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'''Mesopotamia''' ({{IPAc-en|ˌ|m|ɛ|s|ə|p|ə|ˈ|t|eɪ|m|i|ə}}, from the {{lang-grc|Μεσοποταμία}} "[land] between rivers"; {{lang-ar|بلاد الرافدين}} (''bilād alar-rāfidayn''); {{lang-syr|ܒܝܬ ܢܗܪܝܢ}} (''[[Beth Nahrain]]'') "land of rivers") is a name for the area of the [[Tigris–Euphrates river system]], corresponding to modern-day [[Iraq]], [[Kuwait]], the northeastern section of [[Syria]] and to a much lesser extent southeastern [[Turkey]] and smaller parts of southwestern [[Iran]].

Widely considered to be the [[cradle of civilization]] by the [[Western world]], [[Bronze Age]] Mesopotamia included [[Sumer]] and the [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]], [[Babylonia]]n, and [[Assyria]]n empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. In the [[Iron Age]], it was controlled by the [[Neo-Assyrian Empire|Neo-Assyrian]] and [[Neo-Babylonian Empire|Neo-Babylonian empires]]s. 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 [[Achaemenid Empire]]. It fell to [[Alexander the Great]] in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek [[Seleucid Empire]].

Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the [[Parthian Empire|Parthia]]ns. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the [[Ancient Rome|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 [[Arab]] [[Islamic Muslim conquest of Persia|Islamic conquest]] of the [[Sassanid Sasanian Empire]]. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BCE and 3rd century CE, including [[Adiabene]], [[Osroene]], and [[Hatra]].

The regional toponym ''Mesopotamia'' comes from the [[ancient Greek]] root words μέσος (''meso'') "middle" and ποταμός (''potamia'') "river" and literally means "(Land) between rivers". It is used throughout the Greek [[Septuagint]] (ca. 250 BC) to translate the Hebrew equivalent ''Naharaim''. An even earlier Greek usage of the name ''Mesopotamia'' is evident from the ''[[The Anabasis Alexandriof Alexander]]'', which was written in the late 2nd century AD, but specifically refers to sources from the time of [[Alexander the Great]]. In the ''Anabasis'', Mesopotamia was used to designate the land east of the [[Euphrates]] in north [[Syria]]. The [[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] term ''biritum/birit narim'' corresponded to a similar geographical concept.<ref>{{citation |last1=Finkelstein |first1=J.J. |year=1962 |title=Mesopotamia |journal=Journal of Near Eastern Studies |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=73–92 |jstor=543884 |doi=10.1086/371676 }}</ref> Later, the term Mesopotamia was more generally applied to all the lands between the Euphrates and the [[Tigris]], thereby incorporating not only parts of Syria but also almost all of [[Iraq]] and southeastern [[Turkey]].<ref name=fosterpolingerfoster>{{citation |title=Civilizations of ancient Iraq |last1=Foster |first1=Benjamin R. |last2=Polinger Foster |first2=Karen |year=2009 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton |isbn=978-0-691-13722-3 }}</ref> The neighbouring steppes to the west of the Euphrates and the western part of the [[Zagros Mountains]] are also often included under the wider term Mesopotamia.<ref name=canard>{{citation |last1=Canard |first1=M. |editor1-first=P. |editor1-last=Bearman |editor2-first=Th. |editor2-last=Bianquis |editor3-first=C.E. |editor3-last=Bosworth |editor4-first=E. |editor4-last=van Donzel |editor5-first=W.P. |editor5-last=Heinrichs |editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |year=2011 |publisher=Brill Online |location=Leiden |chapter=al-ḎJazīra, Ḏjazīrat Aḳūr or Iḳlīm Aḳūr |oclc=624382576 }}</ref><ref name=wilkinson2000>{{citation |last1=Wilkinson |first1=Tony J. |year=2000 |title=Regional approaches to Mesopotamian archaeology: the contribution of archaeological surveys |journal=Journal of Archaeological Research |volume=8 |issue=3 |pages=219–267 |issn=1573-7756 |doi=10.1023/A:1009487620969 }}</ref><ref name=matthews2003>{{citation |last=Matthews |first=Roger |title=The archaeology of Mesopotamia. Theories and approaches |year=2003 |publisher=Routledge |location=Milton Square |series=Approaching the past |isbn=0-415-25317-9 }}</ref>  A further distinction is usually made between Upper or Northern or [[Upper Mesopotamia ]] and Lower or Southern or Lower Mesopotamia.<ref name=miqueletal>{{citation |last1=Miquel |first1=A. |last2=Brice |first2=W.C. |last3=Sourdel |first3=D. |last4=Aubin |first4=J. |last5=Holt |first5=P.M. |last6=Kelidar |first6=A. |last7=Blanc |first7=H. |last8=MacKenzie |first8=D.N. |last9=Pellat |first9=Ch. |editor1-first=P. |editor1-last=Bearman |editor2-first=Th. |editor2-last=Bianquis |editor3-first=C.E. |editor3-last=Bosworth |editor4-first=E. |editor4-last=van Donzel |editor5-first=W.P. |editor5-last=Heinrichs |editor3-link=Clifford Edmund Bosworth |title=Encyclopaedia of Islam, Second Edition |year=2011 |publisher=Brill Online |location=Leiden |chapter=ʿIrāḳ |oclc=624382576 }}</ref> Upper Mesopotamia, also known as the [[Al-''Jazira, Mesopotamia|Jezirah]]'', is the area between the Euphrates and the Tigris from their sources down to [[Baghdad]].<ref name=canard/> Lower Mesopotamia consists of southern Iraq, [[Kuwait]] and parts of western Iran.<ref>{{Citation|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=nAemO6HmOgYC&pg=PA2 |title=Who Were The Babylonians?|work= Bill T. Arnold|year=2004|pages=2|postscript=}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=Ix4X-0QykDAC&pg=PT108&dq |title=From Adam to Noah-The Numbers Game: Why the Genealogy Puzzles of Genesis 5|work= Leonard Timmons|year=2012|pages=|postscript=}}</ref><ref>{{Citation|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=K-4OtwAACAAJ&d |title=Southern Mesopotamia During the Bronze Age|work= Lisa E. Gross|year=2003|pages=|postscript=}}</ref> In modern academic usage, the term Mesopotamia often also has a chronological connotation. It is usually used to designate the area until the [[Muslim conquests]], with names like Syria, JezirahJazirah, and Iraq being used to describe the region after that date.<ref name=fosterpolingerfoster/><ref name=bahrani>{{citation |last1=Bahrani |first1=Z. |editor1-last=Meskell |editor1-first=L. |title=Archaeology under fire: Nationalism, politics and heritage in the Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East |year=1998 |publisher=Routledge |location=London |isbn=978-0-415-19655-0 |pages=159–174 |chapter=Conjuring Mesopotamia: imaginative geography a world past }}</ref> It has been argued that these later euphemisms are [[Eurocentrism|Eurocentric]] terms attributed to the region in the midst of various 19th-century Western encroachments.<ref name=bahrani/><ref>Scheffler, Thomas; 2003. “ 'Fertile crescent', 'Orient', 'Middle East': the changing mental maps of Southeast Asia,” ''European Review of History'' 10/2: 253–272.</ref>

Mesopotamia encompasses the land between the [[Euphrates]] and [[Tigris]] rivers, both of which have their headwaters in the mountains of [[Armenian Highland|ArmeniaHighlands]] in modern-day Turkey. Both rivers are fed by numerous tributaries, and the entire river system drains a vast mountainous region. Overland routes in Mesopotamia usually follow the Euphrates because the banks of the Tigris are frequently steep and difficult. The climate of the region is semi-arid with a vast desert expanse in the north which gives way to a {{convert|15000|km2|sqmi}} region of marshes, lagoons, mud flats, and reed banks in the south. In the extreme south, the Euphrates and the Tigris unite and empty into the [[Persian Gulf]].

The arid environment which ranges from the northern areas of rain-fed agriculture to the south where irrigation of agriculture is essential if a surplus [[EROEI|energy returned on energy invested]] (EROEI) is to be obtained. This irrigation is aided by a high water table and by melting snows from the high peaks of the northern [[Zagros Mountains]] and from the [[Armenian Highlands|Armenian cordillera]], the source of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers that give the region its name. The usefulness of irrigation depends upon the ability to mobilize sufficient labor for the construction and maintenance of canals, and this, from the earliest period, has assisted the development of urban settlements and centralized systems of political authority.

{{Further|History of Iraq|History of the Middle East|Chronology of the Ancient ancient Near East}}The pre-history of the [[Ancient Near East]] begins in the [[Lower Paleolithic]] period, but writing began with a pictographic script in the Uruk IV period (ca. 4th millennium BC), and the documented record of actual historical events &mdash; and the ancient history of lower Mesopotamia &mdash; commence in the mid-third millennium BC with cuneiform records of early dynastic kings, and ends with either the arrival of the [[Achaemenid Empire]] in the late 6th century BC, or with the [[Arab]] [[Islamic Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia]] and the establishment of the [[Caliphate]] in the late 7th century AD, from which point the region came to be known as [[History of Iraq|Iraq]]. During this period Mesopotamia housed some of the world's most ancient highly developed and socially complex states. The region was one of the [[Civilized core|four riverine civilizations]] where [[writing]] was invented, along with the [[Nile]] valley in [[Egypt]], the [[Indus Valley Civilization|Indus Valley]] in the [[Indian subcontinent]], and the [[Yellow River valley ]] in [[China]]. Mesopotamia housed historically important cities such as [[Uruk]], [[Nippur]], [[Nineveh]], [[Assur]] and [[Babylon]], as well as major territorial states such as the city of [[Eridu]], the [[Akkadian]] kingdomkingdoms, the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]], and the various [[Assyria]]n empires. Some of the important historical Mesopotamian leaders were [[Ur-Nammu]] (king of Ur), [[Sargon of Akkad|Sargon]] (who established the Akkadian Empire), [[Hammurabi]] (who established the Old Babylonian state), [[Ashur-uballit II]] and [[Tiglath-Pileser I]] (who established the Assyrian EmpiresEmpire).

**[[Hassuna culture|Hassuna]] (~6000 bc–? BC), [[Samarra culture|Samarra]] (~5700 BC–4900 BC) and [[Halafculture]] s (~6000 BC–5300 BC) cultures

**[[Early Dynastic Period of Sumer(Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic period]] (~2900–2350 BC)

**[[Third Dynasty of Ur III period]] (2112–2004 BC)**[[Assyria|Early Assyrian kingdom]] (24th to 18th century BC)

**collapse: [[Minoan Eruptioneruption]] (c. 1620 BC)

**[[Middle Old Assyrian period]] (16th to 11th century BC)**[[Middle Assyrian Empire]] period (c. 1365 BC&ndash;1076 BC)**[[Kassite dynastyKassites]] in [[Babylon]], (c. 1595 BC&ndash;1155 BC)**collapse: [[Late Bronze Age collapse]] (12th to 11th century BC)

**[[NeoSyro-Hittitestates]] or Syro-Hittite regional states (11th to 7th century BC)

* [[Classical Antiquityantiquity]]**[[Babylonia (#Persian province)Babylonia|Persian Babylonia]], [[Achaemenid Assyria]] (6th to 4th century BC)

**[[Asuristan|Persian MesopotamiaAsōristān]], Persian [[Asuristan]] ([[Assyria]]) (3rd to 7th century AD)**[[Arab]] [[Muslim conquest of Iraq|Muslim conquest of Mesopotamia]] (mid-7th century AD)

{{Main|Mesopotamian Babylonian astronomy}}From [[Sumer]]ian times, temple priesthoods had attempted to associate current events with certain positions of the planets and stars. This continued to [[Assyria]]n Assyrian times , when [[Limmu]] lists were created as a year by year association of events with planetary positions, which, when they have survived to the present day, allow accurate associations of relative with absolute dating for establishing the history of Mesopotamia.

The Babylonian astronomers were very adept at mathematics and could predict [[Eclipse cycle|predict eclipses]] and [[Solstice#Solstice determination|solstices]]. Scholars thought that everything had some purpose in astronomy. Most of these related to religion and omens. Mesopotamian astronomers worked out a 12-month calendar based on the cycles of the moon. They divided the year into two seasons: summer and winter. The origins of astronomy as well as [[Babylonian astrology|astrology]] date from this time.

In [[Seleucid dynasty|Seleucid]] and [[Parthia]]n Parthian times, the astronomical reports were thoroughly scientific; how much earlier their advanced knowledge and methods were developed is uncertain. The Babylonian development of methods for predicting the motions of the planets is considered to be a major episode in the [[History of Astronomyastronomy#Mesopotamia|history of astronomy]].

Babylonian astronomy served as the basis for much of [[Ancient Greek astronomy|Greek]], classical [[Indian astronomy|classical Indian]], [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanian]], [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]], [[Syria]]n, medieval [[Astronomy in the medieval Islamic astronomyworld|medieval Islamic]], [[Central Asia]]n, and [[Western Europe]]an astronomy.<ref name=dp1998>{{Harvtxt|Pingree|1998}}</ref>

Mesopotamian people invented many technologies including metal and copper-working, glass and lamp making, textile weaving, flood control, water storage, and irrigation. They were also one of the first [[Bronze ageAge]] people societies in the world. They developed from copper, bronze, and gold on to iron. Palaces were decorated with hundreds of kilograms of these very expensive metals. Also, copper, bronze, and iron were used for armor as well as for different weapons such as swords, daggers, spears, and [[mace (club)|maces]].

According to a recent hypothesis, the [[Archimedes' screw]] may have been used by [[Sennacherib]], King of [[Assyria]], for the water systems at the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] and [[Nineveh]] in the 7th century BC, although mainstream scholarship holds it to be a [[Anient Ancient Greece|Greek]] invention of later times.<ref>Stephanie Dalley and [[John Peter Oleson]] (January 2003). "Sennacherib, Archimedes, and the Water Screw: The Context of Invention in the Ancient World", ''Technology and Culture'' '''44''' (1).</ref> Later , during the [[Parthia]]n Parthian or [[Sassanid Empire|Sassanid]] Sasanian periods, the [[Baghdad Battery]], which may have been the world's first battery, was created in Mesopotamia.<ref name=BBC>{{Citation|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/4450052.stm |last=Twist |first=Jo |title=Open media to connect communities |publisher=BBC News |date=20 November 2005 |accessdate=6 August 2007|postscript= }}</ref>

{{Main|Religion in MesopotamiaAncient Mesopotamian religion}}[[File:Lilith Periodo de Isin Larsa y Babilonia.JPG|thumb|right|260px|The [[Burney Relief]], [[First Babylonian Dynasty|Old Babylonian]], around 1800 BC]][[Ancient Mesopotamian religion]] was the first to be recorded. Mesopotamians believed that the world was a flat disc,{{Citation needed|date=June 2009}} surrounded by a huge, holed space, and above that, [[heaven]]. They also believed that water was everywhere, the top, bottom and sides, and that the [[universe]] was born from this enormous sea. In addition, Mesopotamian religion was [[polytheism|polytheistic]]. Although the [[belief]]s described above were held in common among Mesopotamians, there were also regional variations. The Sumerian word for universe is '''an-ki''', which refers to the god [[Anu|An]] and the goddess [[Ki (goddess)|Ki]].{{citation needed|date=January 2013}}<!--stating that the word "an-ki" for "[[universe]]" derives from the two god words for [[Anu]] and [[Ki (goddess)|Ki]] is debatable. There was also a god called "[[Enki#Confuser_of_languagesConfuser of languages]]".--> Their son was Enlil, the air god. They believed that Enlil was the most powerful god. He was the chief god of the [[Pantheon (gods)|Pantheon]], equivalent to the Greek god [[Zeus]] and the Roman god [[Jupiter (mythologyreligion)|Jupiterpantheon]]. The Sumerians also posed philosophical questions, such as: Who are we?, Where are we?, How did we get here?.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}} They attributed answers to these questions to explanations provided by their gods.

[[Giorgio Buccellati]] believes that the origins of [[philosophy]] can be traced back to early Mesopotamian [[wisdom]], which embodied certain philosophies of life, particularly [[ethics]], in the forms of [[dialectic]], [[dialogdialogue]]s, [[epic poetry]], [[folklore]], [[hymn]]s, [[lyrics]], [[prose]] works, and [[proverb]]s. Babylonian [[reasoningreason]] and [[rationality]] developed beyond [[empiricism|empirical]] observation.<ref>Giorgio Buccellati (1981), "Wisdom and Not: The Case of Mesopotamia", ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' '''101''' (1), p. 35-47.</ref>

The earliest form of [[logic]] was developed by the Babylonians, notably in the rigorous [[ergodicity|nonergodic]] nature of their [[social structure|social systems]]. Babylonian thought was [[axiom]]atic and is comparable to the "ordinary logic" described by [[John Maynard Keynes]]. Babylonian thought was also based on an [[open system (systems theory)|open-systems]] [[ontology]] which is compatible with [[ergodic]] axioms.<ref name=Sheila/> Logic was employed to some extent in [[Babylonian astronomy]] and medicine.

Babylonian thought had a considerable influence on early [[Ancient Greek philosophy|Ancient Greek]] and [[Hellenistic philosophy]]. In particular, the Babylonian text ''[[Dialogue of Pessimism]] '' contains similarities to the [[agonist]]ic thought of the [[sophism|sophists]], the [[Heraclitus|Heraclitean]] doctrine of contrasts, and the [[dialectic]] and dialogs of [[Plato]], as well as a precursor to the [[maieutics|maieutic]] [[Socratic method|method]] of [[Socrates]].<ref>Giorgio Buccellati (1981), "Wisdom and Not: The Case of Mesopotamia", ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'' '''101''' (1), p. 35-47 43.</ref> The [[Ionians|Ionian]] philosopher [[Thales]] was influenced by Babylonian cosmological ideas.

The most notable architectural remains from early Mesopotamia are the temple complexes at [[Uruk]] from the 4th millennium BC, temples and palaces from the [[Early Dynastic Period of Sumer#Early Dynastic period|Early Dynastic]] period sites in the [[Diyala River]] valley such as Khafajah and Tell Asmar, the [[Third Dynasty of Ur]] remains at [[Nippur]] (Sanctuary of [[Enlil]]) and [[Ur]] (Sanctuary of [[Sin (mythology)|Nanna]]), Middle [[Bronze Age]] remains at Syrian-Turkish sites of [[Ebla]], [[Mari, Syria|Mari]], [[Alalakh]], [[Aleppo]] and [[Kultepe]], Late Bronze Age palaces at [[Bogazkoy]] (Hattusha), [[Ugarit]], [[Ashur]] and [[Nuzi]], Iron Age palaces and temples at [[Assyria]]n ([[Kalhu]]/Nimrud, [[Khorsabad]], [[Nineveh]]), [[Babylonia]]n ([[Babylon]]), [[Urartian]] ([[Tushpa]]/Van Kalesi, Cavustepe[[Haykaberd]], Ayanis, [[Armavir, Armenia|Armavir]], [[Yerevan|Erebuni]], [[Bastam]]) and [[Neo-Hittite]] sites ([[Carchemish|Karkamis]], [[Tell Halaf]], [[Karatepe]]). Houses are mostly known from Old Babylonian remains at Nippur and Ur. Among the textual sources on building construction and associated rituals are Gudea's cylinders from the late 3rd millennium are notable, as well as the Assyrian and Babylonian royal inscriptions from the [[Iron Age]].

{{Commons category|Mesopotamia}}