Ancient Society's Influence On Ancient Mesopotamian Society

Over 10,000 years ago the human race was just beginning to understand the ways of farming and storing in a place known as Mesopotamia. Here is where civilization began to develop and gain knowledge of the world around them. As they progressed many civilizations began to develop governments, religions, and languages that would all help in shaping future societies. One of the first to appear in ancient Mesopotamia was governments (Kagan 1).

Ancient societies influenced the future civilizations to come by creating some of the first forms of government. For a majority of Mesopotamian civilizations, a monarchy was the main form of government. A monarchy is when the supreme power of government is controlled by only one person (Monarchy). In some of the early civilizations, royal women were allowed to rule and were often large influencers. This did eventually change and female rulers became rarer. The change was due to the fact that women were thought of as weaker than men (Kagan 21). This mindset stuck with many future civilizations until recently when opinions have begun to change and evolve.

The people of Mesopotamia worshiped many gods and goddesses, much like many religions today. Similar to how God/gods are depicted today they thought of God/gods in human forms. Many religious stories can also be traced back to the Mesopotamians, such as the creation of Earth by God/gods and a great flood sent to wipe out the human race. These stories were likely started by the Mesopotamians and have stuck with many religions throughout history (Kagan 9-11). Religion also influenced the architecture of many Mesopotamian temples and cities. As other civilizations conquered cities they often integrated many parts into their own society, such as the architecture. As Mesopotamian civilizations continued to be conquered architecture continued to advance and influence many future cities and buildings (Kagan