Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids
Sumer (the inventors)
Babylon (the builders)
Assyria (the warriors)

Ancient Sumer: Sumer was the first civilization in the south. They were the first farmers and extremely inventive. They created so many firsts - like the first wheel, the first sailboat, and the first plow. They created toys and musical instruments. Every family had their own home. Homes were built in rows with front doors. They developed a clear system of government. The many villages that made up the Sumer civilization were ruled by one king at a time.

Ancient Babylon: Babylon started as one town in ancient Sumer. Over time, as Sumer fell from power and disappeared, Babylonia rose in power, and took over, but life was very similar in both. Babylon had incredible architects, who built the most beautiful buildings and structures, like the Istar Gate, the very impressive gate that welcomed travelers into the city of Babylon.

Women: In ancient Mesopotamia, women were not considered equal to men. They had some rights but not all rights. Women could freely go out of their homes and go to the market. They were allowed to own property. They could start a business. They could become involved in court cases. They could learn to read and write. They could get a paid job. But they were not allowed a vote in the assembly, so they had no voice in making laws.

Daily Life: Under both Sumer and Babylonian rule, people had jobs. Kids went to school. Both the Sumerians and the Babylonians made beautiful pottery and built gorgeous buildings with central plazas and welcoming gates.  Their art and architecture reflected their life and their heroes. The people built two-level, three-level, and even four-level homes for their families using sturdy sun-baked brick. Religion was a big part of daily life.

Ziggurats: Their temples were called ziggurats. There were ramps that led to the top for their priests to use to be as near to the heavens as possible when praying and conducting ceremonies. No one is quite sure if their priests actually lived in the ziggurats, but most historians think they probably did. People brought offerings to the temples so the priests had ample food, goods, and clothing. (The white structure in the background of the picture below is a ziggurat.

Gloomy Gods: Several times each day, wherever they were, the men stopped whatever they were doing and worshiped their many gloomy gods, trying to keep them happy. (Their gods never did cheer up, but the people kept trying anyway.) It was understood that women were very busy, taking care of the house, the kids, meal preparation, and sewing clothing, plus sometimes working in the fields, but everyone had to pray a great many times each day to the gods to avoid their anger, no matter how busy they were with other things. Recognizing this was a problem, the Mesopotamians solved this by placing a statue of a praying woman in the temple. Women still had to pray every day, but not nearly as often as men, because only women had a statue in the temple to do some of the daily praying for them.  

All adults had a personalized identification cylinder seal to use to sign contracts. Contracts between people were binding. A contract might be written to rent a house or sell a bull or for anything really. They loved contracts. They loved to write things down, including lists of who's who in their history. They even wrote poems.

King Gilgamesh: Some of their stories were delightful, like the many stories they told about King Gilgamesh, the first super hero! This king might actually have existed, although some of the stories told about him were rather unbelievable. (Thus, the first super hero!)  One list found was an historical record of all their kings by name. The name Gilgamesh was found on the kings roll.

King Hammurabi: All people were equal under the law in both Sumer and in Babylonia.  In Babylonian times, King Hammurabi ordered that all the laws be written down and displayed so that everyone would know the laws. All people were treated the same under the law be they rich, poor, or royalty

The Hanging Gardens: Legend says that The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were built in ancient Babylon around 600 BCE by King Nebuchadnezzar. It is said that the ground on which the garden was planted was built by raising soil from the Euphrates River using pumps. Pumps also watered the plants, allowing the gardens a source of constant fresh water to keep things green and growing. If true, this was an engineering marvel for the times. But then, King Nebuchadnezzar was very clever. He built most of ancient Babylon, which was an incredibly impressive city.

The gardens were rumored to be about 400 feet wide, 400 feet long, over 80 feet high, and built on the palace grounds. Some historians believe the gardens were built in a series of platforms that all together were 320 feet high. There were paths and steps and fountains and gorgeous flowers, all built to make a homesick queen feel welcomed and loved.

The people in the north:

The Assyrians: At the same time that Babylon was rising to greatness in southern Mesopotamia, in northern Mesopotamia, towards the mountains, another group was growing strong. The Assyrians were a much more warlike people than the Babylonians. They were also known as great traders. Their caravans traveled all over the place, bringing goods to trade as well as food and wine to various cities in Mesopotamia. They had their own language and their own lifestyle. Their religion was similar and they worshiped many of the same gods. They did try to take over the south, but they were not successful. The warriors of Babylon were too strong. The Assyrians were much more successful conquering the tribes to the east and west.

Military Camps: The Assyrians were forever at war with somebody. This was expensive. Taxes were terrible in ancient Assyria. But their geographic expansion was impressive. They did invent things, but they were mostly related to war, like the war helmet. They advanced quickly in art and sculpture, which they created to tell their stories of battles and to honor their heroes. Because so many of the scenes painted on their ceramics and carved on their reliefs show pictures of military camp life, we know a lot about daily life in the military camps. Many piece of art picture a royal canopy in the center of the military camp. The king's face is usually shown. The chariot of the time was mounted on six wheels. Some art features a camp bakery or soldiers at meals. Others show a servant holding a scoop from which a soldier is taking a drink. A lot of the art features horses and grooms. And some art shows men guarding the entrance to the camp wearing sandals and carrying shields.