Why are the Mesopotamians considered to be Western Civilization’s, and indeed the world’s, first civilization? In the following essay, Jean Bottéro highlights two major cultural advances made by the Mesopotamians which substantiate their claim to being the forefathers of civilization. The invention of writing led to a great accumulation of knowledge, thus begetting a continuous cultural tradition which lasts to this very day. Surprisingly, the invention of divination sparked the second advance. Through their divinatory practices, the Mesopotamians began to empirically examine the world around them. Consequently, mankind’s quest for scientific knowledge was born.

The Sumerians' greatest claim to being the founders of civilization comes from their invention of writing. Cuneiform clay tablets dating from 3200 B.C. have been excavated in southern Mesopotamia. Writing allowed language to overcome the boundaries of time and space, thus becoming a vehicle for further cultural advance. This momentous invention began, however, as a simple accounting device.

In ancient Mesopotamia, education and literacy were confined to those boys who desired to become professional scribes. As the following document from the early second millennium B.C. demonstrates, students ran into disciplinary troubles even in the earliest of educational institutions. However, the wayward student in this story and his father wine and dine the teacher, who then proclaims that the student is truly an accomplished learner. This popular story was often copied in the ancient Near East. It reveals how little human nature has changed over the course of history.

The Standard of Ur is one of the most exquisite and informative Sumerian pieces of art that has been discovered. It was found in a 4,500-year-old grave in the city of Ur. The Standard consists of six 18-inch-wide wooden panels inlaid with shells and lapis lazuli. The panels include scenes of Sumerians from all social classes at war and at a royal banquet.

Each Sumerian city-state had a patron god. Enlil, the sky god and head of the Sumerian pantheon, filled this role for the city of Nippur. In the excerpts from the following hymn written by a temple poet in Nippur, the poet glorifies the god and the city he has created. To the poet, and probably most Sumerians, the city represented all of humankind’s civilizing instincts. Note how in the final stanza Sumerian kingship is legitimatized by Enlil’s favor. Many later western kings would also claim to rule by what was then termed divine right.

By 2000 B.C., most of the major Sumerian cities were dominated by ziggurats or “stepped towers.” Unlike the Egyptian pyramids, these were not tombs but stairways for the patron god of the city to descend. A “high temple” at the summit served as a home for the god, while a “low temple” at the base allowed the god to reach earth and functioned as the religious center of the city. The god appeared to priests or the king in these temples, who then conveyed his divine commands to the populace.

The Epic of Gilgamesh is the first known example of heroic epic poetry. Gilgamesh was an early king of the Sumerian city of Uruk, reigning there around 2700 B.C. After his death, a series of legends and an oral tradition became associated with his name. As cuneiform evolved, his reputed exploits were written down as part of the Sumerian invention of literature. In its present form, the Epic dates from approximately 2000 B.C. Gilgamesh’s story revolves around eternal human ideals and questions--friendship, divine punishment, death, and immortality.

Sargon the Great (r. 2371-2316 B.C.), from Akkad in northern Mesopotamia, conquered all of the Sumerian city-states. He united all of Mesopotamia, thus establishing the world’s first empire. His political influence later spread west toward Palestine and east into the Iranian plateau.

According to Akkadian mythology, the gods had to produce food, clothes, jewelry, and shelter for themselves before the creation of mankind. A number of lesser gods, who performed these functions, unsuccessfully rebelled against the greater, governing gods. Marduk, the sun-god and the head of the Akkadian pantheon, then decided to create mankind to relieve the gods of this labor. He entrusted the task to Ea, the god of the waters and of wisdom, who formed man out of the body of the chief rebel god. Thus, the Mesopotamians believed that mankind’s purpose was to offer sacrifices to and serve the gods. The Akkadians recited this story, which dated from around B.C. 1750, at every New Year’s festival.

Although Hammurabi (r. 1792-1750 B.C.) is best known for his law code, he was also a very successful political and military leader. When he came to the throne, Babylon was one of many petty kingdoms in Mesopotamia. Through a series of diplomatic alliances and military expeditions, he managed to unite the entire region under his dynasty. His reign marked the final shift of power from Sumer in the south of Mesopotamia to Akkad farther north. Babylon became the most important city in the region, a position it held for over 1,000 years.

The law code of King Hammurabi of Babylon (r. 1792-1750 B.C.) is justly the most famous source on the Mesopotamian past. However, it isn’t a formal law code so much as a collection of royal judicial decisions which glorify Hammurabi’s ability as a judge. The almost 300 decisions encompass commercial, criminal, inheritance and marriage law, thus revealing a great deal about Babylonian society. The code is not egalitarian. It divides society into three classes--nobles, slaves, and mushkenum, who were legally free but had obligations to the state or aristocracy--and the severity of punishment depended upon the social status of the aggressor and victim. The code may seem unduly harsh to the modern eye, but it went to great lengths to protect the marriage and inheritance rights of women and children.