Big History 1: Tigris/Euphrates Rivers (Uruk/Mesopotamia)

The Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago has assembled a collection of resources aimed at helping to recover treasures from Iraq's National Museum that were looted in the spring of 2003. This slideshow contains examples of priceless works of early Mesopotamian culture found at Ur, Uruk, and Nimrud.

People also call West Asia the Near East or the Middle East: it is the part of Asia that is closest to the Mediterranean Sea.

A look at many aspects of the Mesopotamian culture. Click through the slide show to see the image and additional information and resources. A good overview of the contributions of an early civilization.

This is the Middle Bronze Age in West Asia, about 2100 BC to 1700 BC. It corresponds roughly to the First Intermediate Period in Egypt, and just as in Egypt this was a time when West Asia was broken up into a lot of little kingdoms instead of being one big empire.

Ancient Mesopotamia is considered the cradle of civilization because the Mesopotamians developed many things that we take for granted in our modern lives, such as agriculture, language, cities, religion, and government.

This beautifully crafted site on Mesopotamia has selected information on Assyrian palaces and warfare, Babylonian astronomers, trade and transport and Sumer, Royal Tombs of Ur and Ziggurats.

A paper which discusses the accomplishments of early Mesopotamian society in the fields of mathematics, astronomy, and literature.

Looks at the ancient peoples of Mesopotamia, including the Sumerians and Akkadians. Particular emphasis given to the status of women in the region, religious practices, and language.

Lengthy but impressive overview of Ancient civilizations with timelines and charts comparing advancements in development. This lecture advances the idea that the first American civilizations developed not much later than civilizations on other continents. This idea casts doubt on proposition racial inferiority of American indigenous people. Click the highlighted "Timeline" under the "Later Civilizations" heading.

In ancient Mesopotamia (the land between the rivers), the first civilization--that of Sumer-- appeared in the Near East.