A Brief Summary of Mesopotamian Politics
A picture of Mesopotamian Stela of Ur-Nammu
Mesopotamia has a rich history, a history, like all civilizations, with politics. Different social classes, power shifts from man to gods, and even with justice such as “an eye for an eye”. Mesopotamia also had internal wars between different city-states, like Babylon, Ashur, and Uruk.The Assyrians created the first empire which consisted of multiple city-states. Many of the Mesopotamian tactics were based on the will of the gods, such as Hammurabi’s code and the Neo-Assyrians beliefs of war. The many levels of Mesopotamian power included ens, ensi, kings, generals, and an assembly. The social classes consisted of slaves near the bottom, merchants, artisans, farmers, fishers, and landowners in the middle. Near the top were the ens, ensi, military leaders, rich landowners, kings, and priests. As you can see, Mesopotamian politics changed and varied over the years.
Vocab Box:
City-State-
An independent city, sometimes with surrounding land , which has its own government.
Hammurabi-
The king of Babylon who set up the oldest code of laws.
Empire-
Many territories and people controlled by ONE government.
Code-
An organized set of rules and laws.
City-State-
An independent city, sometimes with surrounding land , which has its own government.
Hammurabi-
The king of Babylon who set up the oldest code of laws.
Empire-
Many territories and people controlled by ONE government.
Code-
An organized set of rules and laws.
Sources for all Political Mesopotamian pages on this site:
http://study.com/academy/lesson/mesopotamian-kings-history-politics-religion.html
http://online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/7?articleId=226313
http://www.ducksters.com/history/mesopotamia/famous_rulers_of_ancient_mesopotamia.ph
http://teachmiddleeast.lib.uchicago.edu/historical-perspectives/rulership-and-justice/before-islam/framing-the-issues/issue-01.html
http://www.ancientmesopotamians.com/ancient-mesopotamia-military.html
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/crash-course1/crash-course-world-history/what-happens-when-you-stay-put/v/crash-course-world-history-03
http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub363/item1524.html
http://study.com/academy/lesson/mesopotamian-kings-history-politics-religion.html
http://online.infobase.com/HRC/LearningCenter/Details/7?articleId=226313
http://www.ducksters.com/history/mesopotamia/famous_rulers_of_ancient_mesopotamia.ph
http://teachmiddleeast.lib.uchicago.edu/historical-perspectives/rulership-and-justice/before-islam/framing-the-issues/issue-01.html
http://www.ancientmesopotamians.com/ancient-mesopotamia-military.html
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/crash-course1/crash-course-world-history/what-happens-when-you-stay-put/v/crash-course-world-history-03
http://factsanddetails.com/world/cat56/sub363/item1524.html