks of canals, dams, and reservoirs to provide their crops with a regular supply of water. The second invention was the plow.
What kind of food did Mesopotamia?
Other things an ancient Mesopotamian could be found eating or drinking included:Meat from fish, cattle, horses, goats, sheep, and poultry.Wine, if you were rich enough.Dairy products like milk, cheese, yogurt, and butter.Soups made from beans, lentils, and chickpeas.Fruits, like apricots, apples, and pears.More items...•
How did farming spread?
The Spread of Farming Modern genetic techniques suggest that agriculture was largely spread by the slow migration of farmers themselves. It also seems clear that in some times and places, such as in northern South Asia, it was spread by the passing on of agricultural techniques to hunter-gatherers.
What were the major changes in Mesopotamia during the second agricultural revolution?
Mesopotamia had been on the margin of developments in the Neolithic and the origins of agriculture and pastoralism took place in Mount Taurus, the Levant, and the Zagros, but it clearly participated in the second phase of major changes which took place in the Near East over the course of the 4th millennium BC, which are referred to as the 'second agricultural revolution' or the 'revolution of secondary products' in the case of pastoralism. These changes were characterised by the expansion of cereal cultivation following the invention of the plough and irrigation; the expansion of pastoralism, especially the raising of sheep for wool, but also beasts of burden such as cattle and donkeys, and dairy animals; and cultivation of fruit trees, such as date palms, olives, grapes, etc. They were accompanied by the establishment of the first states, the first cities, and these institutions possessed vast fields of cereals and great herds of sheep.
What were the two main agricultural domains of Mesopotamia?
The agriculture of southern or Lower Mesopotamia, the land of Sumer and Akkad, which later became Babylonia received almost no rain and required large scale irrigation works which were supervised by temple estates, but could produce high returns. The agriculture of Northern or Upper Mesopotamia, the land that would eventually become Assyria, had enough rainfall to allow dry agriculture most of the time so that irrigation and large institutional estates were less important, but the returns were also usually lower.
What was the biggest problem for farmers in the South?
The largest problem for farmers in the south seems to have been the salinisation of the soil. Thorkild Jacobsen and Robert McC. Adams have argued that this caused an ecological crisis in Babylonia in the 18th-17th centuries BC. If this problem was really caused by the high salt content of the soil and their irrigation system brought a rising amount of salt-carrying water to the surface, then the ancient Mesopotamians seem to have developed techniques that ameliorated this issue: control of the quantity of water discharged into the field, soil leaching to remove salt, and the practice of leaving land to lie fallow. It is not certain that the salinisation of land in southern Mesopotamia actually did lead to a fall in output and crisis in the long-term, but it did constitute a constant year-to-year problem.
What is the terrain of Mesopotamia?
The terrain of Mesopotamia is mostly flat, consisting of floodplains and plateaus. It is bordered by high mountains on the eastern side - the Zagros range, which is pierced by deep valleys and canyons with a northwest-southeast orientation (Great Zab, Little Zab, Diyala) - and by smaller mountains and volcanoes in Upper Mesopotamia (Kawkab, Tur Abdin, Jebel Abd-el-Aziz, Sinjar, Mount Kirkuk). Essentially, Upper Mesopotamia consists of plateaus which are slightly inclined to the east, rising from 200–500 m in altitude, and which are now known as Jazirah (from the Arabic, al-jazayra, 'the island'). Thus, the rivers flow through valleys which are 1–10 km wide. The southern half of Mesopotamia, which is the part properly called Mesopotamia from a geophysical point of view, since it is where the Tigris and Euphrates flow close to one another, is a vast plain, which is 150–200 km wide and has only a very slight incline, decreasing to the south until it is nearly non-existent. This encourages the development of river braiding, sudden changes of course, and the establishment of marshy areas.
When were horses introduced to Mesopotamia?
Equids were domesticated late in Mesopotamian history, with the donkey ( ANŠE / imēru (o) ) only appearing clearly in the 4th millennium BC and the horse ( ANŠE.KUR.RA / sīsu (m)) arriving from elsewhere around the beginning of the 2nd millennium BC. They were joined by the onager which could be tamed, and the mule. The donkey rapidly came to play an essential role as a beast of burden, allowing the development of a system of caravans for long-distance transportation. The horse rapidly became a highly valued animal among the elites, especially warriors. The training of horses was the focus of a great deal of attention. The large areas of pasture in Mesopotamia are located in the north, but pale beside the areas available outside Mesopotamia in western Iran and the Caucasus. Starting around 2000 BC and especially in the 1st millennium BC, the dromedary and the camel ( ANŠE.A.AB.BA / ibilu) were introduced and came to play an important role as beasts of burden and transport. Their meat and milk was also consumed.
What are the two rivers that flow through Mesopotamia?
Other watercourses in Mesopotamia are the rivers that flow into the Tigris and Euphrates. The tributaries of the former originate in the Zagros; from north to south they are the Great Zab, the Little Zab, and Diyala. Their courses have a rapid flow, on account of the steep relief and the gorges through which they flow, as well as the snowmelt in spring which leads to large floods in April/May. They carry a large amount of the alluvium which ends up in the Tigris. The Euphrates has two tributaries which meet it in southern Jazirah: the Balikh and the Khabur .
What were the conditions of ancient Mesopotamia?
The societies of ancient Mesopotamia developed one of the most prosperous agricultural systems of the ancient world, under harsh constraints: rivers whose patterns had little relation to the growth cycle of domesticated cereals; a hot, dry climate with brutal interannual variations; and generally thin and saline soil. Conditions in the north may have been more favourable because the soil was more fertile and the rainfall was high enough for agriculture without irrigation, but the scale of rivers in the south and the flat plains which made it easy to cut irrigation channels and put large areas under cultivation gave advantages to the development of irrigated farms which were productive but required constant labour.
What type of agriculture did Mesopotamia have?
Due to its varied geography, Mesopotamian agriculture was highly diverse in terms of food sources, regional crop yields, and annual rainfall or irrigation variation (agricultural production could be up to 100x higher in particularly good years). There were two types of agriculture: 1 Dry agriculture without irrigation, where people mostly cultivated cereals and relied on rainfall, which was primarily practiced in upper Mesopotamia and Syria. 2 Irrigation agriculture, which was centered in lower Mesopotamia.
What were the crops that were grown in Mesopotamia?
The main types of grain that were used for agriculture were barley, wheat, millet, and emmer. Rye and oats were not yet known for agricultural use.
How was irrigation first conducted?
Irrigation was at first conducted by siphoning water from the Tigris-Euphrates river system directly onto the fields using small canals and shadufs; crane-like water lifts that have existed in Mesopotamia since c. 3000 BCE. In the drier regions, agriculture was only possible with irrigation canal systems, which are attested from the mid-1st millennium BCE, including aqueducts. The Jerwan aqueduct, the oldest known aqueduct in the world, was constructed by king Sennacherib I of Assyria between 703 and 690 BCE.
What is the birthplace of agriculture?
The ancient Near East, and the historical regions of the Fertile Crescent and Mesopotamia in particular, are generally seen as the birthplace of agriculture. In the 4th millennium BCE, this area was more temperate than it is today, and it was blessed with fertile soil, two great rivers (the Euphrates and the Tigris), as well as hills and mountains to the north.
How was grain harvested?
Harvest required significant manpower, as there was immense time pressure on completing the harvest before winter set in. Grain was cut with a sickle, dried in shacks, and threshed by driving animals over it to "tread out" the grain. After threshing, the grain was separated from the chaff by winnowing, which was only possible in windy weather. The grain was then either stored in granaries or transported away along the waterways (sometimes even exported to other countries). In the granaries, cats and mongooses were used to protect the store from mice.
Why did agriculture start?
Agriculture started most likely because hunter-gatherers who collected grains would have had to take them back to their camp in order to separate the grain from the chaff.
What was the soil in Babylonia?
The soil, particularly in the flood plains in the arid climate of Babylonia and Assyria, was prone to dry up, harden, and crack. In order to keep the soil arable, the plow had to be used. By 3000 BCE plows were known and in wide use – many Assyrian kings boasted to have invented a new improved type of plow.
Overview
Agriculture is the ratio main economic activity in ancient Mesopotamia. Operating under harsh constraints, notably the arid climate, the Mesopotamian farmers developed effective strategies that enabled them to support the development of the first states, the first cities, and then the first known empires, under the supervision of the institutions which dominated the economy: the royal and provincial palaces, the temples, and the domains of the elites. They focused above all on th…
Climate
While developing models to describe the early development of settled agriculture in the Near East, reconstructions of climate and vegetation are a subject of consideration. During the glacial period, it is thought that lower temperatures or higher aridity resulted in sparse or non-existent forest cover similar to steppe type terrain in the area of the Zagros Mountains and varying forest cover in the territories of modern-day Turkey and Syria. Northwest Syria, dominated in ancient times by decid…
Topography
The societies of ancient Mesopotamia developed one of the most prosperous agricultural systems of the ancient world, under harsh constraints: rivers whose patterns had little relation to the growth cycle of domesticated cereals; a hot, dry climate with brutal interannual variations; and generally thin and saline soil. Conditions in the north may have been more favourable because the soil was …
Human infrastructure
Mesopotamian farmers did a number of things in order to augment the land's potential and reduce its risks. The infrastructure that they created profoundly altered the land, particularly through the creation of irrigation networks in the south where the supply of water from the river was necessary for the growth of the crops. Thanks to textual sources it is partially possible to reconstruct the appearance of the Mesopotamian countryside and the different types of land ex…
Crops
Mesopotamia had been on the margin of developments in the Neolithic and the origins of agriculture and pastoralism took place in Mount Taurus, the Levant, and the Zagros, but it clearly participated in the second phase of major changes which took place in the Near East over the course of the 4th millennium BC, which are referred to as the 'second agricultural revolution' or the 'revolution o…
Economic organisation of agriculture and animal husbandry
Reconstructing the organisation of the ancient economy from the surviving sources (mainly textual) faces numerous difficulties. Agricultural activity in ancient Mesopotamia is documented by tens of thousands of administrative documents, but they generally relate to a specific sector of the economy - the institutions of the royal palace and the temples, and, to a lesser degree, the private domains of the elites. It is their activities and initiatives which are the main source of info…
Bibliography
• Bottéro, J.; Kramer, S. N. (1989). Lorsque les Dieux faisaient l'Homme. Paris. ISBN 2070713822.
• Charpin, D. (2003). Hammu-rabi de Babylone. Paris. ISBN 2130539637.
• Englund, R. K. (1998). "Texts from the Late Uruk Period". In J. Bauer, R. K. Englund & M. Krebernik (ed.). Mesopotamien, Späturuk-Zeit und Frühdynastische Zeit. Fribourg et Göttingen. pp. 15–233. ISBN 3-525-53797-2.
The Origins of Agriculture
Geography of The Fertile Crescent
- The Fertile Crescent is an ancient geographic region comprised of three primary geographic zones: 1. Mesopotamia, mostly located in modern-day Iraq, defined by the alluvial plain of the rivers Euphrates and Tigris 2. Upper Mesopotamia in the foothills of the Taurus and Zagros mountains in the north 3. The Levant, in modern-day Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Palestin…
Mesopotamian Crops
- The main types of grain that were used for agriculture were barley, wheat, millet, and emmer. Rye and oats were not yet known for agricultural use. In Babylonia, Assyria, and the Hittite lands, barley was the main grain for human use, primarily because it is reasonably salt-tolerant (an important consideration when irrigating crops in the summer heat). It was a widely-used form o…
Harvest & Storage
- Harvest required significant manpower, as there was immense time pressure on completing the harvest before winter set in. Grain was cut with a sickle, dried in shacks, and threshed by driving animals over it to "tread out" the grain. After threshing, the grain was separated from the chaff by winnowing, which was only possible in windy weather. The grain was then either stored in granar…
Agricultural Societies
- The societies of Mesopotamia depended largely on agriculture and access to water. Initially, the majority of the land was owned by the palace and the temples, but in the 18th century BCE, large swathes of land were privatized. The smallest unit of land was the ilkum, which was leased by the temple or the palace to a smallholding family. Even though...