#mesopotamia

#mesopotamia

Generally speaking, though, from the rise of the cities circa 4500 BCE to the downfall of Sumer in 1750 BCE, the people of the regions of Mesopotamia did live their lives in similar ways. The civilizations of Mesopotamia placed a great value on the written word. Once writing was invented, circa 3600/3500 BCE, the scribes seem almost obsessed with recording every facet of their cities' lives,

Local trade in ancient Mesopotamia began in the Ubaid period (circa 6500-4000 BCE), had developed into long-distance trade by the Uruk period (circa 4000-3100 BCE), and was flourishing by the time of the Early Dynastic period in Mesopotamia (circa 2900-2350/2334 BCE). Developments in trade continued up through 651 CE, the beginning of the medieval period of the Near East. Trade began in Mesopotamia for the same reason it did anywhere else - need.

Construction of tidal irrigation systems helped to drive the formation of city states some 5,000 years ago.