Hello papgeno:
Thanks for the fascinating question.
I have compiled some initial information for you below, based on your
two questions. However, I completely understand if you require more
details in specific areas. If so, please send me a Clarification
Request with more detailed specifications and I'll be happy to
continue hunting for you. There's a mountain of information out there,
so we'll need to sift through what you're really after to effectively
solve your needs.
Before we get started in earnest, let's start by getting a firmer grip
on the terms we're using.
Sumeria is actually a more modern "term" for the land called "Sumer"
(where the *Sumerians* lived).
Sumer, Sumeria and Samaria Untangled
URL: http://www.jameswbell.com/a001asumeria.html
Quote: "Grammatically speaking, 'Sumeria' is a modern day back
formation from the words 'Sumer' and 'Sumerian.' A Sumerian was a
native of the land of Sumer. 'Sumer,' which would have been more
correctly translated as 'Shumer,' is the Biblical 'Shinar' of Genesis.
Like many ancient civilizations, ancient Sumer was a group of
disparate city states, located mostly along a river ... the lower
Euphrates in the plain of southern Mesopotamia, now Southern Iraq."
A good map of the Sumer region can be found at:
Sumer
URL: http://www.hyperhistory.com/online_n2/maptext_n2/sumer.html
Mesopotamia, on the other hand, is less of a "state" than it is a
geographical region which encompassed most of modern-day Iraq and
northeastern Syria. The name Mesopotamia means "the land between the
rivers" and in this case is referring to the Tigris and the Euphrates.
Lesson 1: The Land Between the Rivers
URL: http://www.openschool.bc.ca/courses/ss7/mesopotamia/lesson1.html
Quote: "Mesopotamia was an ancient civilization located in an area of
the world we now know as the Middle East. It was bordered by two
rivers—the Tigris in the east and the Euphrates in the west. In fact,
the name Mesopotamia means 'The land between the rivers'."
Maps of Mesopotamia can be found at:
Fig. 1: Map of ancient Mesopotamia
URL: http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/PROJ/NIP/PUB93/NSC/NSCFIG1.html
Mesopotamia
URL: http://i-cias.com/e.o/mesopotamia.htm
OK - having gotten that out of the way, we can proceed.
Q: How did Mesopotamia develop urbanism?
****************************************
Given the above definitions, strictly speaking it was not Mesopotamia
that developed urbanism, but the city-states of the Sumerians that did
this.
The key to the evolution of the city-states in Sumer was the switch
from *food collecting* to *food producing*. This is the backbone of
the start of civilization - the realization that life would be better
if people stayed in one place and cultivated plants/animals, rather
than nomadically hunting and gathering.
Why did this happen in Sumer? After the last Ice Age (around 10,000
years ago), the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers
became an extremely fertile region, able to support all manner of
plants and animals. The abundance was such that the nomadic tribes of
the period (around 6000 B.C.) no longer needed to travel to find food
and started setting up permanent housing and villages.
Other reasons? The following page gives a very good, simple overview
of the situation. Please read it thoroughly.
City-states in Lower Mesopotamia
URL: http://www.planetpapers.com/Assets/981.php
OK. So now we know why people "settled down" in this area. How is it
then that they began to congregate into what are known as city-states?
As people settled into permanent dwellings, the local population would
have grown and grown. Projects such as temple-building and irrigation
would have brought people together for common needs and mutual
benefits. The following page has an interesting take on this:
Sumerian City-States
URL: http://sarissa.org/sumer/sumer_c.htm
Quote: "The cities probably began as centers of religious worship and
festivities. As the cities grew people began to take refuge behind
their walls from the growing number of raiders who preyed upon the
open defenseless villages. City-states were independent entities who
shared a common culture, though they were sometimes united under a
single king."
So, gradually, these city-states (which were often collections of
smaller, disparate villages) began to grow. Leaders would have emerged
in each city-state as the need for laws and order became apparent.
There are 12 known city-states in early Sumer - the following page
lists them and shows a map of their locations.
Sumer
URL: http://i-cias.com/e.o/sumer.htm
Quote: "From early on, Sumer consisted of 12 city-states: Adab,
Akshak, Bad-tibira Erech, Kish, Lagash, Larak, Larsa, Nippur, Sippar,
Umma and Ur.
While the following page gives much more detail.
Lands and City States in Sumerian Times
URL: http://www.jameswbell.com/geog002citystates.html
Q: how does Mesopotamia become a 'state'?
*****************************************
Well, that's a good question. If you don't consider the city-states
detailed above as "states", then I would say that the answer to your
question would be to look for the first king/ruler who united all/most
of the city-states (and beyond) in the region into one "political"
entity.
According to the scholars, the first king to do that was Etana - who
was originally King of the city-state Kish. Other rulers may have
temporarily taken over neighboring city-states, but he was the first
one to "conquer" them all. Because there was quite a bit of raiding
and warring between the city-states, Etana is sometimes referred to as
the "man who stabilized all the lands".
The Sumerian Civilazation
URL: http://www.neiu.edu/~lojajou/myIndividual/sumerians%20history.htm
Quote: "The first Sumerian ruler of historical record, Etana, king of
Kish (flourished about 2800 BC), was described in a document written
centuries later as the 'man who stabilized all the lands.'"
Other accounts are not so clear on whether Etana actually *conquered*
all the city states, or whether he "lead by example."
2,375 BCE: Sumer Unites
URL: http://pages.cthome.net/djhalnon/sumer.html
Quote: "As the historic age begins, it appears that the city of Kish
was pre-eminent. It had some religious importance, with Enlil, the
king of the gods, as its patron. (The likely explanation is that Enlil
acquired this distinction because of Kish's pre-eminence — not the
other way around.) Documents around 2,800 BCE stated that Etana, lugal
of Kish, 'stabilized' the land. What is most likely is that he was
successful in a campaign against the Elamites — or else had repelled
an Elamite assault — and gained distinction. Even so, he did not
really rule Sumer. He was more or less the greatest among equals."
After Etana, there were many other rulers who claimed sovereignty over
all (or much) of Mesopotamia. The following page gives a very good
listing of these rulers.
Mesopotamian King List 2800 Ð 500 B.C.
URL: http://www.mdcc.edu/users/jmcnair/joe2pages/Mesopotamia%20Kings%20List.htm
Other Resources
*************
The following websites contain a wealth of other information about
Sumer and Mesopotamia.
Sumer
URL: http://www.crystalinks.com/sumer.html
Sumer
URL: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer
Mesopotamia
URL: http://history.evansville.net/meso.html
Mesopotamia - The Bristish Museum
URL: http://www.mesopotamia.co.uk/
I hope this information helps with your research.
If you need any clarification of the information I have provided,
please ask using the clarification feature and provide me with
additional details as to what you are looking for. As well, please
allow me to provide you with clarification(s) *before* you rate this
answer.
Thank you.
websearcher-ga
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