Residents of the oldest civilization in human history were surrounded by music and chants, savory roasts and rich candy, incense and aromatic herbs, brightly colored clothing and glistening skin, and looming architecture and distinctive houses. The stories of their time dealt with the same realities as the stories from today: life and death, love and despair, violence and restoration, and shame and glory. These stories and their heroes provided a cultural backdrop that set the tone for daily life in ancient Mesopotamia.
SUNRISE IN UR
In 2030 BCE, Ur was in its prime. After centuries of Akkadian and Gutian rule, it was back in Sumerian hands under the authority of Ur-Nammu. His program of reforms included a written code of law and the completion of Ur’s massive Great Ziggurat, which loomed over the city like a sacred fortress. The population of the city had reached its peak at approximately 65,000 residents.1 A silver currency system of shekels, minas, and talents had begun, and the economy was thriving. The common language had recently transitioned from Sumerian to Akkadian, but most prayers and texts were still written in Sumerian. It is likely many adult residents of the city spoke both languages to some degree.
Morning for a mushkinu, a middle-class Sumerian, generally began with waking up on a reed mattress on the house’s open second story, if the weather was warm. People descended the stairs to say morning prayers and eat some barley flatbread for breakfast, along with some honey and dates if they were in supply. Most residents had drinkable water, soap, and oils for personal hygiene. Both women and men combed and styled their hair. Men were also expected to comb and style their beards, and women were often expected to wear a head covering. Clothing for both sexes consisted of a skirt, sandals, a wool tunic, and distinctive jewelry. Then it was off to work. Most mushkinu were farmers.
Others worked as potters, tailors, stonemasons, brewers, or in other skilled trades. After a hard day’s work, a Babylonian might eat a grain cake cooked with dates or some other fruit, along with dried fish and a pitcher of beer.
AFTERNOON IN NINEVEH
By 650 BCE, the Assyrian Empire was the dominant power in Mesopotamia. The Sumerian and Akkadian nations were no more, and Babylon was under Assyrian occupation. This was good news for residents of the new Assyrian capital of Nineveh.
Although it had been continuously occupied since the area was first settled in 6000 BCE, Nineveh was essentially rebuilt by the mighty kings Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal in the 600s BCE to serve as the empire’s nucleus and their own home base. Among its many unique attractions was the world’s first library, which included approximately 30,000 volumes.2 In its prime, Nineveh was a global center of intellectual life.
Nineveh was also a very traditional Mesopotamian city in some ways. The basic morning routine someone might have had in Ur in 2030 BCE would still apply to most working-class people in Nineveh. The prayers might be said to different gods, the flatbread might be eaten with date syrup instead of honey, and the tunic might even be cotton instead of wool, but there were no dramatic shifts in daily life in a span of more than 1,000 years. Aramaic had gradually begun to replace Akkadian as the language of the people, and Sumerian had fallen further into the background, but Ashurbanipal himself claimed to read, write, and speak all three languages.
SUNSET IN BABYLON
By 560 BCE, ancient Mesopotamia was approaching its end. Assyria had fallen, and Babylonia had risen once more to become more powerful than ever. Yet in only 21 years, the Persians would crush the Babylonian Empire, seize Babylon, and become the first of many long-term regional occupiers. An indigenous Mesopotamian empire would never again take the world stage. Akkadian and Sumerian would gradually fall out of use, replaced completely by Aramaic. Persian, Greek, and Roman influences would eradicate the everyday routine of the ancient Mesopotamian world. Even the traditional religions would gradually fall away as imperial colonists and missionaries from other faiths pushed out the old ways.
By traditional measurements, the Babylon of 560 BCE did not look like the capital of an empire in decline. The 300-foot (91 m) Etemenanki dominated a Babylonian landscape that was walled, densely populated, and eight miles (13 km) wide. With 200,000 people spread out over more than 2,000 acres (800 ha) of land, it was undeniably the largest and most powerful city on Earth.4 But it would not remain so for long.
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Ancient Mesopotamian civilizations grew a wide range of foods, but one of the staple foods was the date, which is still very popular in the region to this day. Dates and date syrup made bitter grain cereals palatable, added variety to what could sometimes be a bland diet, contributed calcium and iron to a diet that was sometimes low in both, provided a quick burst of carbohydrate energy, and were an excellent source of fiber.
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Beer, and particularly beer made by fermenting twice-baked bappir, a kind of barley bread, was the unofficial national drink of ancient Mesopotamia.3 Every city had its own specialty artisan beers, and the best brewers were respected as minor celebrities of their time. One, Kubaba of Kish, even ended up as king of Sumer. Wine, although also widely consumed in ancient Mesopotamia, was not as popular.
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The units of time in use in the contemporary world were invented in Babylon. The Babylonian year consisted of 12 months; the Sumerian week, 7 days; the Babylonian day, 24 hours; the Babylonian hour, 60 minutes; and the Babylonian minute, 60 seconds.5 The only major difference from today was that Babylon used a lunar calendar. This type of calendar follows the phases of the moon. A complete lunar cycle lasts approximately 29.5 days. The most common system today is a solar calendar, in which one year corresponds to one revolution of Earth around the sun.
Notes.
1. Michael Dumper and Bruce E. Stanley. Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2006. Print. 382.
2. “The Library of Ashurbanipal.” British Museum. British Museum, n.d. Web. 23 Sept. 2014.
3. Ian Spencer Hornsey. A History of Beer and Brewing. Cambridge, UK: Royal Society of Chemistry, 2003. Print. 84.
4. Michael Dumper and Bruce E. Stanley. Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2006. Print. 53–55.
5. Patricia Svarney-Barnes and Thomas E. Svarney. The Handy Math Answer Book. Canton, MI: Visible Ink, 2006. Print. 56.
By Tom Head in "Ancient Mesopotamia", Abdo Publishing, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA, 2015, excerpts pp. 55-60. Adapted and illustrated to be posted by Leopoldo Costa.