History/Cultural Context Mesopotamia was home to the first civilizations, which included the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires. V. Gordon Childe described a civilization as “a culture capable of supporting a considerable number of specialists to meet the economic, social, political and religious needs of a populous society.” According to Childe, “civilizations also have systems of writing, monumental architecture, and art representative of people and their activities. All these features of civilization first appeared in Mesopotamia. “Mesopotamia is located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Access to rivers provided the resources necessary to earn a substantial living. Because of the location, the Mesopotamians created irrigation systems and became an agricultural society. Food production opened the door to trade and allowed Mesopotamia to become economically stable. Due to the food surplus, the population grew rapidly. Population growth forced the need for other occupations. According to Joshua J. Mark, other occupations “included scribes, healers, craftsmen, weavers, potters, shoemakers, fishermen, teachers, and priests or priestesses.” They built cities and established governments led by kings. Eventually the government became a monarchy run by kings. They controlled irrigation systems and food supplies. The Mesopotamians were skilled inventors. They invented many of the objects and systems we use today. According to Mark, they are credited with “the invention of cuneiform, the first system of writing, the wheel, sophisticated weapons, the demarcation of time into hours, minutes and seconds, religious rites, the sailboat, irrigation and …. .. middle of sheet ......el D. ed., Tower of Babel: The New Oxford Annotated Bible, New York: NY, Oxford University Press. Mark, Joshua J., Ancient History Encyclopedia: Sumer, http: //www.ancient.eu.com/sumer.Mark, Joshua J., Mesopotamia: Building and Government, http://www.ancient.eu.com/Mesopotamia. Middleton, J. Richard, The Liberating Image: The Mesopotamian Challenge to Biblical Faith (Grand Rapids, MI: Brazos Press, 2005.Millard, Alan, Eerdmans Handbook to the Bible: Other Creation Accounts, Grand Rapids: MI,1992.Millard, Alan, Eerdman Handbook to the Bible: Other Accounts of Creation, Grand Rapids: MI, 1992.Rayment, W.J., Mesopotamia: The Rise of the First Civilization: The Gods of Mesopotamia http://www.inapprofondimentoinfo.com/history-ancient /mesopotamia.htm.Thinkquest, Food of Mesopotamiahttp://library.thinkquest.org/C005446/text_version/English /mesopotamia.html.