RBSE Class 11 History Notes Chapter 2 Writing and City Life

These comprehensive RBSE Class 11 History Notes Chapter 2 Writing and City Life will give a brief overview of all the concepts.

RBSE Class 11 History Chapter 2 Notes Writing and City Life

→ Mesopotamia is Iraq of modem times. Here a great civilisation flourished around 5000 BCE. Mesopotamia is a Greek word which means the land between two rivers.

→ The Mesopotamian civilisation flourished between the region of rivers Tigris and Euphrates.

→ Mesopotamia is a flat plain. Archaeologists have started excavating these plains about 150 years back.

→ Lower part of the Mesopotamian civilisation was called Sumer region. It was called the heart of Sumer region.

→ The people living in Sumer region were called Sumerians.

→ Sumerians were first to developed civilisation in Mesopotamia. That’s why this civilisation is also called Sumerian civilisation.

→ Excavation reveals that there were three types of cities in Mesopotamia. These were Religious, commercial and the royal cities.

 

→ Ur, Mari, Kish, Lagash, Uruk were some of the prominent cities of Mesopotamia.

→ Wheat, barley, peas and lintel were the main crops grown in Mesopotamia.

→ Mesopotamia was bestowed with natural fertility, still agriculture here was threatened several times on account of natural causes.

→ Mesopotamian civilisation was developed according to a definite plan.

→ Family was the basic unit of Mesopotamian society.

→ Women’s status in the early Vedic society was much better and they enjoyed equal status of men in religion and their social works.

→ The kinds of slave existed in Mesopotamian society. They were :

• War prisoner.
• Children sold by their parents.
• Those who could not pay their debt.

→ Slaves were ill treated in the society. They were sold and brought like animals in the society.

→ Mesopotamian society was divided into three classes : Upper class, Middle class and Lower class.

→ Upper class consists of ruling class, the nobles, the royal people and the high officials and led a luxurious life full of comfort.

→ Landlords, merchants, traders, craftsmen, artisans etc., consist of 2nd (i.e., middle) class while the lower class consisted of slaves.

→ Cows, goats, oxen and sheep were the main domesticated animals.

→ Hummurabi ruled over Mesopotamia during the period of 2067 to 2025 BCE.

→ One of the greatest achievements of Hummurabi was the “Code of Law”.

→ Code of Law were 282 in number and covered every aspect of life.

→ Mesopotamians were the first to develop the art of writing.

→ Mesopotamians script was called cuneiform script.

→ Styles was a sharp point used to make grooves on a hard surface.

→ Mesopotamians had a deep interesting literature.

→ Gilgamesh was the greatest world famous epic.

→ Mesopotamian also took deep interest in Mathematics. There were 60 important numbers in their numerals.

→ The epic Gilgamesh was the work of Uruk who ruled over Mesopotamia in 2700 BCE.

→ Babylonia played an important role in the ancient history of Mesopotamia.

→ Mesopotamian temples have a significant role in the history of Mesopotamia. 

→ Mesopotamians build several temples dedicated to their different gods and goddesses.

→ Temples were not only the centre of religious activities, but also served as centres for entertainment.

→ Mesopotamian Civilisation

• It is the oldest civilisation of the world. Mesopotamia is the land between rivers Tigris and Euphrates.
• Mesopotamians were the first to use potter’s wheel, to make glass ware to evolve a proper system of writing called Cuneiform. Cunei form script was deciphered by Henry Rawlinson.
• Mesopotamians discovered sexagesimal system of counting (based on sixties), pythogoras theorem and the length of day and night.

→ Timeline

C. 7000-6000 BCE	Beginning of agriculture in the northern Mesopotamian plains
C. 5000 BCE	Earliest temples in southern Mesopotamia built
C. 3200 BCE	First writing in Mesopotamia
C. 3000 BCE	Uruk develops into a huge city, increasing use of bronze tools
C. 2700-2500 BCE	Early kings, including, possibly, the legendary ruler Gilgamesh
C. 2600 BCE	Development of the cuneiform script
C. 2400 BCE	Replacement of Sumerian by Akkadian
2370 BCE	Sargon, king of Akkad
C. 2000 BCE	Spread of cuneiform writing to Syria, Turkey and Egypt; Mari and Babylon emergence as important urban centres
C. 1800 BCE	Mathematical texts composed; Sumerian no longer spoken
C. 1100 BCE	Establishment of the Assyrian kingdom
C. 1000 BCE	Use of iron
720-610 BCE	Assyrian empire
668-627 BCE	Rule of Assurbanipal
331 BCE	Alexander conquers Babylon
C. 1st century BCE	Akkadian and cuneiform remain in use
1850s	Decipherment of the cuneiform script