mesopotamia sailboat definition

Mesopotamian Reed Boats Changed the Stone Age

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• Ancient Civilizations
• Excavations
• History of Animal and Plant Domestication
• M.A., Anthropology, University of Iowa
• B.Ed., Illinois State University

Mesopotamian reed boats constitute the earliest known evidence for deliberately constructed sailing ships, dated to the early Neolithic Ubaid culture of Mesopotamia , about 5500 B.C.E. The small, masted Mesopotamian boats are believed to have facilitated minor but significant long-distance trade between the emerging villages of the Fertile Crescent and the Arabian Neolithic communities of the Persian Gulf. Boatmen followed the Tigris and Euphrates rivers down into the Persian Gulf and along the coasts of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Qatar. The first evidence of Ubaidian boat traffic into the Persian Gulf was recognized in the mid-20th century when examples of Ubaidian pottery were found in scores of coastal Persian gulf sites.

However, it is best to keep in mind that the history of sea-faring is quite ancient. Archaeologists are convinced that both the human settlement of Australia (about 50,000 years ago) and the Americas (about 20,000 years ago) must have been assisted by some sort of watercraft to assist moving people along the coastlines and across large bodies of water. It is quite likely that we will find older ships than those of Mesopotamia. Scholars are not even necessarily certain that Ubaid boat-making originated there. But at present, the Mesopotamian boats are the oldest known.

Ubaid Boats, the Mesopotamian Ships

Archaeologists have assembled quite a bit of evidence about the ships themselves. Ceramic boat models have been found at numerous Ubaid sites, including Ubaid, Eridu , Oueili, Uruk , Uqair, and Mashnaqa, as well as at the Arabian Neolithic sites of H3 located on the northern coast of Kuwait and Dalma in Abu Dhabi. Based on the boat models, the boats were similar in form to bellums (spelled bellams in some texts) used today on the Persian Gulf: small, canoe-shaped boats with upturned and sometimes elaborately decorated bow tips.

Unlike wooden planked bellams, Ubaid ships were made from bundles of reeds roped together and covered with a thick layer of bituminous material for water-proofing. An impression of string on one of several bitumen slabs found at H3 suggests that the boats may have had a lattice of ropes stretched across the hull, similar to that used in later Bronze Age ships from the region.

In addition, bellams are usually pushed along by poles, and at least some of the Ubaid boats were apparently had masts to enable them to hoist sails to catch the wind. An image of a boat on a reworked Ubaid 3 sherd (a ceramic fragment) at the H3 site in coastal Kuwait had two masts.

Trade Items

Very few explicitly Ubaidian artifacts have been found in the Arabian Neolithic sites apart from bitumen chunks, black-on-buff pottery, and boat effigies, and those are fairly rare. Trade items might have been perishables, perhaps textiles or grain, but the trade efforts were likely minimal, consisting of small boats dropping in at Arabian coastal towns. It was a fairly long distance between the Ubaid communities and the Arabian coastline, approximately 450 kilometers (280 miles) between Ur and Kuwait. Trade does not seem to have played a significant role in either culture.

It is possible that the trade included bitumen, a type of asphalt. Bitumen tested from Early Ubaid Chogha Mish, Tell el'Oueili, and Tell Sabi Abyad all come from a wide variety of different sources. Some come from northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and southern Turkey. Bitumen from H3 was identified as having an origin at Burgan Hill in Kuwait. Some of the other Arabian Neolithic sites in the Persian Gulf imported their bitumen from the Mosul area of Iraq, and it is possible that boats were involved in that. Lapis lazuli, turquoise, and copper were exotics in the Mesopotamian Ubaid sites that potentially could have been imported, in small amounts, using boat traffic.

Boat Repair and Gilgamesh

Bitumen caulking of the reed boats was made by applying a heated mixture of bitumen, vegetal matter, and mineral additives and allowing it to dry and cool to a tough, elastic covering. Unfortunately, that had to be replaced frequently. Hundreds of slabs of reed-impressed bitumen have been recovered from several sites in the Persian Gulf. It may be that the H3 site in Kuwait represents a place where boats were repaired, although no additional evidence (such as woodworking tools) was recovered to support that.

Interestingly, reed boats are an important part of Near Eastern mythologies. In the Mesopotamian Gilgamesh myth,  Sargon the Great of Akkad is described as having floated as an infant in a bitumen-coated reed basket down the Euphrates River. This must be the original form of the legend found in the Old Testament book of Exodus where the infant Moses floated down the Nile in a reed basket daubed with bitumen and pitch.

Carter, Robert A. (Editor). "Beyond the Ubaid: Transformation and Integration in the Late Prehistoric Societies of the Middle East." Studies in Ancient Oriental Civilizations, Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago, September 15, 2010.

Connan, Jacques. "An overview of bitumen trade in the Near East from the Neolithic (c.8000 BC) to the early Islamic period." Thomas Van de Velde, Arabian Archaeology and Epigraphy, Wiley Online Library, April 7, 2010.

Oron, Asaf. "Early Maritime Activity on the Dead Sea: Bitumen Harvesting and the Possible Use of Reed Watercraft." Ehud Galili, Gideon Hadas, et al., Journal of Maritime Archaeology, Volume 10, Issue 1, The SAO/NASA Astrophysics Data System, April 2015.

Stein, Gil J. "Oriental Institute 2009-2010 Annual Report." Oriental Institute, The University of Chicago, 2009-2010, Chicago, IL.

Wilkinson, T. J. (Editor). "Models of Mesopotamian Landscapes: How small-scale processes contributed to the growth of early civilizations." BAR International Series, McGuire Gibson (Editor), Magnus Widell (Editor), British Archaeological Reports, October 20, 2013.

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Ancient Mesopotamia Sailboats: An Introduction

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• Tags : Marine engineering

Five thousand years ago Mesopotamians started using sailing boats. Since Mesopotamia was situated between two famous rivers, namely the Euphrates and the Tigris, they needed water transportation for travel and trade. Some of the important items they are credited with inventing include wheels, chariots, sailboats and cuneiform (the earliest form of writing). These are just some of the contributions by the Mesopotamians to the modern world. All this and more was around four to five thousand years ago. Let’s explore more about the important role of sailboats in their culture.

Why Did the Mesopotamians Need Sailboats?

A civilization flourishes based on its trade and commerce, and Mesopotamia was no exception. They wanted to set up trade relationships with nearby cities and countries. These were in the days before road routes were built making transportation of goods by land routes hectic and difficult. Therefore, they had to figure out an alternative mode of transportation for goods and people. This came in the form of water transportation, and thus the first boats were invented.

They were simple wooden boats that would carry people and goods downstream and then back upstream. But boats need people to navigate and guide them across rough waters, so the solution of having a vessel carry their goods and people had to be refined. Thus sailboats were invented. They were primitive in design, but the sailboats helped the Mesopotamians in trade and commerce.

They also helped in irrigation and fishing. Mesopotamians had mastered the art of fishing. They would go downstream using sailboats, cast their nets, stay, wait and return with the catch. Thus the sailboats of Mesopotamia helped the Mesopotamians establish trade relationships with other cities and countries, making them one of most famous civilizations to flourish and change the course of history with their inventions.

How were the Sailboats of Mesopotamians Made?

The sailboats of Mesopotamia were simple in design; the sails were square in shape and made of cloth. The angle and direction of the sails coul not be changed. If the wind blew in the direction that the sailboats desired to go, things went well. If that wasn’t the case, they had to wait for the wind to blow in their favor!

The hull or the body of the boat was made of wood. Trees were cut and made into planks, and the planks were roughly shaped and joined together to make the body of the boat. Though they couldn’t handle lots of cargo or people at a given time, they could do better than what other sailing vessels of that time had to offer. The design work they did on their sailboats provided the basis for all future sailboats, even five thousand years later.

Until the fall of Mesopotamian civilization, not many changes were made to the basic design of the sailboat. This crucial invention largely helped in making Mesopotamian civilization a great empire and civilization along with the society’s other contributions.

Mesopotamia gave the world incredible contributions like wheels, cuneiform, sailboats, glass making, textile weaving and a lot more, truly making them one of the greatest civilizations ever to walk on this planet. Their sailboats were as simple as they needed to be, but they introduced plank construction and square sails. Even though the vessels were of limited capacity, these ships revolutionized water travel. The basic design of their sailboats is still in use even today.

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Top 11 Inventions and Discoveries of Mesopotamia

The cradle of civilization, Mesopotamia, was the birthplace of many valuable inventions and discoveries. It was here that agriculture began. Irrigation and farming were commonplace in this area because of the fertile land between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers.

The invention of agriculture made it possible for humans to stay in the same place for a longer period of time without depending on hunting.

The earliest form of writing was invented in Mesopotamia as were the first means of transportation: the chariot and the sailboat. Most innovative ideas that we take for granted today were invented or discovered in Mesopotamia .

Here are the top 11 inventions and discoveries of ancient Mesopotamia :

11. The Wheel

The first wheel wasn’t used for transportation. The wheel was first invented as a potter’s wheel and was believed to have existed around 3500 BC.

Even though the wheel is believed to have first existed in ancient Mesopotamia, the oldest wheel named the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel was discovered in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, in 2002 and dates back 5,150 years.

The wheel was used as a luxurious form of transportation for the wealthy, but was also used for irrigation, pottery making, and milling. The invention of the chariot and other important innovations in history were based on the invention of the wheel.

10. The Chariot

Over time, humans learned to domesticate horses, bulls, and other useful animals and the invention of the chariot or carriage followed on from their domestication.

The chariot was the first means of personal transportation, and has been used for years in warfare, sport, and for general use. The structure of the earliest chariots was from light wood with a bentwood rim.

The first chariot appeared around 3200 BC in Mesopotamia and was adopted by almost every civilization until motorized transportation came into existence. Chariots were mainly used for personal transportation by royalty and the wealthy.

9. The Sailboat

Transportation by land was difficult and took an enormous amount of time. The Sumerians realized that transportation via sea would be a lot easier and more convenient. The first boat was invented and used on rivers and needed to be navigated by humans.

The first sailboat was a simple, primitive design and aided in trade and commerce. It was initially used to cross the Tigris and Euphrates rivers for fishing and to explore other areas.

The primitive sailboat was square in shape and the sail was made of cloth. The direction of the sailboat couldn’t be changed. If the wind didn’t blow in the direction they wanted to go, they had to wait for the wind to change in their favor.

8. The Plow

Humans learned to domesticate animals and use them to make daily life easier. In Mesopotamia, man first harnessed the ox and developed the first plow called the “ard.” The earliest plow was made of wood and was very heavy.

The major problem with the plow was that the dirt would stick to it and needed to be removed manually. It also did not work in thick grass. The invention of the plow in Mesopotamia helped the hunter-gatherer groups to stay in the same place and use agriculture for food rather than hunting.

The Mesopotamians developed the concept of time, dividing time units into 60 parts, which eventually led to 60-second minutes and 60-minute hours.

The Babylonians made an astronomical calculation in the base 60 system inherited from the Sumerians. The number 60 was chosen because it was easily divisible by six.

6. Astronomy and Astrology

The concept of astrology was developed during the Sumerian period when even everyday incidents had a spiritual meaning. It was believed that every good or bad thing happened for a reason.

Ancient astrologers observed the location of the planets and advised people in high social or political positions according to these observations. Astronomical mythology, like the concepts of the constellations such as Capricorn, Leo, and Sagittarius, was handed down to the Greeks by the Sumerians and Babylonians and is still in use today.

The constellations were also used in day-to-day activities. They were relied upon to mark the seasons for harvesting or sowing crops. They also mapped the movement of the sky, the sun, the stars, and the moon, and were used to predict celestial events like eclipses.

The oldest map was discovered in Babylonia around 2300 BC. Ancient cartography used in Babylonia were simple sketches on clay tablets. One clay map discovered in Mesopotamia illustrates the Akkadian region of Mesopotamia (present-day northern Iraq). It covers a small area and was mostly used as a city map for military campaigns, hunting, and trading.

Even though the map was first invented in Mesopotamia, Greek and Roman cartography became more advanced and the concept of a spherical earth developed by the Greek philosophers in 350 BC allowed geographers to develop the map further.

4. Mathematics

When the civilization began to flourish, people started to trade and they needed an accurate system to count the goods that they gave and received. The Sumerians were the first people on earth to develop the concept of counting.

They also developed the sexagesimal system, or base 60. The sexagesimal system helped to develop concepts like the 360-degree circle and the 12-month year. They used 12 knuckles to count on one hand and another five fingers on the other hand. The Babylonians used base 6 (our modern system uses base 10), where digits in the left column represent large values.

The concept of zero was developed by the Babylonians. People understood the value of having nothing, but the concept of numerical zero wasn’t invented before then. Many scholars believed that the concept of zero was developed by the Babylonians and followed and adapted by various civilizations throughout the world. Some also argue it was originally invented in India.

3. Urban Civilization

Often known as the cradle of civilization, Mesopotamian developed the concept of urbanization. For the first time in a history, humans started to settle in a specific place. The invention of agriculture made it possible to feed more people and animals living in a single location. People learned to trade, and the concept of taxes was developed.

Mesopotamia emerged as one of the first cities of the world to be built with sun-dried bricks. The urbanization in Mesopotamia started in the Uruk period (4300–3100 BC) and the largest settlement in the history of mankind ever to be built was done so using monumental mud-brick buildings around 3200 BC. The city was surrounded by huge walls built by King Gilgamesh.

2. The First Form of Writing: Cuneiform

The Sumerians developed the first form of writing called “cuneiform” to maintain business records. It was mostly used in trade, where merchants recorded information such as the amount of grain traded. The Mesopotamians also used writing to record daily events like astronomy.

Cuneiform evolved as a simple pictograph. For instance, the pictograph for a horse might be a small image of a horse. The writer had to drag the tip of a stylus across wet clay to create a shape. It was hard to remember every character and it would take 12 years for a person to learn to write in cuneiform.

The symbols were reduced to 600 words by 2900 BC and scribes (people who were hired to write) eventually changed the writing from a drawn image to a stamp or imprint using a reed stylus with a wedge-shaped tip. Cuneiform script was used by the Assyrians, Elamites, Hittites, Babylonians, and Akkadians for about 3,000 years.

1. Agriculture and Irrigation

Ancient Mesopotamian farmers cultivated wheat, barley, cucumbers, and other different foods and vegetables. They used stone hoes to plow the ground before the invention of the plow.

The Tigris and the Euphrates rivers that surrounded Mesopotamia made irrigation and farming a lot easier and more convenient. The Mesopotamians learned to control the flow of water from the river and used it to irrigate crops. During the main growing season, the flow of water was properly regulated. Each farmer was allowed a certain amount of water which was diverted from a canal into an irrigation ditch.

Most of the inventions and discoveries of the ancient Mesopotamians became more advanced in later civilizations. However, Mesopotamian inventions led to very basic things that were needed for humans to settle in a group such as writing, agriculture, and urban civilization.

Learn the inventions of other civilizations:

• Top 10 Ancient Roman Inventions
• Top 10 Inventions and Discoveries of Ancient Greece
• Top 18 Ancient Chinese Inventions and Discoveries
• Top 10 Inventions of the Mayan Civilization
• Top 10 Inventions and Discoveries of Ancient Egypt

Related posts:

• Top 12 Inventions and Discoveries of Ancient Babylonia
• Top 15 Most Important Events in Ancient Mesopotamia
• Top 12 Fascinating Facts about Ancient Mesopotamia

15 thoughts on “Top 11 Inventions and Discoveries of Mesopotamia”

What the flop are you talking about? This is a great website with tons of fantastic information. Which website are YOU looking at?

If yll think this was the oldest then who built the Aztec lines in Peru and the place named Puma Punku, The sphinx was not built by the Egyptians, where did the knowledge to build the pyramids come from?

The Egyptians were founded around 3100 BC, the Aztec lines or Nazca Lines in Peru were created c. 500 BCE to 500 CE and Puma Punku was built around 536 CE or later. The Mesopotamians (if we’re including the Sumerians) were founded in the 6th Millennium BCE, at least 3000 years before the Egyptians, and 5000 years before the Nazca Lines and the Puma Punku. For your latter question, I’ll let you google it and discover for yourself. If you’re interested on Mesopotamia, I recommend reading “Handbook to Life in Ancient Mesopotamia” by Stephen Bertman or some of Dr Samuel Kramer’s published works.

Excellent answer, thank you very much. Far more patient answer than an old one such as my I might supply. Sorry, got to get back to my stylus, those wet clay tablets won’t mark their selves.

Bruh its still technically counts in the history of the Sumerians

Can you please put what the inventions are being used for today? I have to do this poster, and it says you have to put what is it used for today, or what is used in its place.

Wheels are being used today for cars, water, milling, making flour(I think) and toys. Sailboats, are, well sailboats. There are some things for you. Hope I helped. :-)

Wow! That’s what I’m doing today too! Hopefully, it’s not too late :/

Sumerians used writing to keep track of data just like we do today. But of course, we also use writing when it comes to sending messages or something else! (They probably did too- Just not with electronics, they used tablets instead.) Plows are something that a TON of farmers in the world use the plow to loosen their soil. Sumerian farmers did too! ( Sumerians domesticated ‘bigger’ animals to tow/use the plow. It wouldn’t be really possible for something like a cat to carry a huge plow on it’s back. {The plow would have to be smaller}) Riding a canoe on the rivers was faster than by wagons, chariots, or any land transportation. So the Sumerians decided to invent ‘their own boat’, a different one… One that you can use on the ocean! They tried different ideas. And then they found the right one. It’s now called the “SailBoat”. Many people use it today! It’s mainly used for catching fish, or transportation, thanks to the “flag” that makes the journey calm.

( It’s probably too late…”

what did they use the pulley system for

This was a very helpful artical, but I just cant find where it mentions the pulley system.

The first written record of pulleys dates to the Sumerians of Mesopotamia in 1500 BCE, where ancient peoples were using ropes and pulleys for hoisting. That is, they used pulleys for pulling and lifting things.

They used rope pulleys for hoisting water. A pulley system makes it easier to lift an object than lifting the dead weight by hand. A single pulley essentially changes the direction of the pull or force applied.

I couldn’t find irrigation in here. Can you add it please?

Invention number 8 The Plow: Believe it or not – this invention is still being used in India, Pakistan and may be many other countries – IN THE SAME FORM OR SLIGHTLY MODIFIED FORM. I have used that Plow in that shape with Oxen in 1960s and 1970s!! It is amazing how long some inventions can survive. It also might prove another fact that lot of North Indians (so called Aryans) were actually driven out or migrated out of Mesopotemia thousands of years ago.

I believe that to state that things were invented in one area of the world is not correct anymore. The Mayan were also using the zero independently with out the influence of the Mesopotamians. Who knows what lies hidden under the oceans and the ice.

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Ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamians and their daily lives

The Mesopotamian Wheel

Sumerians are believed to have invented the wheel. The three great contributions of the Mesopotamian civilisation to the world are the Sailboats, the system of cuneiform writing and the wheel. Wheel was a significant invention as it revolutionised the system of transportation and thereby communication. The origin of wheel can be traced back to 3500 BC. The first model of a wheel is that of one made of planks of wood joined together. Rollers were placed beneath heavy objects so that heavy objects could be moved easily. Subsequently the sledge was invented. Then the roller and the sledge were combined. Finally, holes for the axle were drilled through the frame of the cart. Axle and wheels were now made separately. In the Sumerian age, wheels were connected to the chariots. The first wheels were made from clay, mud and rock. It is said that wheel originated from the observation that log rollers with worn down centres were easier to use. Wheels were used to make carts and wagons. There were also pottery wheels. Wheels were also used as toys, weapons, tools etc. Early Mesopotamian chariots and wagons usually included a primitive set of four wheels and two axles. The Egyptians modified the wheel later on.

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10 Mesopotamian Inventions That Will Surprise You

From the wheel to the sailboat, the Mesopotamians were responsible for countless inventions still used today. This article unpacks ten of the most surprising inventions from this ancient civilization.

Ancient Mesopotamia was a powerhouse of agriculture and trade, giving rise to some of the most powerful empires and kingdoms the world had ever seen. During the third and second centuries BC, a huge number of inventions emerged out of Mesopotamian civilization, many counting among the most important developments in human history. This article covers ten of the most significant, and most surprising, Mesopotamian inventions that arose from their ancient culture.

Background of Mesopotamian Civilization

Ancient Mesopotamian civilization was situated in the Fertile Crescent, where the countries of Iraq, Kuwait, Turkey, and Syria now lie. It was first settled by humans during the Paleolithic era , and within thousands of years became home to some of the world’s first formal civilizations and cities formed by the Sumerian people, who controlled most of the region. This then gave way to a series of rulers and empires, some more infamous than others, including Gilgamesh, Sargon, and the Akkadians, the Babylonians, and the Assyrians. Throughout this time Mesopotamia became a tremendous output for art, literature, religion, and many other scientific or cultural pursuits. 

The Mesopotamians were the first people to mass-produce bricks, which allowed them to build up the greatest civilization the world had yet seen. The earliest examples of this Mesopotamian invention go as far back as the seventh millennium BC when the people of what is now Northern Iraq formed settlements with buildings constructed out of blocks of clay, shaped by hand and dried in the sun. These primitive building blocks continued to be used throughout the subsequent millennia, even though they limited the size and stability of their structures. 

Thousands of years later, during the mid-first millennium BC, ovens (or kilns) came into use as a means of mass-producing much stronger and more uniform bricks. King Nebuchadnezzar II, who ruled Babylon from 605 to 564 BC, and famously led the conquest of Judah recorded in the Bible , was a great patron of the kilns. Determined to build the greatest city on earth, he sponsored the creation of thousands of bricks, many of which were inscribed with his name and a message of protection . 

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With all those bricks, the building potential of the Mesopotamians was practically endless, and they applied it on a scale never before seen. Cities may seem like a natural and ubiquitous part of human life now, but they only came into existence when natural shifts forced disparate and nomadic peoples to band together into larger groups. Out of this necessity was born not only the settlements themselves but also many of the trappings of urban life that persist today.

These larger groups that settled together gradually organized governments, made laws , and began to form a social hierarchy. The cities themselves became more than just collections of houses, constructing temples, public gardens, trading places, and administrative centers, with the surrounding lands used mainly for farming to provide the inhabitants with food. The greatest Mesopotamian city was without a doubt Babylon , which dates back to around 1800 BC and soon after expanded its boundaries to become a highly powerful city-state. It is perhaps most famous for its Hanging Gardens, built by Nebuchadnezzar II for his wife, which was one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World . 

From written records , we know that the Mesopotamian cities were home to inns, taverns, and pubs, where travelers and residents alike came together to socialize, eat, and enjoy a drink or two. These drinks were almost inevitably beers , which were available in many different variations, including golden, dark, sweet dark, red and strained. This Mesopotamian invention was made with the same base of fermented barley, with the taste modified by the addition of emmer wheat, date syrup, or a number of other flavorings, although hops (a key ingredient in modern beer) do not seem to have been in use. In fact, the earliest evidence of beer comes from a 6000-year-old Mesopotamian tablet, which shows revelers drinking from a great vat through long straws. 

There are ongoing debates about the alcoholic content of ancient beer, but the drink certainly made the Mesopotamians happy: it was consumed at religious festivals, public ceremonies and private feasts, honored in songs and poems, and even used to pay workers’ wages . So important was the drink to Mesopotamian culture that in their great poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh , one character decides to emerge from the wild and join civilization after drinking seven jugs of the stuff!  

7. Board Games

To provide some entertainment while they were enjoying their beers, the Mesopotamians came up with a number of new leisure activities, including drinking games, dance and musical performances, and board games. Evidence of the latter was found in the 1920s when a British archaeologist named Sir Leonard Woolley unearthed several well-preserved examples of an ancient board game in some Mesopotamian tombs . 

Made in the mid-third millennium BC, the Royal Game of Ur is considered the world’s first strategic board game. It was played by two players, who raced to get their tokens to the end of a course, moving them each time they rolled the dice and attempting to capture each other’s pieces by landing on the same square. 

The game proved so popular that examples have been discovered as far afield as Crete and Sri Lanka, and it is thought that the Royal Game of Ur continued to be played throughout antiquity, eventually developing into an early form of backgammon.

Primitive rafts and floating vessels have formed key methods of transportation and travel for as long as humans have been moving about the world , but it was the Mesopotamians who revolutionized water travel by inventing sails. The very name of the region means ‘between rivers’, referring to the great Euphrates and Tigris between which Mesopotamia was situated. The importance of these arterial waterways meant that it was in the Mesopotamians’ interests to find a way of navigating them quickly and efficiently.

While the hulls were still made of wood and constructed in a similar design to the boats of the past, Mesopotamian ships had the unparalleled addition of sails, large squares of cloth that caught the wind and pushed them forwards. Unlike later vessels, the angle of the sails could not be changed, meaning that Mesopotamian sailors had to rely on a favorable wind to get to their destination. Sails were nonetheless intrinsic to the development of seafaring in the ancient world. 

As well as facilitating trade by allowing the transportation of heavy goods, sailboats also enabled the Mesopotamians to develop more sophisticated fishing practices. The larger, stable ships could sail into deeper and more treacherous waters, let down nets and wait for hordes of fish to swim in. Along with expanding trading opportunities, this led to prosperity and a higher quality of life for those living in ancient Mesopotamia. Sailboats were so important to the culture that they were even given their own god , Shamash. 

5. Cartography

With individual communities growing ever more powerful, and people traveling further and further afield, the Mesopotamians began to consider the world as a whole, and their own place within it. These contemplations resulted in the world’s first map, which dates from the 6th century BC and shows the world as a two-dimensional disc surrounded by a ring of water. Several cities and geographical regions, including Babylon and Assyria, are identified within, as are several mountains and the great River Euphrates, besides which the tablet was unearthed two and half millennia later. 

Although not a particularly helpful tool for navigating either land or sea, the Babylonian map of the world represents a huge breakthrough in the field of cartography. The excursions of armies and the travels of traders allowed scribes to chart the surrounding areas, and even though there was no attempt to systematically map the entire region, the Mesopotamians introduced the concept to the world. 

After they had figured out how to capture and convey the concept of space, the Mesopotamians moved onto time. They developed the sexagesimal system by which units of time are divided into 60 parts and its factors, which eventually gave us our minute of 60 seconds and an hour of 60 minutes. It is also from the Mesopotamians that we inherit the 24 hours of the day and the 12 signs of the zodiac, corresponding to the lunar months. To make these fit with the number of days in the solar year, the Mesopotamians added not leap days but leap months! 

All this information was often displayed on circular calendars: the Mesopotamians were also the first to divide the circle into the 360-degree measurement so seminal to modern mathematics and geometry. With their invention of the lunisolar calendar, which served as the foundation for most later systems, the Mesopotamians founded and developed the very concept of time that is used to record, measure and plan life today. 

3. Writing And Literature

Arguably history’s most important inventions, the Mesopotamians were responsible for the introduction and development of the written word , which has its origins in the latter half of the 4th millennium BC. Cuneiform, which literally means ‘wedge shape’ and refers to the tools used to inscribe letters onto the writing surface, was invented by the Sumerians in Mesopotamia. It began as a pictographic system , with each symbol representing a specific object, person, action or idea, but later developed into a combination of alphabetic, syllabic, and pictographic symbols. It is even thought that Cuneiform influenced later Egyptian hieroglyphics .

Modern excavations have unearthed over one million cuneiform tablets, most a  little bigger than an iPhone in size, only a small fraction of which have been read, translated, or exhibited. The most famous and widely-studied of the Cuneiform texts is the Epic of Gilgamesh , a great poem generally considered the earliest extant work of literature. The story has been found written across various tablets , discovered across the region, and tells the story of King Gilgamesh, who encounters and defeats a range of enemies before the death of his closest companion drives him to uncover the secrets of eternal life. Although Gilgamesh never succeeds in finding immortality, his name and glory live on in posterity, largely thanks to the Mesopotamian invention of writing.

2. Administration And Accounting

Cuneiform writing was not created with the direct intention of producing some of the world’s greatest literature. On the contrary, the driving force behind the invention of the written word was far less exciting: the earliest records indicate that it came about because of the need to keep accurate records of sheep sales. 

As opportunities for travel increased and trade subsequently expanded, merchants and farmers needed a more reliable way of keeping track of their produce. Using a wedge-shaped stylus and a tablet made of clay, stone, metal, or wax, early traders would take note of their produce and sales , listing what was sold, the quantity, date, and buyer. Later, in larger cities, the uses of Cuneiform extended to urban planning, contracts and taxation . And so, while it may be associated with epic poetry and mysterious runes, the earliest writings found in Mesopotamia are actually just the first example of accounting!

1. The Wheel

The most surprising thing about the greatest Mesopotamian, the wheel, is that it was initially designed to be horizontal. Instead of the upright at the bottom of a cart or chariot, the earliest wheel was actually positioned on its side and used to help craftsmen shape their pottery. The potter’s wheel has its origins around the same time as Cuneiform, in the latter half of the 4th millennium, proving that this was a time of huge innovation in human thought and design. 

The potential of the wheel must have been apparent to the Mesopotamians almost immediately, as they soon invented the first wheeled vehicles in the form of rudimentary wooden carts. The wheels too were made of wood, sometimes simply solid discs cut straight from tree trunks, but they gradually developed to become more efficient: by cutting out much of the material and leaving only a cross-beam and spokes to connect the center to the rim, the Mesopotamians made their wheels much lighter. Eventually, they also created the axle, which saved a great deal of time and energy by turning both wheels simultaneously, with force applied to the central rod. From simple carts, the Mesopotamians could then make chariots, which made them a formidable force in military conflicts . 

More Mesopotamian Inventions

All these inventions prove just how crucial the ancient civilization of Mesopotamia has been to human history. The long history of cultural, engineering and intellectual development in the region goes to show why it is frequently known as the Cradle of Civilization . Where would we be today without the wheel, the sailboat, writing, maps or, let’s be honest, beer?

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By Mia Forbes BA in Classics Mia is a contributing writer from London, with a passion for literature and history. She holds a BA in Classics from the University of Cambridge. Both at work and at home, Mia is surrounded by books, and enjoys writing about great works of fiction and poetry. Her first translation is due to be published next year.

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9 Ancient Sumerian Inventions That Changed the World

By: Patrick J. Kiger

Updated: August 6, 2024 | Original: August 1, 2019

The ancient Sumerians , who flourished thousands of years ago between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in what today is southern Iraq, built a civilization that in some ways was the ancient equivalent of Silicon Valley. As the late historian Samuel Noah Kramer wrote , “The people of Sumer had an unusual flair for technological invention.”

In what the Greeks later called Mesopotamia , Sumerians invented new technologies and perfected the large-scale use of existing ones. In the process, they transformed how humans cultivated food, built dwellings, communicated and kept track of information and time.

The Sumerians’ creativity was driven to an extent by their land’s lack of natural resources, according to Philip Jones, associate curator and keeper of the Babylonian section at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia.

“They had few trees, almost no stone or metal,” he explains. That forced them to make ingenious use of materials such as clay—the plastic of the ancient world. They used it to make everything from bricks to pottery to tablets for writing.

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The Earliest Known Author Was a Woman from Mesopotamia

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Architecture, agriculture, art and more first blossomed in these cultures.

But the Sumerians’ real genius may have been organizational. They had the ability to take inventions that had been developed elsewhere and apply them on a much bigger scale. This way they could mass-produce goods such as textiles and pottery that they could then trade with other people.

As Kramer writes, there was something in the Sumerian identity that drove them to dream big and think ingeniously. “Spiritually and psychologically, they laid great stress on ambition and success, preeminence and prestige, honor and recognition,” he explains.

The Sumerians’ innovations gradually spread and led to the development of the modern technologically advanced world that we live in today. Here are some of the areas where the Sumerians left their mark.

Mass-Produced Pottery

Other ancient people made pottery by hand, but the Sumerians were the first to develop the turning wheel, a device that allowed them to mass-produce it, according to Reed Goodman , a doctoral candidate in the art and archaeology of the Mediterranean at the University of Pennsylvania. That enabled them to churn out large numbers of items such as containers for workers’ rations, sort of the ancient forerunner of Tupperware.

Jones says that it’s likely, though not 100 percent certain, that the Sumerians were the first to develop a writing system. Either way, it’s clear that they were using written communication by 2800 B.C. But they didn’t set out to write great literature or record their history, but rather to keep track of the goods that they were making and selling.

“Their very first texts are just numbers and commodities,” Jones explains. They did that with a system of pictographs , which essentially were drawings of various objects. Eventually, they began to combine pictographs to express ideas and actions. The pictographs evolved into symbols that stood for words and sounds.

Scribes used sharpened reeds to scratch the symbols into wet clay, which dried to form tablets. The system of writing became known as cuneiform, and as Kramer noted, it was borrowed by subsequent civilizations and used across the Middle East for 2,000 years.

Hydraulic Engineering

The Sumerians figured out how to collect and channel the overflow of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers—and the rich silt that it contained—and then use it to water and fertilize their farm fields. They designed complex systems of canals, with dams constructed of reeds, palm trunks and mud whose gates could be opened or closed to regulate the flow of water.

The Chariot 

The Sumerians didn’t invent wheeled vehicles, but they probably developed the first two-wheeled chariot in which a driver drove a team of animals, writes Richard W. Bulliet in The Wheel: Inventions and Reinventions . Goodman says that there’s evidence the Sumerians had such carts for transportation in the 3000s B.C., but they were probably used for ceremonies or by the military, rather than as a means to get around the countryside, where the rough terrain would have made wheeled travel difficult.

According to Kramer, the Sumerians invented the plow, a vital technology in farming. They even produced a manual that gave farmers detailed instructions on how to use various types of plows. And they specified the prayer that should be recited to pay homage to Ninkilim, the goddess of field rodents, in order to protect the grain from being eaten.

Textile Mills

While other cultures in the Middle East gathered wool and used it to weave fabric for clothing, the Sumerians were the first to do it on an industrial scale.

“The Sumerians’ innovation was to turn their temples into huge factories,” Goodman explains. He notes that the Sumerians were the first to cross kin lines and form larger working organizations for making textiles—the predecessors of modern manufacturing companies.

Mass-Produced Bricks 

To make up for a shortage of stones and timber for building houses and temples, the Sumerians created molds for making bricks out of clay, according to Kramer. While they weren’t the first to use clay as a building material, “the innovation is the ability to produce bricks in large amounts, and put them together on a large scale,” Jones explains. Their buildings might not have been as durable as stone ones, but they were able to build more of them and create larger cities.

The Sumerians were some of the earliest people to use copper to make useful items, ranging from spearheads to chisels and razors, according to the Copper Development Association . They also made art with copper, including dramatic panels depicting fantastical animals such as an eagle with a lion’s head. According to Kramer, Sumerian metallurgists used furnaces heated by reeds and controlled the temperature with bellows that could be worked with their hands or feet.

Mathematics

Primitive people counted using simple methods, such as putting notches on bones, but it was the Sumerians who developed a formal numbering system based on units of 60, according to Robert E. and Carolyn Krebs’ book, Groundbreaking Scientific Experiments, Inventions, and Discoveries of the Ancient World . At first, they used reeds to keep track of the units, but eventually, with the development of cuneiform, they used vertical marks on the clay tablets. Their system helped lay the groundwork for the mathematical calculations of civilizations that followed. 

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BIBLE HISTORY DAILY

Uncovering a 4,000-year-old mesopotamian boat.

Ancient boat uncovered from the ruins of Uruk

The Mesopotamian boat of Uruk during excavation. Courtesy German Archaeological Institute.

With archaeologists returning to Iraq, many finds are coming to light, including a 4,000-year-old Mesopotamian boat from the ancient Sumerian city of Uruk. According to a press release by the German Archaeological Institute , the boat was discovered largely intact by a joint German-Iraqi team. The Mesopotamian boat was constructed out of organic materials covered in bitumen, a substance made from crude oil and commonly used for waterproofing across Mesopotamia. This construction technique is similar to that used in the building of Noah’s ark (Genesis 6:14). Since the boat’s burial, however, the organic material has completely decomposed, leaving behind only the outer bitumen cover, which served to preserve the boat’s original shape and size.

FREE eBook: Life in the Ancient World . Craft centers in Jerusalem, family structure across Israel and ancient practices—from dining to makeup—through the Mediterranean world.

After uncovering the boat, the team set about photographing it and creating three-dimensional models using photogrammetry . The boat measures approximately 23 feet long and 4.5 feet wide. After preliminary studies, the team suggested that the Mesopotamian boat most likely became lodged in the loose soil of the Euphrates riverbank and, over time, was covered with silt and sediment. From the boat’s archaeological context, the team determined that it is likely around 4,000 years old, which would place it toward the end of the Ur III Period (c. 2112–2004 B.C.E.) or the beginning of the Isin-Larsa Period (c. 2004–1763 B.C.E.). Due to fear of additional damage, the team covered the boat in a clay and plaster shell before excavating it completely. The boat is expected to be brought to the Iraq Museum in Baghdad where it will be studied and displayed.

Aerial view showing the outline of the Uruk boat. Courtesy German Archaeological Institute.

Ancient Uruk

The Mesopotamian city of Uruk—Unug in Sumerian—was one of the oldest and most powerful cities in the land of Sumer (southern Iraq). Although in antiquity the city sat along the banks of the Euphrates River, Uruk is now covered in sand, the bed of the Euphrates having long ago shifted its course. The city rose to great power in the fourth millennium and, for a time, it was possibly the largest city in the ancient world. According to the Epic of Gilgamesh , Uruk was also the royal seat of the tale’s eponymous mythical king. As described in the epic (tablet 11), Gilgamesh met an immortal man named Utnapishtim, who had been instructed by the gods to build a giant circular boat to save himself from a flood that would be sent by the gods. In the 1800s, scholars proposed that Uruk could be the biblical city of Erech, the second city built by Nimrod in Genesis 10:10.

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World History Edu

• Ancient Mesopotamia / World History

7 Major Mesopotamian Inventions

by World History Edu · June 14, 2019

The ancient Mesopotamian civilization brought forth groundbreaking inventions and discoveries which redefined their way of life. Even though their first settlements lived in primitive homes, the Mesopotamian people multiplied with time and crossed boundaries to create cities.  The following is a list of 7 major inventions we owe to the ingenuity of ancient Mesopotamian civilization.

The wheel, a key Mesopotamian invention. Image source: Linoit.com

Mesopotamians were the first humans to conceive and invent the wheel with the view to using it for transportation purposes. As early as 3500 BC, the circular structure was already in use. Historians believe that the oldest ancient wheel was found in 2002, in Ljubljana, the Slovenian capital town. Therefore, they named it the Ljubljana Marshes Wheel. The age of the wheel was estimated to be about 5000 years old.

When the wheel was invented to aid transportation purposes, it was only the wealthy people who could afford it. The wheels were not only used for transportation. They were also employed in irrigation, milling and making pots. The invention of the wheel went on to inspire Mesopotamians to develop new technologies such as the chariot.

The Chariot

An image of the Chariot, being attached to a horse. Image source: Busy.org

Agriculture became a profitable business which allowed Mesopotamians to rear and domesticate animals. When the domestication of animals became a success, Mesopotamians realized that animals could provide enough mechanical power to convey people and goods from place to place.

They invented the chariot (a carriage) to be used in conjunction with animal power. Bulls and horses were attached to the chariot by using ropes. When the animals are persuaded to move, the chariot is drawn along the path of the animals. This innovation changed the life of the Mesopotamian people; they had just discovered a more efficient way of transportation. The chariot was also used by Mesopotamians to do sporting activities and fight wars.

The first chariots built in 3200 BC, were designed out of wooden parts. The wheels, body, and rim were all carved out of wood. The animal-drawn chariots gave a wonderful riding experience to the Mesopotamian civilization. The wealthy people and royals (kings and queens) took comfortable rides in their chariots.

The chariot stayed in place until future generations got smarter and introduced motorized vehicles. Nevertheless, the contribution of Mesopotamian civilization to modern civilization can never be downplayed. Factually, one good thing leads to another.

The Sailboat

The invention of the sailboat enhanced trade across borders. Image source: Mesopotamianblue55

Ancient Mesopotamian engineers got more determined to break boundaries and make their lives easier and better. With the invention of the animal-drawn wheels and chariots, Mesopotamians could comfortably travel by land to farther places. How about water? The Sumerians wanted to move across rivers, seas, and other water bodies. Therefore, they invented sailboats to travel on water. They successfully invented the first sailboats which were powered and navigated by humans. The boats were used by Mesopotamians to explore and fish in the Tigris River and the Euphrates rivers. Once again, they had an awesome experience floating and moving through water.

The first boats were carved to have a square shape, with the sail made from a piece of cloth. This primitive boat relied on the direction of the wind before it could operate. Unfortunately, they couldn’t change their course without using a favorable wind direction. But the invention was still a game changer.

The Plow (plough)

The plow was invented to enhance agriculture. Image source: Artnet.com

Mesopotamians took much interest in agriculture. They sought ways to till their land and improve crop production. This was achieved by inventing devices which could be pulled through the soil, to break and loosen it. Mesopotamians realized that they could use animal power from cattle (oxen) to pull plows and loosen the soil. This marked the invention of the plow. They named the first plow as “Ard”. Even though the ard was wood-made, it was heavier in mass.

One other weak point of the plow: it could get stuck by debris which had to be timely removed with the hand. When used on harder and thickly grassed lands, the plow lacked enough power to move through the resistance. Despite the challenges faced by Mesopotamians in using the plow, the device still revamped their agriculture.

Time-Measuring Devices

Mesopotamians also manufactured instruments that could record the passage of time. They were even the first civilization to conceptualize time. The Mesopotamian civilization were the first people to break down units/divisions for time. Their time system gave us 60 seconds = 1 minute and 60 minutes = 1 hour. The Babylonian people did astronomical computations which were based on the number “60” (hesagesimal system). Babylonians inherited that system from the Sumerians. The reason for 60 being chosen was that it is a number which easily divides by 6.

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Astronomy and Astrology

The Mesopotamian civilization were also the first people to observe heavenly bodies such as planets and stars. They used the movement of the stars to time their planting seasons. Mesopotamians grouped stars into constellations. They also tried to find a correlation between the movement of heavenly bodies and their effects on people’s lives (this was the foundation of Astrology). Modern Astronomy is now a scientific field which involves the study of celestial bodies in outer space (beyond the Earth’s atmosphere).

As Mesopotamian flourished in agriculture and commerce, it became necessary for them to record their trades and transactions. Aside from that, they needed to document their cultural values and store them for future generations. Mesopotamians solved a scripted communication problem, by inventing the first method of writing, known as cuneiform. Cuneiform was a pictorial form of writing – it wasn’t an easy thing to learn but it afforded Mesopotamians a means to record their own history.

Other social inventions of ancient Mesopotamia

The list of Mesopotamian inventions extends to many areas in science, mathematics, law, medicine, architecture and more. However, they also instituted laws and government systems which are still practiced by today’s society. For example, Mesopotamians instituted monarchies to rule their people. The Sumerians had kings who reigned over territories. They also proposed laws to punish unlawful people. In summary, ancient Mesopotamians were geniuses who introduced jaw-dropping innovations. Let’s give them the credit.

Tags: Ancient Culture invention of the wheel Mesopotamian inventions the chariot

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Mesopotamian Inventions and Technology

Why are the inventions of mesopotamia so important to the world.

As one of the world’s first civilizations, the inventions of Mesopotamia had a huge impact on the development of the world.

Many Mesopotamian inventions are still being used today, and have definitely had a huge impact on the world!

Thousands of years later, the work of the clever early Mesopotamians is still integral (central) to our society.

What kind of things did the Mesopotamians invent?

Well, for starters, the Mesopotamians invented the wheel. The first wheel was invented around 3500 BC.

It wasn’t used for transport at first – it was used instead to aid in the construction of pottery – but later gained popularity as a method of transportation for the wealthy. Nowadays, the wheel is used all over the world, for transportation and for industry, and this clever invention has its roots in Mesopotamia.

Along with the wheel, the Mesopotamians also invented the chariot. The chariot was the first vehicle ever built, and one of the first farming implements as well.

The chariot was an important fixture of many Mesopotamian armies, such as those in the Assyrian empire, and would go on to be crucial in the military strategy of Rome as well.

Along with this revolution inland travel, the Mesopotamians also revolutionized sea travel with their invention of the sailboat. Though this boat was not very advanced – it was square in shape, and the “sail” was just a piece of cloth hung off a stick” – it served as the model for future generations to further develop the technology.

The Mesopotamians are responsible for the invention of time – or, more accurately, the invention of the system by which we measure time! The Mesopotamians invented the concept of 60-minute hours and 60-second minutes, the same way we measure time in the modern world. This revolutionized the way people lived.

While before, time could only be measured by the passing of the sun, the transformation of time into a physical force meant that people could better plan their days and lives, and no longer had to work by the schedule of the sun.

Naturally, this invention is still around in the modern world… in fact, I’m sure that if you’re reading this on the computer or other device, you’ll be able to see a clock somewhere on your screen!

The Mesopotamians also invented the world’s first maps. Cartography, the study of how to draw and read maps, was invented in Babylon around 2300 BC. Though the first Babylonian maps were simply sketches on clay tablets, this school of education soon blossomed into an incredibly important field.

The Mesopotamians’ ability to map out the world they lived in set them apart from other cultures and gave their empires an advantage over foreign nations.

And as well as all that, the Mesopotamians also invented the concept of mathematics! The Sumerian culture of Mesopotamia was the first culture on earth to develop the system of counting, which was used to help explain trade.

The Sumerian system of counting only went as far as the number 60 and had no number to represent 0. Several hundred years later, the Babylonians invented the number 0, which once more revolutionized the system of counting.

The Sumerians were also responsible for the invention of the world’s first written language – cuneiform. Like counting, this was used mostly in trade, to keep track of what was being bought and sold, but later became popular as a common language.

The cuneiform system of writing was used by many Mesopotamian empires, and remained the sole written language for nearly 3,000 years after its creation.

Facts about Mesopotamian Inventions and Technology:

• The Mesopotamians invented many things which are still used in the modern world.
• The Mesopotamians invented the wheel.
• The Mesopotamians invented the world’s first system of mathematics and counting.
• The Mesopotamians invented the modern method of tracking time.
• The Mesopotamians invented the world’s first written language.
• The Mesopotamians invented the world’s first maps.
• The Mesopotamians invented the world’s first chariots and sailboats.
• What were the first wheels used for in Mesopotamia?
• What was the name of the first Mesopotamian system of writing?

– Cuneiform.

• How high did the Mesopotamian system of counting go?
• Who invented the number 0 in Mesopotamia?

– The Babylons.

• What is the name of the study of maps?

– Cartography.

• Back to – Ancient Mesopotamia

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Mesopotamian Ancient Basket Weaving Technology and the Sumerian Reed Industry

#1. Neolithic technology, especially technology involving the use of reeds and weaving, was highly advanced long before the beginning of Sumerian civilizations. Many of these technologies were based on 'basket weaving technology' and were involved in the creation of a wide variety of products from bitumen treated basket-buckets used in irrigation to large reed ships. #2. These advanced Neolithic technologies formed the bedrock, the foundation, for the emergence of these civilizations. These technologies were crucial, for example, to the development of irrigation and dredging the canals. #3. When more advanced technologies appeared such as copper, bronze, and fired bricks (many treated with bitumen), the earlier technologies played a supporting role and were involved in their development and their production. #4. Although new technologies emerged, they did not entirely replace the older technology which continued to be used in a variety of roles both traditional and in support of the new technologies. #5. There have been many misconceptions about the rise of civilization in Mesopotamia which has made it hard to grasp the 'big picture'. Housing made of reeds, for example, may have been much more widespread than previously thought and a huge fleet of reed boats and coracles made with reeds may have been as important, if not more important, than the large wooden ships that were developed to haul heavy cargoes and to import goods from distant ports. In addition, there was an extensive reed industry that existed from Neolithic times and continued with the Sumerian civilizations but this industry has not been properly identified.

Related Papers

The rise of the world's first civilization, that of Sumer in Mesopotamia, could not have occurred without a fully developed basket weaving technology that was available from the beginning. This technology may have reached a high point thousands of years earlier as shown by the Ain Ghazal statues which had a sophisticated woven reed core. While this was not the only developed technology at the time, it was crucial. In this article, I make two main points. #1. There is now clear physical evidence of basket weaving technology or reed craftsmanship (as the Sumerians also called it) long before the start of the Sumerian civilization. I list three examples of this evidence. #2. The Sumerians were able to use their highly developed reed craftsmanship to establish the world's first civilization in part because of their weaving skills and because they had access to an unlimited number of reeds, plus mud, clay, and bitumen. In this article, I cite numerous studies and experts to further my argument. I cover sea-going reed ships, irrigation, agriculture, home building, mass-produced bricks, the importation of copper, and more. I also include an appendix in which I list more than 100 words relating to basket weaving technology, words that were used for thousands of years in Mesopotamia, indicating the importance of this technology.

Sebastian Fink

It is clear from the fact that pottery had not been invented until late in the Neolithic era, that other tools and implements must have been fabricated during the Pre-Pottery Neolithic (PPN). Serge Svizzero points out in his quoted article that agriculture would have required a necessary set of support tools and containers to be successful; it is not enough to say that the Neolithic way of life occurred because of agriculture and the domestication of animals. In this article, I present direct and indirect evidence of Neolithic basketry to show that many of these implements could have been made using woven-fiber technology or basket weaving skills, a technology that may have been passed down from Upper Paleolithic societies. And I suggest these skills continued to be employed all during the Neolithic time period. Furthermore, I suggest these skills were passed on to the emerging civilizations in Mesopotamia and Egypt who made full use of this technology when needed.

Harshvardhan Kothari

eloisa Casadei

Nur Mohammad`Babu

Daniela Arroyo Barrantes

Patricia C. Anderson , John Whittaker

Textile Terminologies from the Orient to the Mediterranean and Europe, 1000 BC to 1000 AD

Louise Quillien

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