The Technology Of Mesopotamia

Describes the technology used in Mesopotamia to improve agriculture, construction, transportation, writing, and mathematics.

Its probable that the ancient people in Mesopotamia were the first to use the wheel for transportation around 3200 BC. If thats not impressive enough, the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon were dreamed up and executed by this ancient culture. Sure to draw readers in, the main historical content covers the many cultures of ancient Mesopotamia and their technological advances in many areas, from shipbuilding to farming. Fascinating artistic renderings of ziggurats, Mesopotamian cities, and how arrowheads were made using clay molds enhance each section, along with up-close photographs of artifacts and ancient craftwork. A helpful timeline guides readers through the major historical events of the time while sidebars offer even more detail about each chapter.

It’s probable that the ancient people in Mesopotamia were the first to use the wheel for transportation around 3200 BC. If that’s not impressive enough, the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon were dreamed up and executed by this ancient culture. Sure to draw readers in, the main historical content covers the many cultures of ancient Mesopotamia and their technological advances in many areas, from shipbuilding to farming. Fascinating artistic renderings of ziggurats, Mesopotamian cities, and how arrowheads were made using clay molds enhance each section, along with up-close photographs of artifacts and ancient craftwork. A helpful timeline guides readers through the major historical events of the time while sidebars offer even more detail about each chapter.

When we think of technology, we might think only of our modern tools, such as electronics, computers, and cutting-edge gadgets, but civilizations throughout the ages have used technology to improve their lives. This informative resource will reveal that the ancient Mesopotamians were an innovative and forward-thinking people. They solved societal problems, such as regulating water to make sure they had a ready supply when they needed it. Readers will also be engaged throughout the volume with descriptions of their technological achievements, such as the construction of their cities, ziggurats, transportation, and weapons, just to name a few.

Describes developments in science, technology, and warfare during the ancient Mesopotamian era.

Over the course of millennia, the many civilizations making up Mesopotamia created interesting and inspiring technologies. From the first analog computers to jewelry, the Mesopotamians were skilled workers and inventors. This book dives into the history of each Mesopotamian civilization and discusses which technologies continue to inspire societies today.

This is the first systematic attempt to survey in detail the archaeological evidence for the crafts and craftsmanship of the Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians in ancient Mesopotamia, covering the period ca. 8000-300 B.C.E. As creators of some of the earliest farming and urban communities known to us, these people were among the first pioneers of many crafts and skills that remain fundamental to modern ways of life. Many of the raw materials for crafts had to be imported from outside the river valley of the Tigris and Euphrates, providing an unusually sensitive indicator of the commercial and cultural contacts of Mesopotamia. In this book, Dr. Moorey reviews briefly the textual evidence, and then goes on to examine in detail the material evidence for a wide range of crafts using stones, both common and ornamental, animal products--from hippopotamus ivory to ostrich egg-shells--ceramics, glazed materials and glass, metals, and building materials. With a comprehensive bibliography, this will be a key work of reference for archaeologists and those interested in the early history of crafts and technology, as well as for specialist historians of the ancient Near East.

The Sumerians, the pragmatic and gifted people who preceded the Semites in the land first known as Sumer and later as Babylonia, created what was probably the first high civilization in the history of man, spanning the fifth to the second millenniums B.C. This book is an unparalleled compendium of what is known about them. Professor Kramer communicates his enthusiasm for his subject as he outlines the history of the Sumerian civilization and describes their cities, religion, literature, education, scientific achievements, social structure, and psychology. Finally, he considers the legacy of Sumer to the ancient and modern world. "There are few scholars in the world qualified to write such a book, and certainly Kramer is one of them. . . . One of the most valuable features of this book is the quantity of texts and fragments which are published for the first time in a form available to the general reader. For the layman the book provides a readable and up-to-date introduction to a most fascinating culture. For the specialist it presents a synthesis with which he may not agree but from which he will nonetheless derive stimulation."—American Journal of Archaeology "An uncontested authority on the civilization of Sumer, Professor Kramer writes with grace and urbanity."—Library Journal