HS 201 World Civilizations and Cultures

Lecture 006

Introduction to Mesopotamian
Civilization
Prehistory to Halaf Culture

V.N. Prabhakar, IIT Gandhinagar

Geographical Setting
Mesopotamia is the land between
the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris in
modern Iraq and Syria

The abundant water supply due to

the Euphrates and Tigris rivers
provided a unique setting for the
development of state-level societies
during the third millennium BCE.

A vast trough created by the thrust

of Arabian Shield in the west and the
formation of folded Zagros
Mountains and their filling in by the
Rivers Euphrates and Tigris create a
distinct geographical area.
 Geographical Setting

• The origin of the term ‘Mesopotamia’ as the Greek place-name

coined during the time of Alexander and meant for a ‘designated
more or less strictly delimited administrative district, the name
itself was translated from the term already current in the area –
probably in Aramaic – and apparently was understood to mean
the land lying “between the (Euphrates and Tigris) rivers”

• The western side of the Mesopotamian region lies the Levantine Sea a sub-basin of the Mediterranean Sea,
which is bounded on the three sides by Anatolia on the north, modern Syria, Lebanon and Israel on the east
and the Sinai Peninsula and Egypt on south

• During the peak of the last Ice Age, the sea levels were around 100 m lower

• Sea levels started to rise around the beginning of the Holocene, and the present coastline formed around
5000-4000 BCE. It is also historically recorded that the Rivers Euphrates and Tigris drained into the Gulf
independently and did not join as of present times.

• Sea levels rose further by 1-2; and reached up to the ancient city of Ur, as the historical texts record this
city as a port.
Geographical Setting
• The rapidity of River Tigris did not facilitate irrigation
in comparison to Euphrates, and due to its deep incised
landscape, until the invention of water lifting system
during first millennium BCE, it did not largely aid the
agricultural practices, mainly through irrigation

Map showing possible joint courses of Rivers Euphrates and

Multiple views showing the Mesopotamian delta during 7th c. BCE, Tigris and ancient locations of River Tigris based on
fourth century BCE and 20th c. CE meanders and location of sites
Evidence for earliest semi-sedentary life
Verhoeven (2004) proposes the following phases
in the evolution from Epi-Palaeolithic to
domestication in Levant:

• germination in the Kebaran;

• development in the early Natufian;
• retreat / dormancy in the Late / Final
Natufian;
• growth in the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN);
• florescence in the Early- and Middle Pre-
Pottery Neolithic B (PPNB);
• further development in the Late Pre-Pottery
Neolithic B (PPNB);
• dispersal in the Final Pre-Pottery Neolithic
B (PPNB) and Pottery Neolithic (PN)
Evidence for earliest semi-sedentary life
Kebaran Epi-Palaeolithic
• Evidenced from Kerbara Cave in Mt. Carmel, the
Kebaran phase of Epi-Palaeolithic (Verhoeven 2004) can
be sub-divided into:

• Early Kebaran (20 – 18 ka),

• Late Kebaran, including Nizzanan (18 – 14.5 ka), Lithics from Wadi Sayakh Geometric microliths from
Geometric Kebaran, including Mushabian and Ain Miri
• Ramonian (14.5 – 12.8 ka)

• Sites of this phase can be found extended in the regions

of the Euphrates to Southern Sinai and Mediterranean to
Saudi Arabia, broadly classified into lowland and
highland sites.
• The Mediterranean area has evidence of Early Kebaran,
Nizzanan and Geometric Kebaran.
• Steppe and desert zone has evidence of Early Kebaran,
Nizzanan, Geometric Kebaran, Mushabian and
Ramonian phases. Microliths from Neve
David, Mt. Carmel Microliths from Ma’leh Ziq
Sedentary Hunter-Gathering Stage
Natufian (~12 ka)
• The density of sites in northern and central Israel and
northern Jordan coincides with the forest zone of the
Mediterranean region, avoiding mostly the coastal area.

• Settlements are comparatively large (semi-sedentary) and

seasonal sites in the Mediterranean area, while the hunter-
gatherers and contemporary non-Natufian sites are in the
drier areas.
• Habitants of the Natufian phase constructed semi-
permanent to permanent settlements varying from 15 m2
to more than 1000 m2
• Bar-Yosef and Belfer-Cohen (1989) further classify the
Natufian habitations into three broad categories, viz.,
• “…small, 15-100 m2;
• medium, 400-500 m2; and
• large, more than 1000 m2
Sedentary Hunter-Gathering Stage
Natufian (~12 ka)
• Bone anomalies at Abu Hureyra due to activities
related to food processing

Carrying loads = Deformities bones of upper

spine; pitting on the vertebra

Pounding grain = Development of strong

muscles in upper arm; reflected in bulging of
humerus

Grinding = Deformities in vertebra, knee and

shin bones; bones of big toe
Sedentary Hunter-Gathering Stage

The toe is hyperflexed and

damaged; the spine shows bony
growths of the vertebrae; the leg,
Toe Spine
pictured with the femur (thigh
bone) at the top and the tibia (shin
bone) below it, has a buttress
along the shaft of the femur and
bony growths at the knee

Leg
Sedentary Hunter-Gathering
Stage
Natufian (~12 ka)
• Tooth anomalies due to eating and
weaving

Tooth wear = very severe; due to eating

coarse flour due to hand grinding on stones
abraded the teeth

Deep groves on teeth = Pulling canes due to

weaving
Sedentary Hunter-Gathering Stage
Natufian
Abu Hureyra evidences

The first occupants were

pre-Neolithic people who
lived primitively and did
not farm.
Early Neolithic people of
the second occupation
gradually adopted to the
cultivation of crops, the
domestication of animals
and such crafts as pottery
and basket making
 Pre-Pottery Neolithic
Transitional Stage
• transition from the late Natufian to
sedentary Neolithic agricultural
subsistence pattern emerged around
11 ka
• transition is also marked by the
climatic changes around 11 ka
• size of the settlements with evidence
of this transition from late Natufian to
sedentary lifestyle vary from ‘...small
ephemeral hunting and gathering
stations to somewhat more sedentary
camps relying upon the intensive
harvesting of wild cereal.’
9000 BCE 6000 BCE
• settlements of PPNA varied from
‘…small encampments (up to 100-150
sq. m) to medium-sized hamlets (ca.
2000-3000 sq. m) and only rarely to
large villages up to 1.5 ha in extent.’
PPNeolithic
Important Sites
Pre-Pottery Neolithic
PPNA
• PPNA dates back to around 10.2 – 9.4 ka in the
Southern and Northern Levant region
• Settlements are now comparatively large ranging
from 2 – 5 ha, and located on the boundary regions
between the Mediterranean and Irano-Turanian
vegetational belts
• First time the formation of tells or mounds could Tell Mureybet
be noticed due to continuous occupation for a
longer period

Jericho
 Asikli Hoyuk
Pre-Pottery Neolithic
PPNA
• Household architecture consisting of round or oval on plan, with often
semi-subterranean ones, built of mud or sometimes plano-convex mud
bricks, with few evidences of stone foundation of such architecture

• Internal architecture of houses indicated multiple partitions or rooms,

presence of hearths both inside and outside the houses, provisions for
storage in the form of storage pits and bins, emergence of imposing
structures as in the case of a tower at Jericho

• Regional variability in the form of smaller sites in Southern Levant and

larger sites, with religious architecture in nature surrounded by smaller
sites, some with semi-subterranean habitations in Northern Levant

• Lithic industry arrowheads, sickle blades, small lunates, axes

• Grounding and pounding tools, mortars, grinders, pestles proliferate during

this period along with a large variety of seeds and fruits

• Evidence for domestication is found in the form of weeds that are typical of
domesticated varieties and sickle gloss on stone tools

• Rituals and practices reminiscent of religious activities could be found from

sites like Gobekli Tepe, Catal Hoyuk, Tell Abr
Jericho
 Abu Hureyra
Pre-Pottery Neolithic
PPNB (~9.5 – 7.5 ka)
• Sites belonging to PPNB are spread across a wide area in
southern Levant, central and southeast Anatolia and
northern Iraq.
• Settlements were large along the rivers, in particular
• Settlements in the southern Levant were also large, often
varying in sizes from 7 – 12 ha, while the smaller
settlements of the sizes ranging from 0.1 – 0.5 ha are found
in the steppe and near the coast, which are interpreted as
‘foraging sites of farmers, or hunter-gatherer
encampments.’

Gobekli Tepe
Pre-Pottery Neolithic
PPNB
• Important settlements and sites of the PPNB period are Abu
Hureyra, Cayonu, Gobekli, Ras Shamra, and Jericho.

• Household architecture is much more elaborate now when

compared to the previous PPNA period, which consists
predominantly of rectangular ones with multiple rooms, single and
double-storeyed

• Mediums of building materials include pise (a kind of building

material derived from packed clay or earth, locally known as tauf),
stone, mud bricks or a combination of all these materials.
Cayonu
• New feature emerges in the form of the application of lime or
gypsum plaster for pits, walls, and floors and sparingly for
decoration of human skulls.

• The increase in domesticated animal bones coincides with a

decrease in wild ones, clearly indicating less preference for hunting.
The large presence of grinding and pounding tools, including
mortars, grinding slabs, and pestles, indicates the widespread use. Jericho
Neolithic Mesopotamia
Hassuna (~ 8 ka) and Sammarra Cultures (~ 7.5 ka)
• Mesopotamian region has distinct ceramic traditions of the
Neolithic period represented by Hassuna-Samarra and Halaf
pottery followed by the Ubaid pottery in the southern
Mesopotamia

• The earliest ceramic tradition in Mesopotamia is the painted and

incised proto-Hassuna and Hassuna pottery in the northern
Mesopotamia and Samarra pottery in the central Mesopotamia

• Hassuna ceramic tradition is found in a wide area among the

farming settlements on the steppe up to the foothills of Zagros
Mountains

• Nature of house complexes as revealed from sites like Tell

Hassuna, Yarim Tepe, indicate that they are basically
rectangular in shape, and consisting of a main room, small
store rooms, and courtyard

• Houses were basically constructed of pise, (a kind of building

material, derived from packed clay or earth, locally known as
tauf)
Neolithic Mesopotamia
Hassuna and Sammarra Cultures

• The subsistence economy consisted of domesticated varieties of

cereals and pulses, varieties of wheat and barley, along with the
exploitation of domesticated varieties of sheep and goats, and
further supplemented by hunting of animals.

• Hassuna-type pottery occurs extensively, alongside the continuation

of ‘attractive stone vessels and local expertise, which enabled
long-distance trade for exotic items like turquoise, shells and
obsidian.

• The economy of the period also depended upon the production of

textiles, as indicated by the presence of spindle whorls and
stamp seals used for printing decorative patterns on linen textiles,
while Jarmo yielded evidence of woven fabrics.

• Evidence from Umm Dabaghiyah also indicates that the inhabitants

extensively hunted the wild onagers using nets and slingshots
and gained expertise in leather production and dried meat,
which they traded for obtaining essential items and exotic
goods.
Neolithic Mesopotamia
Halaf Culture
• Ceramic type after the type site of Tell Halaf
appeared around 6000 BCE in northern
Mesopotamia, which later replaces the Hassuna and
Samarra ware and spreads towards the east and
west

• Surface decoration of Halaf pottery achieved higher

degrees of sophistication and it is divided into zones
consisting of fine geometric designs and patterns

• Household architecture of Halaf period settlements

consist of ‘beehive shaped circular houses with a
rectangular annex’, the arrangement of which
continued from the previous phases

• Halaf period settlements consisted both of larger

and extensive ones such as Tell Halaf, Chagar Bazar,
Sabi Abyad, Tell Halula, and Yarim Tepe and smaller
settlements, e.g. Tell Amarna, Shams-ed-Din and
Fistikli Hoyuk

• Terminal date for the Neolithic or the Halaf culture in

northern Mesopotamia is dated to c. 5300 BCE