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Within the Tigris-Euphrates river system, in the northern Fertile Crescent, is the historical territory of Western Asia known as Mesopotamia. Iraq of today is occupied by Mesopotamia. In a larger sense, the historical area encompassed modern-day Iraq as well as portions of Iran, Kuwait, Syria, and Turkey.Our species built the framework for the contemporary world in Mesopotamia. Since they had discovered this lush area, they had been living as hunters and gatherers and moving in search of food. The rivers Tigris and Euphrates were providing those lands with water and alluvium, making Mesopotamia the most suitable place to settle down, build cities, advance farming techniques, domesticate animals as food sources, store food, and sell them among other things.

Before Mesopotamia, humankind was a nomadic hunter-gatherer species. People also existed in several Old World regions, such the Indus Valley in India, the Yellow River Valley in contemporary China, and Peru in the New World. To learn more about that time period, though, there aren't enough ruins in these places. On the other hand Mesopotamia, offers a wealth of discoveries.The Neolithic Revolution began in Mesopotamia around 10,000 BC, where it first took shape. It is credited for inspiring "some of the most significant developments in history of mankind, including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops, and the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture." Some of the earliest civilizations on Earth are known to have originated there.

 

Mathematics in Mesopotamia

 

 Sexagesimal (base 60) numerals were used in Mesopotamian science and mathematics. The 60-minute   hour, the 24-hour day, and the 360-degree circle all originate from this. Three seven-day weeks made up a   lunar month in the lunisolar Sumerian calendar. Early map-making relied on this branch of mathematics.   Theorems on how to calculate the surface areas of various solids and shapes were also known to the   Babylonians. They calculated a circle's circumference as three times its diameter and its area as one-   twelfth the circumference's square, which is accurate if π  (Pi) were set at 3. A cylinder's volume was   calculated as the sum of its base's area and height;

 The development of a sophisticated arithmetical system by ancient Babylonia, which allowed for   algorithmic computation, is where algebra's origins can be found. Temple priesthoods had made an   effort  to link certain planetary and stellar positions with current events    since Sumerian times. This   persisted into Assyrian periods, when Limmu lists were produced as a year-     by-year correlation of   events with planetary placements. If they have persisted to the present, they   provide reliable   associations of relative with absolute dates for establishing Mesopotamia's history.As highly skilled   mathematicians, the Babylonian astronomers were able to foretell eclipses and solstices. In astronomy, experts believed that everything served a purpose. A majority of these had to do with religion and omens. A 12-month calendar based on moon cycles was devised by Mesopotamian astronomers. The summer and the winter were considered the two seasons of the year. Both astrology and astronomy's roots may be traced to this period. 

 

Astronomy in Mesopotamia

 

The only Greek-Babylonian astronomer known to have supported a heliocentric model of planetary motion was Seleucus of Seleucia (b. 190 BC).[29][30][31] Seleucus is known from the writings of Plutarch. He supported Aristarchus of Samos' heliocentric theory where the Earth rotated around its own axis which in turn revolved around the Sun. According to Plutarch, Seleucus even proved the heliocentric system, but it is not known what arguments he used (except that he correctly theorized on tides as a result of Moon's attraction).Babylonian astronomy served as the basis for much of Greek, classical Indian, Sassanian, Byzantine, Syrian, medieval Islamic, Central Asian, and Western European astronomy.

 

Medicine in Mesopotamia

 

The earliest Babylonian medical literature come from the Old Babylonian period, which took place in the early half of the second millennium BC. The Diagnostic Handbook, however, authored by the ummân, or head scholar, Esagil-kin-apli of Borsippa under the rule of the Babylonian monarch Adad-apla-iddina (1069-1046 BC), is the most comprehensive treatise in Babylonian medicine.

A patient's symptoms and illnesses were treated using therapeutic methods such bandages, lotions, and medicines. Exorcism was frequently used by Babylonian doctors to free a patient of any curses if physical treatment was ineffective. Esagil-kin-apli's Diagnostic Handbook was based on a logical set of axioms and assumptions, including the contemporary belief that by examining and analyzing a patient's symptoms, it is possible to identify the patient's disease, its etiology, its potential course, and the likelihood that the patient will recover.

 

 

 

 

Agriculture in Mesopotamia

 

Additionally, the region's temperature was nearly identical with the temperatures of today; it was sunny (ice age survivors should have been delighted to find it), and the land was fertile thanks to the alluviums delivered by the Euphrates and Tigris. Mesopotamia's agricultural revolutions resulted in human settlement, which then marked the beginning of the construction of the modern world. Mesopotamia appears to have once had everything needed to settle and cultivate. Here, the concept of a "city" was created, and this lush ground is where the modern world's foundational ideas were laid.

 

Law in Mesopotamia

 

The first legal codes were written by Mesopotamian city-states, who took inspiration from judicial precedent and royal decrees. It has been discovered the codes for Urukagina and Lipit Ishtar. The most famous of them was that of Hammurabi, who achieved posthumous fame for his collection of rules, the Code of Hammurabi, sixth king of the First Dynasty of Babylon, (written around 1755 - 1750 BC), one of the first law collections discovered and it is the longest, best-organised, and best-preserved legal text instances of this kind of ancient Mesopotamian. It is written in the Old Babylonian dialect of Akkadian. Over 200 laws were codified by him for Mesopotamia. When the laws are examined, they reveal that the rights of women are gradually being weakened and that the treatment of slaves is becoming increasingly harsh. 

 

                                             

 

Up until the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was captured by the Achaemenid Empire, Mesopotamia was ruled by the Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians), who came from various regions of modern-day Iraq. In 332 BC, it was conquered by Alexander the Great, and following his death, it was incorporated into the Greek Seleucid Empire.Although Mesopotamia never completely disappeared, the advanced civilizations that existed there disappeared. The oldest sources of information about Mesopotamia are ancient inscriptions.Mesopotamia is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, Berosus, a Babylonian who wrote in Greek, and Herodotus of Halicarnassus, who lived 100 years after the fall of the Assyrian empire. The Greek philosopher and historian Xenophon, who was present during the Battle of Cunaxa and wrote a description of the final conflict between Cyrus II and the Neo-Babylonian empire, can be included to the list. Herodotus, an ancient Greek historian and cartographer, is thought to have traveled to Tyre, the Euphrates, and Babylon. Herodotus is supposed to have witnessed Babylon firsthand. Then, until the middle of the 19th century, Mesopotamia became a myth, a phenomena among more modern writers. Turkey is one of the best destinations for exploring Mesopotamian civilizations because the majority of its southeastern part of its territory is Mesopotamia and archaeological excavations have been going on since the 30s.