Mesopotamia's Civilization Was Shaped By Their Environment

Mesopotamia’s civilization was shaped by their environment: the surrounding north mountains, eastern deserts, and the western sea. The Tigris and the Euphrates play a huge role in the civilization of Mesopotamia. They are located around the mountains of Turkey and Iraq. These two rivers erratically flooded giving the land fertile farm space for crops to bloom, but also it devastated land space. The temperatures of Mesopotamia varied, while the summers were very warm and super waterless and the winters were much colder and rainy (Joshua). The Mesopotamia environment helped create job specialization, affect the political structure, and shape the infrastructure, art and culture.
A key part for Mesopotamia was trade. Trade is what fueled their economy and society. They could trade for materials they needed such as stone or wood. There were specialized jobs in ancient Mesopotamia. The irrigation systems were highly important because of the yearly flooding. For the Mesopotamia culture, weavers and potters, and writers bloomed with new goods. The Mesopotamians were the
This changed the economy of Mesopotamia because there was a surplus of crops, and this in turn created a huge need for trade. Whoever rose up to defend the city in war was the given the more political power. This is where a king would step up as a divine will to serve the city. In the culture, Mesopotamians “believed their gods were the protectors of their city and this related to the harshness of the environment” (Lecture). Mesopotamia cities generated the first law codes. “The King was responsible for the welfare of his people and a good king, who ruled in accordance with divine will, was recognized by the prosperity of the region he reigned over” (Joshua). In the laws of Hammurabi of Babylon, there was apparently a direct relationship between the ruler and the