Ccot Mesopotamia

The oldest civilization, founded in between the Tigris and Euphrates river, is known as Mesopotamia. This first system of human civilization showed many changes and developments through its period of time. There were many changes in the political and economic aspects in Mesopotamia throughout 8000 BCE to 600 CE, including the growth of government and the amends to currency, however, there were continuities as well, such as the constant successful trade throughout the region that aided the economy.

When Mesopotamian society was first established, villages and cities were joined together in mutual interdependence. The cities and villages were dependent on each other for food and protection. Eventually, the city-states established enough power to absorb others and became larger territorial states. For example, this development happened to the Akkadian state, founded by Sargon of Akkad in 2350 BCE. Another major change in government was established by Hammurabi and is referred to as the Old Babylonian state. This is due to the Law Code created by Hammurabi in his name. Hammurabi’s codes established new rules, essential procedures for the courts, and set harsh punishments for crimes.

Throughout the development of the civilization, Mesopotamia experienced many changes in the system of currency. At first, instead of using money, they would barter. To keep an account on items traded, they started using clay tablets to represent the values of the principal types of goods that were traded at the time. However, the bartering system became complex because it could be subjective at times. Between 3100 BC to around 2500 BC, silver and barley were the main items used to represent the value of other goods. One shekel was a unit of weight, so people could ask for 20 shekels of silver in exchange for some goods. Once this system was in place, kings started to set fines in shekels as a punishment for criminals. The shekels were used until 2800 BC to 2500 BC, to when silver pieces became produced in rings. The people of Mesopotamia referred to them on their clay tablets as har.