The Assyrians were no longer a kingdom, but an empire, streching as far as Egypt.The army was a meritocracy, generals being awarded on merit, not on bloodline.Their actions and conquests were motivated by the need to satisfy Ashur, the great god of the neo-Assyrians.

The Assyrians - the brutal bullies of Mesopotamia

The land of Mesopotamia was fertile, but it lacked in other materials, such as wood or stone. Thus, the people from Mesopotamia started trading, creating the first territorial kingdom.&nbsp;

Trade and the first kingdom

The tribal leaders became kings, who wanted to expand their power outwards and also pass it down to their sons.Hammurabi lead the kingdom between 1792 BCE and 1750 BCE, creating the now famous Code of Hammurabi, full of laws and a moral code.

Hammurabi and the Kingdom of Babylon

In around 2000 BCE, Mesopotamia probably started to suffer from severe draughts (because of the shifting river courses) and the Mesopotamian cities were conquered by pastoral nomads.

The Demise of Mesopotamia

Along with the nomads, a new system was put in place, similar to today's private enterpise system. This led to the introduction of taxes.

Taxes, the new inhabitants of Mesopotamia

A walled city with a canal system and big temples (ziggurats), Uruk was initially led by priests, as they held the connection to gods, which was quite necessary, as their gods were blamed for many floodings and draughts.After about a thousand years, another structure appeared - the palace, with its kings. This came with the shift in the responsibility for social order from gods to people.

Uruk, a first among city states

About 5000 years ago, in between (meso) these two rivers (potomoi), cities started to pop up.These worked in a kind of socialist way, with farmers contributing to common grain warehouses and being paid back in grain.However, not everyone wanted to take part in this shared activity, so there was born a conflict between country and city. The cities won, leading to what we call city states.

Between Tigris and Euphrates

They also knew how to write, ability which was initially used for record keeping: X gave Y three bushels of wheat and Y gave Z two goats.But they also had slaves and a class system and, as not everyone could read and write, this ability further widended the gap between classes.

Cuneiform

In which John presents Mesopotamia and the early civilizations that arose around the Fertile Crescent. Topics covered include the birth of territorial kingdoms, empires, Neo-Assyrian torture tactics, sacred marriages, ancient labor practices, the world's first law code, and the great failed romance of John's undergrad years.


Chapters: 
Introduction: Ancient Mesopotamia 00:00
The City of Uruk 2:20
The Importance of Writing 4:03
Hammurabi 6:26
The Assyrians 8:08
An Open Letter to the Word 'Awesome' 9:55
What Happened to the Assyrians? 10:40
Credits 11:23


Resources:
The British Museum's Mesopotamia site: http://goo.gl/Fn4dN5
The Epic of Gilgamesh: http://goo.gl/9i7svQ or get a hard copy at https://goo.gl/iKsCDD
Mesopotamia: Assyrians, Sumerians, Babylonians by Enrico Ascalone: http://goo.gl/iL487J
The Mesopotamians by TMBG: https://goo.gl/1D4lXo

Credits:
Written by Raoul Meyer and John Green
Produced by Stan Muller
Animations by Smart Bubble Society: https://www.thoughtcafe.ca/
Thought Bubble team:
Suzanna Brusikiewicz
Jonathon Corbiere
Allan Levy
Jin Kyung Myung
James Tuer
Adam Winnik
Original Music: Jason Weidner
Script Supervisor & Doll Costumer: Danica Johnson
Set Design: Donna Sink
Props: Brian McCutcheon

Photos courtesy of:
Mbzt
Hardnfast
Marie Lan-Nguyen

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