facts about mesopotamia and facts about egypt?

Answer 1

Mesopotamia
(mĕs´´symbolpsymboltā´mēsymbol) [Gr.,=between rivers], ancient region of Asia, the territory about the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, included in modern Iraq. The region extends from the Persian Gulf north to the mountains of Armenia and from the Zagros and Kurdish mountains on the east to the Syrian Desert. From the mountainous north, Mesopotamia slopes down through grassy steppes to a central alluvial plain, which was once rendered exceedingly fertile by a network of canals.

Earliest Cultures

The south was long thought to be the cradle of civilization until earlier settlements (which probably date from about 7000 ) were found in N Mesopotamia; Jarmo, the earliest of these, was superseded by a succession of cultures: Tell Hassuna, Samarra, and Tell Halaf. Tell Halaf, the most advanced of these early cultures, is famous for Halaf ware, the finest prehistoric pottery in Mesopotamia. It is found at such sites as Nineveh and Tepe Gawra. While these advances were being made in the north, civilization was just beginning in the south, particularly at Eridu. The Al Ubaid culture that followed flourished in both N and S Mesopotamia.

The Proto-Literate and Early Dynastic Phases

During the next period (called the proto-literate phase) the south was the important region, and the transformation of the village culture into an urban civilization took place. Uruk (modern Tall al Warka), the foremost site at the beginning of this period, has yielded such monumental architecture as the temple of Inanna and the ziggurat of Anu. Also found at Uruk were tablets including the earliest pictographic writing. At the same time and apparently independently, smaller organized settlements arose at sites such as Tell Hamoukar and Tell Brak in NE Syria and Hacinebi and Arslantepe in SE Turkey.

The early dynastic phase that followed saw the development of city-states all over the Middle East as far as N Syria, N Mesopotamia, and probably Elam. The famous sites of this period are Tell Asmar, Kafaje, Ur, Kish, Mari, Farah, and Telloh (Lagash). The Sumerians (see Sumer), the inhabitants of these city-states of S Mesopotamia, were unified at Nippur, where they gathered together to worship Enlil, the wind god. The famous first dynasty of Ur came at the end of the early dynastic period.

Dynasties and Empires

Sargon founded (c.2340) the Akkadian dynasty, the first empire in Mesopotamia, whose example of empire building was later followed by the old Babylonian dynasty and late Assyrian Empire (see Babylonia; Assyria). There was also a great cultural exchange between the Mesopotamians and the Elamites (and other Iranians), who for centuries had threatened each other. Mesopotamia still had prestige at the time of Alexander the Great, but later it was generally a part of the Roman Empire. The Arabs took it from the Sassanid Empire, and it rose to great prominence after Baghdad was made ( 762) the capital of the Abbasid caliphate. This glory was destroyed when the Mongols under Hulagu Khan devastated the area in 1258, destroying the ancient irrigation system.

The Region in Modern Times

In the centuries following, Mesopotamia never regained its former prominence. In World War I, however, it was an important battlefield. The kingdom of Iraq was formed in 1921 (Iraq became a republic in 1958) and is of international importance because of its rich oil fields, but its status in the world is enhanced by the rich archaeological finds of the incredibly distant past.

Bibliography

See H. Frankfort, The Birth of Civilization in the Near East (1951, repr. 1968); S. N. Kramer, Cradle of Civilization (1967); D. Oates, Studies in the Ancient History of Northern Iraq (1968); L. Oppenheim, Ancient Mesopotamia (1968).
http://education.yahoo.com/reference/encyclopedia/entry/Mesopota

Fossilized remains of a plant eating dinosaur have been found south-west of Cairo. The dinosaur was one of the largest creatures known to have lived.

The Egyptian desert has not always been desert: in some areas marine fossils can be found.

Wadi Al-Hitan, Whale Valley, in the Western Desert of Egypt, was inscribed on the World Heritage List in 2005. The Valley contains fossils portraying the transition of a land-based animal to an ocean-going whale.

Egyptian civilization began along the banks of the River Nile.

The name Egypt comes from the Greek name for the country: Egyptos.

The boat found near the pyramid of Cheops is the oldest complete boat in the world - it is believed to be four and a half thousand years old and had been dismantled into over a thousand pieces before being buried.

The Egyptians were the first people known to have separated copper from its ore, about four thousand years ago.

Over three thousand years ago the Egyptians were skilled in the use of geometry to plan the layout of their buildings. It is believed that astronomy may have been significant in the alignment of their pyramids and temples.

Hypatia (born around 370 AD) was the first woman to make a recorded contribution to mathematics.

The Great Pyramid is one of the Seven Wonders of the World.

The Pharos of Alexandria, a lighthouse 140 m high, was another of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

The Egyptians needed engineering and mathematical skills to control the Nile flooding to ensure the best irrigation and fertilization of their land.

Today the flow of the Nile, the world's longest river, is regulated by the Aswan High Dam.

Experiments with steam power were carried out by Hiero in Egypt at least eighteen hundred years ago.

The Rosetta Stone, discovered during Napoleon's invasion of Egypt, carved in 196 BC, was the key to understanding Egyptian hieroglyphics, because it repeated a royal decree in three different scripts, one of which was Greek. From the Greek the other two could be deciphered.

The process of mummification involved removing all moisture and internal organs, then drying the body and anointing it with various preserving chemicals.

The history of Egyptian medicine dates back four thousand years.

The tomb of Tutankhamun was discovered by Howard Carter in 1922.

The final coffin within the sarcophagus of Tutankhamun is of solid gold, weighing 110 kg.

Tutankhamen may have been murdered on the orders of his Chief Minister who married his widow, Ankhesenamen, and became the ruler of Egypt.

As well as preserving the bodies of their rulers, the ancient Egyptians also mummified birds and animals linked to their gods: cats, bulls, crocodiles and ibises have been found in their thousands, carefully mummified and wrapped.

Cats were first domesticated in Egypt. The goddess, Bast, is the patroness of cats and the home.

The Passover celebrates the biblical story of the enslaved Israelites trying to escape from Egypt. The Angel of Death passed over the homes which had been marked over the door posts with lamb's blood and killed the first-born child in every Egyptian house.

The idea of linking the Red Sea and the Mediterranean goes back to the age of the Pharaohs. The Suez Canal was opened in 1869.

The French sculptor, Bartholdi proposed a giant statue for the harbour entrance to Port Said. The plan failed because of lack of money but eventually he revived his idea as the Statue of Liberty, New York.

For over two thousand years, Egypt was controlled by foreigners. Nasser was the first native Egyptian leader.

Anwar al-Sadat, President of Egypt, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1978, sharing it with Israel's leader Menachem Begin. Anwar al-Sadat was assassinated in 1981.
http://www.worldinfozone.com/facts.php?country=Egypt

Answer 2

cool