May 4, 2003

Mesopotamia was the scene of a great civilization even as long ago as 4000BC, and nearly all the necessities of life were either invented or originated here in their preliminary forms

ONCE again, thousands of Berbers, barbarians and brutal bullies have destroyed Baghdad. Iraqis have been butchered on the orders of the boorish Bush and his lap dog, Blair. The unprovoked and cowardly attack has been unleashed on a piece of land that had been the cradle of the most ancient civilization known to man.

The greed and lust for power of the mightiest nation is now focused on this land for two great natural resources — “black gold” (Iraq has the second largest oil reserves in the world) and the rivers Tigris and the Euphrates. In the vast deserts of the Middle East, the two great rivers provide the flow of water essential to the nations of the Arabian peninsula and south-west Asia, notably, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Jordan, Yemen, Oman, Iran and, the most important of all the nations, Israel.

That is the present. But what is the past the Americans have tried to destroy? Mesopotamia — the name is derived from the Greek words mesos (middle) and potamos (river) — was the scene of a great civilization even as long ago as 4000BC. First came the Sumerians, followed by the Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians, Seleucids, Greeks, Parthians, Iranian Sasanians and finally, the Arabs. All of them had presided over increasingly complex empires from various places in today’s Iraq. Hence, Mesopotamia is known as the cradle of civilization in world history.

Nearly all the necessities of life were invented or originated in their preliminary forms in this land. Many of the urban civilizations took their first step on their long journey to greatness from the banks of the two rivers which now irrigate Iraq. People belonging to different civilizations left their enduring contributions to the human race through the process of adoption, adjustment, synthesis and assimilation. At the same time, they enriched the civilization by their contribution.

This is a unique piece of land. While it has the legendary Garden of Adam and Eve; it also has the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the seven ancient wonders of the world. They were built just south of Baghdad in the 7th century BC, by King Nebuchadnezzar.

It is the birthplace of prophets such as Hazrat Nooh (AS), Hazrat Ibrahim (AS), Hazrat Younus (AS), Hazrat Danyal (AS), Hazrat Ayub (AS) and many more. It is also the final resting place of some companions of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) and the fourth Caliph, Hazrat Ali (AS), Hazrat Imam Hussain (AS) and his 72 companions, and four of the 12 Imams. Then there are the mazaars of a number of respected Sufis, scholars, Ulema, scientists, philosophers, writers and highly-skilled calligraphers.

The earliest-known society in this region whose people knew could read and write were the Sumerians. They lived on the alluvial plain cradled by the arms of the Tigris and Euphrates. Their gift of writing was not only unique, it made tremendous impact on the rapid process of human evolution.

Unfortunately, this historic people were lost to history. “The invention of writing changed the whole condition of existence,” said Dr Thorkid Jacobson, ex-director of Chicago’s Oriental Institute and later professor of Assyriology at Harvard. A hypnotic storyteller, Jacobson has explored the mounds, texts and the spirit of Mesopotamia for more than half-a-century. He had reached the marshes by boat, tasted the sand in blinding storms and known the sweet slumber of balmy desert nights under starry skies. According to him: “If you live in a literate society, then you have the texts of what all the previous generations thought and felt — in unbelievable number of facts and observations.”

Dr Samuel Noah Karmer, in his fascinating book, History begins at Sumer, describes 27 Sumerian firsts in such fields as government, law, ethics, literature, medicine and agriculture, besides the art of writing. It was here that day was divided into 24 hours, the hour into 60 minutes and a circle into 360 degrees.

According to the Encyclopaedia of Religion (Volume 9): “Ancient Mesopotamia, the country now called Iraq, in the northern part, down to an imaginary line running east-west slightly north of modern Baghdad, constituted ancient Assyria, with the cities of Ashur (modern Qual at Shergat), which was the old capital; Calah (Nimrud); and Nineveh (Kouryundjik), which took its place later, at the time of Assyrian empire in the first millennium.” The language spoken in historical times was Assyrian, a dialect of Akkadian, a Semitic language related to Hebrew and Arabic. “Babylonia consisted of two parts.

Dwellers of the region of the north of an imaginary line running east-west slightly about Neppur (Nuffar) in historical times spoke Akkadian, while those of the region south of it spoke Sumerian, a language unrelated to any other known language or family of languages. Sumerians had supremacy for over two millenniums and unknown hordes of wild nomads plundered and destroyed the Sumerian dynasty. Its fall spelled the end of the Sumerian civilization, even though the language, as the vehicle of culture and learning, continued to be taught in schools.”

Philip’s World History: People, Dates and Events enumerates some of the great achievements and the inventions which were made by the people of Mesopotamia in the pre-Christian era. They are:

*8500: Earliest known mud-bricks used to build houses.

*7500: Fermentation used to build houses.

*5300: Earliest known complex building with upper storey containing various rooms.

*5000: Earliest known canals were dug. They were used to irrigate crops and drain ground for settlement.

*4800: Stamp seals are first used to identify property and goods.

*4600: Small clay tokens in different shapes were first used for accounting purposes.

*4500: Ox-drawn plough was invented for crop farming.

*4300: Turntable (tournette or slow wheel) for pottery-making.

*3500: Start of the Uruk (the seat of legendary hero Gilgamesh), development of urban civilization.

*3800: Wheel invented. The first ox-drawn cart was used to transport agricultural produce.

*3500: First systematic use of pictographs for writing by the Sumers.

*3200: Lost-wax technique for casting metals developed.

*3200: Bronze used widely for tools; start of the Bronze Age in M.E.

*3400: Potters’ first fast wheel invented; cylinder seal developed

*2900: Start of the early dynastic period by Sumerians: the first conflict between rival city-states.

*2700: Cuneiform writing (wedge-shaped marks) made by pressing the end of reed into clay tablets developed.

*2600: Earliest-known glass made for jewellry beads.

*2350: Earliest-known law code (not to be confused with Hammurabi’s legal code) compiled for the Sumerian king Urkukagina.

*2300: Indus Valley civilization entered into trade with Mesopotamia and the Arabian Gulf region part of Lothal.

*2100: Earliest known example of Sumerian literature written down at Abu Salabikh in Mesopotamia.

*2100: Mathematicians divided a circle into 360 degrees in accordance with their 60-based number system.

*1900: Earliest copy of the legendary Epic of Gilgamesh written in Babylon, Mesopotamia.

*1780: Law code of Hammurabi, Babylon (Mesopotamia) written down and publicized throughout the empire.

Here are a few words about the discovery of this ancient law code, and the language in which it is carved out. Three pieces of a pillar were discovered by a team of French archaeologists as recently as 1902, near Soos (Persepolis). It was found in three pieces. They were brought to Paris and after joining them into a single pillar, the well-known linguist, M. Louis Morgan, well-versed in Semitic languages, had no difficulty in deciphering the entire text. He was so thrilled that he immediately translated it into French and got it published the same year.

Since then it has been translated into all the major languages of the world. The respected Indian research scholar, Malik Ram, has not only translated it into Urdu, but also provided us with the historical background of the Babylonian culture, civilization, religion, language and literature. Himself a scholar of Arabic language, he claimed that like the Babylonian language, Arabic also belongs to the same family of Semitic languages. According to him, today’s Arabic language is what the Babylonians spoke some 4,000 years ago. As far as the changes in the language are concerned, he is of the opinion that with the passing of time, changes take place in all fields. In the same way, languages also change. To prove his contention he has quoted the language of Shakespeare and other past masters with that of today’s literature.

Another interesting fact is that the Arabic script was also evolved in Mesopotamia. In the lifetime of the Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him), Quranic verses were written in ancient Syriac; later changed to Kufic, derived from Al-Kufa.

*1300: Assyrians extended their empire to present-day Syria.

*1200: Start of iron age in the Middle East.

*586: Neo-Babylonian empire conquered Jerusalem, destroyed the Old Temple.

*538: Persian Sasanians conquered Babylonia.

*300: Alexander of Macedon (356-323) defeated Persian King Darius III.

*331: Alexander captured Mesopotamia.

*260: Sasanians built famous royal palace Taq-i-kisra at Ctesiphon, near present-day Baghdad.

*238: Persian Sasanians recaptured Mesopotamia from Romans.

*662 AD: The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) (570-632) and his followers migrated to Medina from Mecca (the Hijrat started the Islamic calendar).

*636-637: Arab armies conquered Syria and Palestine.

*642: Arabs defeated the Sassanians at the battle of Nihawand — end of the Sassanian Empire.

*750: Abbasids defeated the Umayyads at the battle of Zab and established their dynasty.

*762: Abbasid caliph Abu Jaffar al-Mansur built Baghdad as his new capital.

According to the Encyclopaedia of Islam, the name Baghdad was related to previous settlements on the site. Muslim authors took for Persian origins. They gave different “hypothetical explanations”, the most common of which was “given by God” or “gift of God.” Others tended to give the name an Aramaic origin, meaning “the home enclosure of sheep.” The mention of Baghdadu in the Hammurabi Code proved that it was an ancient name. Baghdatha figured repeatedly in the Talmud and that made Baghdad the more acceptable reading.

Al-Mansur called his city Madinat al-Salam (City of Peace). This was the official name on documents, coins, weight, etc. It had remained the capital of 33 out of 36 Abbasid Caliphs. Arab authors stated that Mansur built his city where many pre-Islamic settlements existed, the most important of which was the village of Baghdad. After careful exploration, he chose the site of Baghdad for military, economic and climatic considerations. It was in the middle of Mesopotamia, and enjoyed a temperate and healthy climate.

Baghdad expanded rapidly in buildings, wealth and population. Simultaneously, with its madaaris (centres of learning), concentration of highly-learned people, large number of public libraries (once the figure stood at 42) and one hundred book shops (when London and Paris did not have a single outlet for the sale of books), Baghdad became the cultural capital of the entire Arab world. Ironically, it was also an age of unrest, civil wars and rebellions, but it was also a period of scientific and artistic creation, civilization, enlightenment, knowledge and refinement.