Slavery In Ancient Mesopotamia Throughout history, slavery has been a key role in the development of empires and successful countries. In Ancient Mesopotamia, the idea of using slavery to an empire's advantage was very prevalent. The Ancient Mesopotamians quickly realized when they first began to grow and strengthen their empire that they needed slaves. In order to gain slaves, monarchs of ancient Sumer would dispatch bands of men to raid nearby city-states in the hill area. These monarchs would declare that their gods had granted them victory over a lower people in order to justify the acquisition of slaves. Slavery played a significant role in ancient Near Eastern culture and way of life. Their empires were based on the use of slaves. Deportees …show more content…
The country's economy depended heavily on the import and export of slaves; this activity might account for a significant amount of an individual's income and slaves were undoubtedly not inexpensive. Slaves were imported and exported by independent traders who traded in a variety of goods. In the strictest sense, no slave traders nor a single individual engaged solely in the purchasing and selling of slaves existed in the Ancient Near East. The demand for slaves was insufficient to warrant specialization in this line of business. The slave population in Mesopotamia was largely made up of prisoners of war, foreign slaves, and their offspring. As is the case for all city-states at some point in history, the majority of Sumerian and Akkadian slaves originated from among the native people. The slaves were sold into slavery freely by unemployed people, by individuals who were in default on their debts, and by juveniles who were either sold into slavery by their parents or who were compelled into a situation in which only slavery could save their lives. In addition to trading in commodities like wheat, cattle, and real estate, merchants would also buy and sell slaves. Slavery was a great advantage for any new empire to succeed and thrive, as