Mesopotamian Civilization

Introduction The word Mesopotamia is derived from an ancient Greek work, which translates to â€Å"(land) between rivers.† The earliest known usage of the term has been recorded to be in the second century when it was used to refer to the land that sits on the east of the Euphrates River in Syria.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Mesopotamian Civilization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This was coined by Anabasis Alexandri. It was not until much later when the name Mesopotamia was used to refer to the whole region that lies between the rivers Euphrates and Tigris. Mesopotamia lay in what is today known as Syria, Iraq, and Turkey. The region can be further divided into two regions. The Northern Mesopotamia is also referred to as Jezirah and is the land that lies between the two rivers from their sources down to Baghdad (Heine and Nissen 45). The history of the region can be traced to the rise of urban soci eties throughout the Ubaid period, which occurred around 5300BC. Mesopotamia can also be found in the history of the Ancient Near East beginning in the lower Paleolithic period. The Ancient Near East is suspected to have collapsed after the arrival of the Achaemenid Empire. This was during the late 6th century and some researchers say it happened during the Conquest of Mesopotamia by the Arabs. Some of the world’s most advanced states in the ancients times can be found in the Mesopotamian region. Mesopotamia is famous for being one of the regions where writing was invented and advanced. The other places include the Nile valley and the Yellow River Valley. The greatest cities that were ever built in Mesopotamia include Nippur, Uruk and Babylon. The other states that lay on the outskirts and territory of Mesopotamia include Ma-aesesblu. Several dynasties were formed in Mesopotamia and included Ur Kingdom, Akkadian Dynasty and the Assyrian Empire. Mesopotamia also saw great lead ers emerge from the cities and states.Advertising Looking for essay on ancient history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More They included Hammurabi, Sargon and Ashur-Uballit II who was instrumental in setting up the Assyrian Empire (Fiero 110). The history of this great land can be traced through looking at the history of different people who occupied it who included the Sumerians, the Akkadians, the Amorites, the Hitites, the Kassites, the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans (Kramer 75). The Sumerian: They reigned from 3500-1800 B.C. The Sumerians are among the first and earliest civilization in Mesopotamia and are suspected to have built the civilization around 3000 BC when they began building large city-states. Besides running the cities, the natives were involved in conquering and controlling the large areas around them. Some of these city-states included Ur, Lagash, and Eridu. The Sumerians were a warring people and fought among the mselves and with other people for control of watering holes. The wars led to people building large city-states which were used later to conquer the smaller ones. When the Sumerians went to war with the Akkadians they eventually lost control of their city-states, which were now being controlled by the Akkadian empire from, Akkad, a city that would later become Babylon. In 2125, the Sumerians residing in the city of Ur fought the Akkadians and took control of the city-states in the southern Mesopotamia region (Kramer 98). One the greatest thing from this period is the invention of writing. The early writing was done through use of pictograms and rough sketches of the words they were supposed to represent. They used to do their writing on wet clay using reeds as the writing instrument and this was effective in storage of information. The Sumerians also invented some of the earliest application of mathematics including abstract mathematics. They are also accredited for being the invento rs of astrology, where they tried to learn about the heaven as they sought answers regarding their gods. The most important creation from the Sumerian is considered to the law. Although not much is known about the Sumerian law scholars are for the opinion that the Code of Hammurabi, which was written by the Babylonian monarch, gives us a peek into how the Sumerian law was like.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Mesopotamian Civilization specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The Hammurabi code as used in the law exacts that revenge should be used when solving of cases. This is also known as the lex talionis law that governs that that you should reciprocate therefore, an eye for an eye. The law also recognized class distinction and people were judged according to the class they came from. The laws set marked a basis for many of the following Semitic conquerors including the Babylonians and the Assyrians. The Akkadians: t hey reigned from 2340-2125 B.C. The history of the Akkadians before they conquered the Sumerians is not well known though they are known to have migrated to the North. In the year 2340, the Akkadian built their empire under the leadership of Sargon. The capital city they built, Akkad, was later renamed to Babylon by those who conquered it later. The city was used as a commercial hub in the Mediterranean region and was used for close to 200 years for this purpose. The Akkadian empire under the leadership of Sargon was short lived because in 2125, the Sumerians in the city of Ur revolted against his rule and set pace for the renewal of other Sumerian cities (Heine and Nissen 89). The Amorites reigned from 1800 to1530 B.C. When the Sumeriam kingdom fell, Mesopotamia witnessed many battles that lasted for almost a century until the Amorites grouped and formed a Kingdom that had a centralized form of government. They based the capital of the government in the city of Babylon and this giv es the Amorites the name Old Babylonians (Heine and Nissen 110). The Amorite dynasty lasted from 1900 to 1600 BC and it is referred to as the Old Babylonian period. In this period, the Old Babylonians believed that the monarch was a god and his word was the law. The all-powerful monarch devised new ways of administering the states and the resources. He introduced taxation and involuntary military service. The greatest achievement made by the Amorites was centralization, unlike the Sumerian empire that had many autonomous and independent city-states the Old Babylonian was ruled from Babylon and consisted of several cities.Advertising Looking for essay on ancient history? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More To achieve control and dominance of these cities the monarch took away the power and autonomy of most of them. The Amorites also adopted the code of Hammurabi and most of the crimes in the empire were punishable by death. The Amorites believed in many gods and took Marduk as the most powerful of all the gods (Somervill 156). The Hitites: they reigned from 1600 to 717 B.C. The Hitites are not known from where they came from but their empire was spread out across Mesopotamia to Palestine and Syria. The invasion of the Hitites marked the end of the Amorite dynasty and like those before them; they adopted the ways and culture of the natives thus continuing the heritage and tradition of the Sumerians. The empire is cited to have been greatest between 1600 and 1200 BC and even during the invasion of by the Assyrians in 1300 BC, most of the Hitites cities grew independently until 717 BC when they were finally occupied by the Assyrians and other enemies. The Hitites were traders and are res ponsible for spreading Mesopotamian law thought, political structure etc to the rest of the Mediterranean (Somervill 162). The Kassites: 1530-1170 B.C. The Hitites were among the most successful Indo-European invaders to conquer Mesopotamia, but their rule did not last long. When the Kassites conquered and controlled Mesopotamia, they renamed the Babylon city to Karanduniash. They set the capital city of their empire in a new city they built known as Dorkurigalzu. During the reign of the empire, the Mesopotamia region witnessed many wars and this attributed to the short life of the Kassites Empire. The Kassites are referred to as barbarians and savages by the Assyrians who would later conquer them (Somervill 82). The Assyrians: Their Reign was from 1170 to 612 B.C. The Assyrians are depicted in most of the history of Mesopotamia as being ruled rather than ruling. They tried to create their own empire under the rule of Shamshi-Adad though this was short lived after the dream was cras hed by Hammurabi. Control of the Assyrian cities over the centuries changed hands from the Assyrians and the southern people. The various times the region was under the rule of the Assyrians includes 1235-1198 BC under Tukulti-Ninurta, 116-1090 BC under Tiglat-Pileser, 883-824 under Ashurnarziparl II and Shalmeneser III who spread the reach of the kingdom to Syria and Babylon. It is also during the reign of this dynasty that saw the Jewish diaspora when Sargon II (721-705 BC), deported the Jews after conquering Israel. The Assyrian empire was built through wars, invasions, and conquests. The empire is accredited with innovation in the mathematics field. They were also the first to apply longitudes and latitude in geographical maps (Somervill 62). The Chaldeans: Also Known As Neo Babylon from reigned from 612 to 539 BC They are the last people who are Semites to rule Mesopotamia after the Assyrian Kingdom fell. After much suffering in the hands of the Assyrians Babylon revolted again st them and they burnt down the capital city of the Assyrian empire Nineveh. The leader of the Babylonians was Nabopolassar and was succeeded by Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC) who protected his empire from being conquered by the Egyptians and Syria. Under Nebuchadnezzar the capital city Babylon was rebuilt and upon its completion, it was the most splendid city in the Middle East. The whole period the empire was under the Babylonian there were many wars and this resulted to the empire ending in 555 BC after the rule of the empire fell to a king who was loyal to the Assyrians. He defiled Marduk the Babylonian god and this resulted to the priests welcoming the occupation of the region by Cyrus the Conqueror of Persia. This marked the end of the region dominance by the Semites (Heine and Nissen 120). Works Cited Fiero, Gloria. Landmarks in Humanities. Boston : McGraw-Hill Higher Education, 2009. Print. Heine, Peter and Nissen, Hans. From Mesopotamia to Iraq: a concise history. The Unive rsity of Chicago Press, 2009. Print. Kramer, Samuel. The Sumerians: their history, culture, and character. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1963. Print. Somervill, Barbara. Empires of Ancient Mesopotamia: Great Empires of the Past. New York: Chelsea House, 2010. Print. This essay on Mesopotamian Civilization was written and submitted by user Julianne Kirk to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

My Ideal Class Essay Essay Example

My Ideal Class Essay Essay Example My Ideal Class Essay Essay My Ideal Class Essay Essay Tonss of people will state this when inquire them what can assist you larn better or what is your ideal category â€Å"no instructors to learn us and we can utilize our phones whenever we want. we can merely chill and kip. † However. pupils neer think about the effects of that. Everyone in our category are traveling to hold a batch jobs. so we must necessitate our great instructor to assist us. My ideal survey environment would be someplace quiet and comfy where I have all my stuffs I need on manus. but I do like to hold some sort of loosen uping background noise because I can’t stand sitting in silence. Normally the best clip to analyze for me is on category. because I can larn a batch of things by listening to what the instructor says. I would wish to hold between ten to 15 pupils in all my schoolrooms. That is because the less the pupils. the more clip the instructor can assist all pupils separately. This will assist me be a better pupils. with smaller schoolroom pupils will hold the opportunity to pass on with every pupil in the category and I will besides larn more. My personal acquisition manner is on-line researching and it works truly good for me. My personal acquisition manner works out really good for me with my survey wonts because it involves a batch of typing and somehow I think typing is A LOT better than authorship. If all of our prep can be manus in by utilizing computing machine will be best for me.

Game Thoery-Science Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Game Thoery-Science - Essay Example In game theory, a situation of cooperative behavior is referred to as non-zero type game since both individuals playing end up sharing the survival interest. Where there is no cooperation leading to one player winning at another’s expense this translates to a zero-sum kind of game. The interactive tasks are going to be centered on the â€Å"Prisoner’s Dilemma†. Prisoner’s Dilemma is an expression describing a non-zero type of game where some reciprocal moves or behaviors are approximated. An assumption is made under the game of prisoner’s dilemma. One imagines that they (with a partner) are arrested with a minor crime of stealing goods and which is punished by way of a 2-year jail term. However, the police are convinced that you are the culprit and through this you should serve an 8-year term, but they are devoid of proof that either of you is the doer of the act. They subsequently do separate you for questioning. Each of the individuals involved is offered with a choice by the police, to either cooperate or defect. By cooperating one remains mum to ensure cooperation with the partner. At least you could get a 2-year jail term and the partner could be convicted with a minor crime. A defection means that one implicates the partner in the crime. Therefore, through defection the police are set to do away with the minor charges put against you and thus, could go without punishment. Judging from other players’ moves average the cooperative move had a 9.2-year prison term while defect group had a 7.2-year term in prison. Therefore, on average defect has the best outcome. Further, looking at the extent of logic the move is, if the partner decides to cooperate then one should defect because 0 years would be apt than 2 years in jail. On the other hand, if the partner decides to defect then one should do the same since a prison term of 8 years is apt in comparison to 10

The Marketing of Services Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Marketing of Services - Essay Example In addition, the economic down turn in the United Kingdom and the rest of the world caused increased levels of uncertainty and unemployment among the potential customers. The impact was a reduction in the consumption of the discretionary services offered by the enterprises in the sector. These changes in consumer behavior have affected several music retailers further aggravating the decline that was being experienced in an already underperforming sector. Prior to the financial crisis, various industry players had been facing financial difficulties due to the shifting interest of consumers from the musical services to computer games. However, things look bright as the sector continues to recover albeit at a slow pace. In the music retail industry, there are several retailers and enterprises covering the entire United Kingdom. They include single stores, independent outlets and chains of retail stores. This gives a wonderful mix of shops dealing in a variety of services. Services like instrument hire, music recording, repair of educational establishments, music teaching and site music facilities are offered in the shops. Some of the major competitors include Asda Group limited, HMV, Woolworth Group Plc, Virgin Books Ltd and Play.com. Others are AA Music, Academy Chimes Music and Ackerman Music Limited. Most of these retailers have been affected by the recent decline in purchases. HVM remains the leading retailer in the United Kingdom. Just like any other service sector, the music retail industry faces a number of problems coming from the nature of services which are offered (Dotchin & Oakland 2004). The five service characteristics are helpful in understanding some of these major problems. Perishability is perhaps one of the most difficult characteristic of the services in this sector to appreciate (Porters 2005). Services are highly perishable compered to physical products. This can be best understood when one considers the kind of services that enterprises such

Schedule Work Essay Example for Free

Schedule Work Essay Carter Cleaning Centers does not have a formal wage structure nor does it have rate ranges or use compensable factors. Wage rates are based mostly on those prevailing in the surrounding community and are tampered with an attempt on the part of Jack Carter to maintain some semblance of equity between what workers with different responsibilities in the stores are paid. Needless to say, carter does not make any formal surveys when determining what his company should pay. He peruses the want ads almost every day and conducts informal surveys among his friends in the local chapter of the Laundry and Cleaning Trade association. While Jack has taken a â€Å"seat – of – the pants† approach to paying employees, his salary schedule has been guided by several basic pay policies. While many of his colleagues adhere to a policy of paying absolutely minimum rates, Jack has always followed a policy of paying his employees about 10% above what he feels are the prevailing rates, a policy that he believes reduces turnover while fostering employee loyalty. Of some what more concern to Jennifer is her father’s informal policy of paying men about 20% more than women for same job. Her father’s explanation is, â€Å"They’re Stronger and can work harder for longer hours, and besides they all have families to support.†The New Pay Plan:The New Pay Plan:

Ethical Judgement Essay -- genetic experiments, organs, donation

Who appoints ethical limits that prevail in our society? Is every individual responsible for their own actions even though their morals may be different from others? Ethical judgments are made for every individual separately and some of them are based on their own emotions or their own reason. There are many factors that influence ethical judgments in a society or culture. In my essay I will use reason and emotion as ways of knowing, because I believe that in order to make an ethical judgment in both the natural sciences and arts a person’s emotion and reason play a role. Discovering new knowledge in natural sciences is mostly done with controlled experiments, while artists can express their knowledge in a different way with pictures, sculptures, movies†¦ In both areas of knowledge ethics cannot be excluded. Art has more freedom to express without getting negative feedback from spectators or society, while a natural scientist must be aware of lots of ethical limits in ord er that their experiment would be ethically acceptable. My claim is that ethical judgments do limit the methods available in the production of knowledge in arts and natural sciences, but the limitations are stricter when it comes to conducting experiments than creating art works. Ideally an objective view should be considered when evaluating this claim but our emotions can be stumbling blocks to ethical judgments. Firstly it has to be considered that if there were no experiments done with modern medicine that achieved something that was previously unimaginable, there would not be as big progress in medicine. The experiments for creating, testing and improving that medicine were done in some ways that can be ethically questionable. Ethical limits were reached and ... ....html (Accessed: 12th February 2014). †¢ J.P. MORELAND (2009) Ethics Theories: Utilitarianism Vs. Deontological Ethics, Available at: http://www.equip.org/articles/ethics-theories-utilitarianism-vs-deontological-ethics/ (Accessed: 12 February 2014). †¢ RITA PUTATUNDA (2007) Ethical Issues of Cloning, Available at: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ethical-issues-of-cloning.html(Accessed: 12th February 2014). †¢ Ronald Bennett (n.d.) Medical Experiments of the Holocaust and Nazi Medicine, Available at: http://remember.org/educate/medexp.html (Accessed: 12th February 2014). †¢ University of Northern Colorado (2007) Ancient Greek Ethics, Available at:http://mcb.unco.edu/ced/perspectives/ancient-greek.cfm (Accessed: 12th February 2014). †¢ WIKIPEDIA (2014) List of banned films, Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_banned_films (Accessed: 12th February 2014).

Geographic History of Henequen in Yucatan, Mexico Essay

In Yucatan, Mexico, one of the main considered exports has been henequen that can be obtained from the plant Agave Fourcroydes. The henequen fiber has become significant to the economic stand of Yucatan since this product has conceived intense demand by international importers, such as the United States, China, Europe, etc. According to Cook (1994), during 1990s, the production of henequen has surged to a total economic export of 150,000 tons annually. In fact, the main production of henequen originates mainly from the state of Yucatan Mexico (p. 29). The state of Yucatan, Mexico, has significantly obtained economic benefits from the exports made through these henequen fibers, such as rope, rigs, sacks, and raw forms. They are usually shipped within the proximity of Merida and other cores of henequen production (Patch, 1993 p. 206). The bloom of henequen during the nineteenth century has significantly boosted the economy of the state, especially considering that they are world’s main exported of this product. From the analysis of the blooms’ occurrence, significant characteristics that have been present in the topographical condition of the state caused this immense bloom and production. The geography and climate of Yucatan State have been considered unique and very much suitable to the growth of henequen. In addition, considering the trends of exports and demands during the early 1900s, the market needs have significantly affected the consumption of the product. However, as the late nineteenth century approaches, the decline in the henequen demand in the market due to various reasons, such as competition, discovery of alternative products and conversion of haciendas in Yucatan, has become significantly noticeable. In the study, the discussion gives emphasis on the chronological history of henequen exports from Yucatan, Mexico. The study starts with the analysis of henequen bloom during the early 1900s until its significant decline during the late 20th century. The study also provides important facts on henequen growth, export historical trends contribution of climate for its growth, and the history of its market decline. Discussion Geography of Yucatan The most evident characteristic of Yucatan Peninsula is the presence of limestone shelf from the eastern to western sections that surfaces above sea level. The limestone shelf of Yucatan is present even below the sea, which is very much evident in the eastern Caribbean side. The key to the growth of Yucatan henequen is the thin limestone soils present as one of the characteristics of their lands (Sauer, 1993 p. 178). The areas of Merida and Ticul comprise the flat plains of Yucatan abundant in limestone deposits. Viewing the areas 60 km south from Merida, vast plains of Yucatan limestone are very much evident and the river areas are flow under the soil. According to Greensfelder & Dogett (2006), the significant characteristic of limestone present in Yucatan is the porous feature, which enables storage of mineral deposits as well as water source. Such features are important in promoting the growth of henequen plants, since the limestone act as the primary nutrient banks of crop roots (p. 17). The borders of the Yucatan state involve the Campeche located in the southern portion, Quintana Roo in the southeastern portion, and the Gulf of Mexico in the north and western perspective. Throughout the peninsula, lakes called lagunas are very much evident and from here on, Yucatan has also utilized cenotes or the collapsed freshwater caverns in order to obtain their freshwater. Yucatan also has their limestone pools called chenes, which also acts as their freshwater storage since the water deposits are usually brought by the underground streams. From this variety of ecologic characteristics has aroused the vast variation of exotic flora and fauna that kept the survival of Mayan civilization present in the area (Perry, 2001 p. 9). Climatology of Yucatan The Yucatan climate entails humid temperatures from November to February, while the driest season progress from November to April. Yucatan climatology is usually tropical and hot temperature progresses in an annual scope. The average annual temperatures for the Mexican Caribbean is 78 degrees F or 25. 5 degrees C with significant deviations of 5 to 7 degrees F. During the day temperatures can push into the 80s and overnight temperatures can drop as low as the 50s and low 60s degree F. The coolest months in this region are the between December to February, where the average highs are from 74 to 76 degrees F (Page, 2005 p. 10). Analyzing one of the areas where henequen is prominently produced, Merida, which is tropical and humid, obtains the annual precipitation of about 1,050mm, which signifies to potential evapotransportation of 2,000 mm (Anton, 1996 p. 118). The climatic condition of wet and dry area has been beneficial to the industry of henequen growth since this plant tend to adapt to tropical and humid environment, which describes Yucatan peninsula as the perfect place. Added by Anton (1996), the precipitation rates present in the entire peninsula accounts to a variation of 500 mm near the northwestern shore to more than 1,300 mm in the northeastern (p. 118). The Yucatan climate has been viewed as one of the contributors for the plant’s intense growth. The Agave Fourcroydes (Henequen) The henequen plant is very similar to the usual African sisal; hence, it has acquired the name Yucatan Sisal. The Agave fourcroydes plant can be easily recognized through their leaves that have a prickly and grayish green color. The leaves are processed in the same fashion as sisal, while the strands are carefully cleansed and place under the sun to dry (Cook, 1984 p. 29). The henequen stalks can extend up to 2 meters long and 10 cm to 15 cm wide. The preferential disadvantage of this plant is the presence of thorns, which is also viewed as one of the primary reasons for the preference of consumer to African sisal since stalks their stalks are free from thorns. A cultivated henequen plant can yield about 25 leaves annually from the fifth to the 16th year after its planting. Most commonly, the henequen plant can survive and grow for seven years without intensive maintenance. In fact, with the favorable topographical condition of Yucatan, the henequen plant usually survives without being attended by farmers (Greensfelder and Doggett, 2003 p. 191). The process of extracting fiber from this plant involves the cutting of their leaves and, from the factories; they grind these until the fiber strands are revealed. The main use of henequen is for the binder twine in wheat harvesting. The advantage of henequen product over synthetic fibers is its resistance to marine life propagation, such as algae, barnacles, etc (Greensfelder and Doggett, 2003 p. 191).