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Mesopotamian civilization in the two river basins
One of the earliest civilizations in the world: Mesopotamia (also known as the civilization of the two rivers) originated in the Sumerian region (middle and lower reaches) between the Tigris River and the Euphrates River. Mesopotamia is the seat of Babylon, in today's Republic of Iraq.

Mesopotamian civilization mainly includes Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, Assyria, Hittite and other civilizations. Because Mesopotamia is close to the water source, irrigation is convenient and water transportation is developed. So food has increased, and it has an important life element: water. The climate is mild and suitable for life. Jamal, tell Abu Hurella about the Hassouna period.

Khalaf period

Samara period, such as Gioga ·Mami.

Ubaid period, such as Eridu.

During the Uruk period, it was named after Uruk City.

Early Sumerian Dynasty and Early Assyrian Period

South Mesopotamia: Early Sumerian Dynasty

The earliest creators of the civilization in the two river basins were Sumerians from the eastern mountainous areas around 4000 BC. By 3000 BC, Sumerians had established many city-states in the two river basins.

According to the historical data obtained from archaeological discoveries, Sumerian city-states began to enter the era of "hegemony of all nations" in 2900 BC. The larger cities are Elidu, Kish, lagache, uruk, Ur and Nipur. These cities have been at war with each other for nearly a thousand years because of water rights, trade routes and offerings from nomadic people. Archaeology has been able to roughly outline the historical situation at that time, but due to the limited historical materials discovered by archaeology, the history that people know today may still be the tip of the iceberg of the actual situation at that time.

Kish was once considered a powerful city-state, because many Sumerian monarchs later claimed to be the kings of Kish, although they did not actually rule Kish. (But some historians believe that this is not enough to show that Kish once occupied a dominant position, and there may be other reasons, such as religion, calling himself King Kish. ) The earliest king who can be verified is the King of Kish, En Mebara Gesi. Later, some powerful city-states were uruk, Ur, Marvin and lagache.

Archaeologists discovered the inscription of the royal family in lagache, which enabled people today to know the complete list of lagache kings and related historical events from 2500 BC to 2350 BC, and also made lagache the only relatively complete city-state in Sumerian city-state.

Around 2500 BC, lagache became powerful. When Urnash was king, lagache ruled Sumer. When Anayem was king and Entemena was king, lagache conquered many places and Sumer was quite unified. Later, King Lougarre Anda caused riots due to poor governance. A man named Ulukakina overthrew the rule of Lugareanda, and with the support of civilians, he ascended the throne and carried out the first political reform movement in the known history of mankind, trying to safeguard the interests of civilians. During the civil strife in lagache, a large-scale war broke out in Sumerian countries. Marvin King Lugar Zakshi conquered lagache, killed Ulukakina and slaughtered the whole city. Ulukakina was in office for only six years, so his reform was abandoned. Lagache in this period was called the first dynasty of lagache.

Marvin's priest king Lougarre Zag-Xi (2359-2335 BC) destroyed the lagache dynasty and made uruk its capital. He claimed that his empire had expanded from the Persian Gulf to the Mediterranean Sea.

But sargon, king of Sumerian Akkad, defeated Lugar Zaksi and captured him, and the history of Sumerian city-state ended.

Northern Mesopotamia: Early Assyria (about 2500 BC-65438 BC+0500 BC)

In northern Mesopotamia, Assyria formed a country with Assyrian city as the center, and began the early Assyrian period (from the end of 25th century BC to the middle of 2000s BC). Also known as ashur city-state period.

The residents of ashur city-state were originally Hulites of Indo-European language family, and later Akkadians of Sem language family entered here, and they gradually merged with the original residents to form Assyrians. Its language is Assyrian dialect of Akkadian, and its characters are cuneiform. Assyria was conquered by Akkad rule the kingdom when the third Ur dynasty was strong. Independence was achieved in 2006 BC.

At the beginning of the 7th century BC/KLOC-,Shamshi Adade I occupied a vast area from northern Akkad to the Mediterranean Sea, calling himself "the king of the world". Assyria was the most powerful during the reign of Shamshi Adade I, and it was recorded in the documents unearthed in Mali that it had captured Mali, and its son also served as the ruler of the city. The eastern part of Asia Minor was also conquered by Assyria, and Shamshi Adade I used the title of King Akkad. But after the death of Shamshi Adade I, Assyria declined, and Assyria became a vassal of the Babylonian Kingdom and the Mitanni Kingdom (also known as the Medea Kingdom). It was not until the end of 15 BC that it became strong again and entered the middle period of Assyria. Akkadians belong to a branch of Sumerians, not Sumerians. It entered the two river basins around 2500 BC. When Akkadians entered the two river basins, Sumerian city-state civilization had come to an end, and the struggle between city-states was extremely fierce. Marvin King Lugar Zakshi almost unified the Sumerian region. But Akkadian King sargon defeated him, truly unified the Sumerian region and established a centralized monarchy, thus ending the Sumerian city-state era. The Sumerian-Akkadian era began.

Akkad Kingdom (about 237 BC/KOOC-0/-2/KOOC-0/9/KOOC-0/) was founded by sargon (about 237 BC/KOOC-0/-23/KOOC-0/6). Sargon has made 34 expeditions and defeated Lougarre Zaghisi. Then Sargon invaded the south, surrendered to Ur, captured uruk, conquered lagache, and "washed his sword in the Persian Gulf". The former Sumerian city was almost destroyed, and the influence of the old Sumerian nobles was hit hard. In the east, Sargon made an expedition to Elam, and slightly took cities such as Susa. In the north, sargon not only conquered Su Baltu in the northern part of the two river basins, but also invaded the Taolus Mountains in Asia Minor and the eastern Mediterranean along lebanon mountains. Sargon claimed to be "the king of the four corners of the world". Although sargon conquered a vast area, his direct rule was probably limited to the south of the two river basins. Su Baltu in the north and Elam in the east of the two river basins are only their vassals, and they remain semi-independent. Lebanon's mountainous areas are just conquered remote areas.

During the reign of Nallam Sin (about 22,965,438 BC+0-2255 BC), the power of Akkad Kingdom expanded again. He calls himself "the king of the Quartet" and "the king of the whole world". After Naram Sin's death, Akkadian kingdom gradually declined. His successor, Shaershan Kalishali (about 2254-2230 BC), died in a palace coup. About 2 19 1 year BC, Kuti, a nomadic people from the northeast mountainous area, invaded the two river basins in the south, destroyed the Akkadian kingdom and established the ancient iron regime. The Sumerian-Akkadian era in southern Mesopotamia is over. In the later period of Akkadian kingdom, centralization had tended to collapse, and many Sumerian city-states began to revive. Akkad was destroyed by the barbarian Guttim. During the rule of ancient Rome, lagache had a special position. Perhaps at this time, lagache moved towards a semi-independent state, thus starting the second dynasty of lagache. On the one hand, there is no mention of lagache in the Sumerian king list. On the other hand, according to the existing archaeological excavations, lagache was very powerful at that time, and it seems that most Sumerian regions recognized the suzerainty of lagache.

The prosperity of the second dynasty in lagache began with the rule of Ulba. When Gudiya became king, lagache seemed to be another regime that could rule almost the whole of Sumer after Akkadian Kingdom. However, Gudiya rarely used foreign troops. The only recorded expedition was to Elam, leaving more records of Gudiya's active foreign trade. Gudiya was a theocratic ruler who built temples all over Sumer. At the same time, it seems that he intends to show his face to later generations, and Sumer left statues of his pious posture everywhere.

According to the records left, the city-state of lagache during the reign of Gudia itself included 17 big cities and 8 small cities. At the same time, we know the names of more than 40 villages in lagache, from which we can see the scale and prosperity of Sumerian city-states.

At the same time, Kuti people seemed to remain barbaric foreign rulers until Uto Helgar of uruk defeated and expelled Kuti people, restored Sumerian rule, and then established the third Ur dynasty. In 2 1 10 BC, the last king of lagache, Na mahaney, was defeated, and lagache became the third city under the rule of Ur dynasty. After that, lagache was no longer important and eventually became a ruin. Kuti, a barbarian, destroyed Akkadian kingdom, but Kuti's rule was not stable, which made Sumerian city-state revive briefly. Utu Hrga, the king of uruk city-state, was the hero who drove out Kuti. Tuchel's strength also poses a threat to lagache. Wutu Hrga asked Ullner to guard city of ur. The cause of Wutu Hrga's death is unknown, but Ullner established its capital in Ur, unified Mesopotamia and established the Third Dynasty of Ur (211~ 2003 BC). Ullner began to call himself "the king of Sumer and Akkad".

Although the third Ur dynasty was a Sumerian dynasty, it was different from the previous Sumerian city-states, and it was as powerful as the Akkadian kingdom or the later Babylonian kingdom.

The earliest password in human history that can be seen today is the Ullner password, although only some fragments are preserved.

During the period of the Third Ur Dynasty, city of ur also carried out a lot of construction. Until today, the remains of temples in city of ur are still available for people to mourn.

At the end of the Third Dynasty in Ur, the imperial power declined, and various regions became independent, coupled with the continuous invasion of foreign Amorites. Finally, the Elamite invasion dealt the most fatal blow to the Ur Third Dynasty. King Ibsen (2026 BC-2004 BC? He was defeated and captured. The Third Dynasty of Ur perished.

After the demise of the third Ur dynasty, there was no Sumerian regime in history. Sumerians also gradually disappeared from history, although Sumerian and cuneiform still existed in the later Babylonian and Assyrian periods, and the history of Sumerian countries was regarded as myths and legends.

The civilization initiated by Sumerians continues. But the Sumerians were gradually forgotten, and the Sumerians were never mentioned in ancient Greek and Jewish documents. Sumerian civilization and its history are the achievements of modern archaeology.

The Kingdom of Babylon and the Middle Assyrian Period

Southern Mesopotamia: The Kingdom of Babylon

In the 0/9th century BC, the Amorites destroyed the Ur Third Dynasty of Sumerians and established the Babylonian Kingdom with the city of Babylon as its capital.

In BC 1792, the sixth king of Babylon, Hammurabi (about BC 1792 ~ BC 1750), ascended the throne, conquered the Sumerians and Akkadians, unified the Mesopotamian plain, established a powerful centralized country, and became a typical slave country in ancient West Asia. History is called the Kingdom of Babylon (about BC 1894 ~ BC 1595). Code of hammurabi is the first relatively complete code in ancient West Asia. This is the first relatively complete written code in the world, but it is not the earliest. The earliest one was called Ullner Mumma. The economy and culture of the ancient Babylonian kingdom were highly developed, especially in mathematics and astronomy. After Hammurabi died, the empire collapsed. The kingdom was invaded by Hittites and Gassett, and was finally annexed by Assyrian Empire in 729 BC.

Northern Mesopotamia: Middle Assyria

In the middle of the 4th century BC/kloc-0, King Barit I of Assyria (BC 1365 ~ BC 1330) defeated Mitanni and established a powerful Assyrian empire, which was called the ancient Assyrian empire in history. Since then, the Assyrian ruler has adopted the title of King of Assyria, and has continued to expand outward, defeating Cassit Babylon and reducing the territory of Mitanni to a province. Ninurta I (BC 1294 ~ BC 1208) defeated the Hittite Empire and Babylon, occupied the whole two river basins, and moved the capital from ashur to the town of Tukurti-Ninurta. Since then, there have been several capitals in Assyria, but ashur is still the religious center of the empire and plays an important role in political life. During the Middle Assyrian period, the political system has been transformed into an absolute monarchy, centralization has been strengthened, and the meeting of senior officials and elders is only formal, and officials who belong to the king have been produced. The national standing army has always existed, and its source is mainly freemen. The ruling class of society is the class of big landlords, businessmen, usurers and big slave owners. In addition to prisoners of war and slaves bought from other places, the slave class also has debt slaves. After a short decline, Assyria was revived by Tigray Paradza I (about115 ~ about 1077 BC). At the end of BC 1 1, it declined again under the impact of the migration wave of Aramaic people. The new kingdom of Babylon was founded by the Chaldeans, a branch of the Semites. They came to settle in the south of the two river basins in early BC 1000, and the Assyrian empire conquered the kingdom of Babylon and ruled the south of the two river basins. The Chaldeans rebelled against Assyrian rule many times.

In 626 BC, the Assyrians sent the leader of the Chaldeans, Popara Shaershan, to lead the army to Babylon. After he arrived in Babylon, he launched an uprising against Assyrian rule, established a new kingdom of Babylon, and joined forces with the kingdom of Medea on the Iranian plateau to fight against Assyria. In 6 12 BC, the Assyrian empire perished, and its heritage was divided between the new Babylonian kingdom and the Medes kingdom. Among them, the new kingdom of Babylon seized the western half of the Assyrian empire, namely Syria, Palestine and Phoenicia in the south of the two river basins, and rebuilt the new kingdom of Babylon (626-538 BC), also known as the Kingdom of Babylon.

In the second half of the sixth century BC, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, the national strength reached its peak and it was extremely strong. King Nebuchadnezzar II launched many foreign wars and continued to expand.

Shortly after the death of Nebuchadnezzar II, domestic class contradictions and ethnic contradictions intensified. When the last king Napoleon ruled, the contradiction between the king and Marduk Temple intensified, and he tried to establish a new god. Napoleon left the capital and took his son Belshazzar as the regent. In 539 BC, Persians rose in the Iranian Plateau in West Asia. When Cyrus II led an army to invade the new kingdom of Babylon, the priest opened the door and let the Persian army into the city. Belshazzar was killed, Napoli was captured, and the new Babylonian kingdom died without fighting.