Introduction to Early Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia: Temples and Trade Centers 

From 5000 BCE, urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia sparked the development of settlements. The earliest cities emerged from some of these settlements. These were of various kinds: those that gradually developed around temples; those that developed as centers of trade; and imperial cities. 

It is cities of the first two kinds that will be discussed here. 

• Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia marked the evolution of early settlers (their origins are unknown) who began to build and rebuild temples at selected spots in their villages. 
  • Crafted from Unbaked Bricks: The earliest known temple was a small shrine made of unbaked bricks. 
  • Within the context of Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia, temples emerged as sacred dwellings, serving as the residences of various gods  of the Moon God of Ur, or of Inanna the Goddess of Love and War. 
  • Architectural Evolution: Constructed in brick, temples became larger over time, with several rooms around open courtyards. 
    • But temples always had their outer walls going in and out at regular intervals, which no ordinary building ever had. 
    • Sacred Offerings: The god was the focus of worship: to him or her people brought grain, curd and fish (the floors of some early temples had thick layers of fish bones). 

• Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia played a key role in the evolution into the primary urban institution: 
  • Divine Patronage: The god was also the theoretical owner of the agricultural fields, the fisheries, and the herds of the local community. 
  • Economic Sanctuaries: In time, the processing of produce (for example, oil pressing, grain grinding, spinning, and the weaving of woolen cloth) was also done in the temple. 
  • Temple Ascendancy: As Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia,  the temple gradually developed its activities and became the main urban institution. 

• Sacred Tribute and Territorial Strife underscore the impact of Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia: The early Mesopotamian countryside saw repeated conflict over land and water. 
  • Victorious Chiefs Adorn Temples: In time, victorious chiefs began to offer precious booty to the gods and thus beautify the community’s temples. 
  • Economic Stewardship in the context of Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia involved sending men out to fetch fine stones and metal for the benefit of the god and community and organize the distribution of temple wealth in an efficient way by accounting for things that came in and went out. 
• Uruk’s Evolution: At Uruk, one of the earliest temple towns, urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia is evident in depictions of armed heroes and their victims. careful archaeological surveys have shown that around 3000 BCE when Uruk grew to the enormous extent of 250 hectares – twice as large as Mohenjo-daro would be in later centuries – dozens of small villages were deserted. 
  • There had been a major population shift. Significantly, Uruk also came to have a defensive wall at a very early date. (Refer to Figure).
• Compulsory Labor and Ration Lists: This, rather than agricultural tax, was compulsory. 
  • Those who were put to work were paid rations. 
  • Hundreds of ration lists have been found, which give, against people’s names, the quantities of grain, cloth or oil allotted to them. 
• Epic Construction Effort: It has been estimated that one of the temples took 1,500 men working 10 hours a day, five years to build. 
• Technological Advancements during the era of Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia:  With rulers commanding people to fetch stones or metal ores, to come and make bricks or lay the bricks for a temple, or else to go to a distant country to fetch suitable materials, there were also technical advances at Uruk around 3000 BCE. 
  • Bronze tools came into use for various crafts. 
  • Architects learnt to construct brick columns, there being no suitable wood to bear the weight of the roof of large halls.
• Technological Milestones in Ancient Art and Craftsmanship during the era of Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia: 
  • Clay Cones: Hundreds of people were put to work at making and baking clay cones that could be pushed into temple walls, and painted in different colors, creating a colorful mosaic. 
  • Stone Sculptures: In sculpture, there were superb achievements, not in easily available clay but in imported stone. 
  • Potter’s Wheel: It is a technological landmark to an urban economy. 
    • In the long run, the wheel enables a potter’s workshop to ‘mass produce’ dozens of similar pots at a time.

Dynamics of Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia: Wealth Disparities, Opulence in Burials, and Family Structures

• Wealth Disparities in the Urbanization of Southern Mesopotamia: A small section of society (Ruling elite) had a major share of the wealth. 
  • Nothing makes this fact as clear as the enormous riches (jewelry, gold vessels, wooden musical instruments inlaid with white shells and lapis lazuli, ceremonial daggers of gold, etc.) buried with some kings and queens at Ur. 
•  Family Structures in Mesopotamia: Examining the Norms Amidst Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia 
• • Norm of Nuclear Families: In Mesopotamian society the nuclear family was the norm, although a married son and his family often resided with his parents.
    • The father was the head of the family. 
  • Marriage Customs: Information on marriage procedures is limited. 
    • A declaration was made about the willingness to marry, and the bride’s parents gave their consent to the marriage. 
    • Then a gift was given by the groom’s people to the bride’s people. 
    • When the wedding took place, gifts were exchanged by both parties, who ate together and made offerings in a temple. 
    • When her mother-in-law came to fetch her, the bride was given her share of the inheritance by her father. 
  • Paternal Succession: The father’s house, herds, fields, etc., were inherited by the sons. 
• Examining Architectural Features and Infrastructure in Ancient Ur provides insights into the ongoing process of Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia: 
  • Ordinary Houses: Ur was a town whose ordinary houses were systematically excavated in the 1930s. 
  • Urban Layout: Narrow winding streets indicate that wheeled carts could not have reached many of the houses.
    • Sacks of grain and firewood would have arrived on the donkey back. 
• Absence of Town Planning: Narrow winding streets and the irregular shapes of house plots also indicate an absence of town planning in Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia. (Refer to Figure).
  • There were no street drains of the kind we find in contemporary Mohenjo-daro. 
  • Within the context of Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia, drainage and clay pipes were instead found in the inner courtyards of the Ur houses and it is thought that house roofs sloped inwards and rainwater was channeled via the drain pipes into sumps in the inner courtyards.
• Courtyard Entrances and Privacy: Light came into the rooms not from windows but from doorways opening into the courtyards, this would also have given families their privacy. 
• Omens and Beliefs: There were superstitions about houses, recorded in omen tablets at Ur: a raised threshold brought wealth; 
  • A front door that did not open towards another house was lucky, but if the main wooden door of a house opened outwards (instead of inwards), the wife would be a torment to her husband. 
• As Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia progressed, diverse Burial Practices: There was a town cemetery at Ur in which the graves of royalty and commoners were found, but a few individuals were found buried under the floors of ordinary houses.

Conclusion

The archaeological journey through Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia unveils a dynamic tapestry, wherein evolving temples, economic stewardship, and technological strides played pivotal roles in shaping the landscape of this ancient civilization. The intricate patterns of diverse burial practices and the pragmatic adaptations in drainage systems underscore the multifaceted impact of Urbanization in Southern Mesopotamia, revealing the intricate interplay between human settlement and technological advancements during this transformative era.

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