Ancient Mesopotamia was a civilization from 4,000 B.C., which was almost 6,000 years ago! A civilization is a large group of non-nomadic people with its language and set of rules, usually advanced for its time. Ancient Mesopotamia, located in the Fertile Crescent (Modern day Iran/Turkey), has been debated for years, with people asking, “should Ancient Mesopotamia be considered the first civilization?” Well, Mesopotamia should be considered the first civilization because of its social structure, politics, and achievements.
Ancient Mesopotamia had an advanced social structure for its time. The population of Mesopotamia was divided into different social classes, and depending on your class, the more or less power you have in the civilization. Document #4 showed the king on the top of the social pyramid, doing no work, and slaves on the bottom, doing a lot of work, which demonstrates that the higher on the social class you are, the more freedom you have. The people higher on the social pyramid had two-story homes and lived closer to the ziggurat, but people lower on the social pyramid had 1 story homes and lived further from the ziggurat. The
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Hammurabi was one of the first rulers of Mesopotamia, and also the very first written list of laws, which helped establish Mesopotamia as a leading civilization. Document #2 states that Hammurabi created his laws to destroy the wicked and evil-doers; so that the strong should not harm the weak, and to protect the citizens from falling. The early city-states started to become centralized which led them to create a council of 120 men to help the citizens. Also, document #2, talks about how as Hammurabi grew his empire he saw the need to unify the various groups he controlled. It is clear that Mesopotamia was a leader in an early form of government and laws making them the first civilization in human