Where Is Mesopotamia?

Mesopotamia refers to the area between the Tigris-Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East. It corresponds to modern day Iraq and parts of Syria, Iran and Turkey. The name comes from two Greek words mesos “middle” + potamos “river” , which means ‘the land between the rivers’. The area is often considered as the cradle of civilization.

Sumerians and Akkadians were the first civilized people in the area. Their written history dates back to 3100 BC. The Babylonians were the next to rule the area and they were conquered by the Achaemenids. Alexander the Great defeated the Achaemenidians and the Greeks ruled the area until the Parthians took control from them. The Romans tried hard to take it from the Parthians. This made Mesopotamia a battle ground. Peace returned in 226 AD when the Sassanids from Persia conquered the land. The Persians ruled the area until the Arabs defeated them in the 7th century. Since then the area is predominantly Muslim dominated.
Each conquerer enforced its own language on the area. The oldest language of the area was Sumerian. It was used for administration, scientific and all other purposes. Later Akkadian and Aramaic became the lingua franca of the area. Bilingualism was common in the region. Arabic is the predominant language of modern Mesopotamian region. The Sumerians, the oldest Mesopotamian civilization, knew the value of education. They excelled in many field as such as mathematics, astronomy, and medicine.

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