The Mesopotamian Empire had several achievements throughout its existence. The achievements ranged from powerful kingdoms to trade and agriculture. It is worth to mention that this empire spanned over several centuries. This essay explores the achievements of the Mesopotamian Empire.
King Sargon created the world’s largest first empire. The Akkadian dynasty was founded by Sargon. One of the reasons why this dynasty was considered to be magnificent was due to the nature of its establishment. For instance, it was well developed both in terms of culture and social revolution of its people (Van de Mieroop 81).
It was the first dynasty in Mesopotamia and as such, other empires emulated its customs. Whereas it may not be adequate to merely assert the achievement of the Akkadian Empire in terms of strong cultural exchange that took place during its era, we should not also forget to reiterate that the late Assyrian dynasty and the Old Babylonian Empire were largely modeled out of the ideals of the Akkadian Empire.
The systems and structures of governance were heavily influenced by the Akkadian Empire. It is also interesting to note that a unique language was developed by the Acadian people.
King Hammurabi was an Amorite ruler. He managed to create a centralized government that was able to effectively govern the entire empire with much ease. As a result, tax collection was also improved due to the presence of a centralized government.
The empire was governed by high levels of bureaucracy due to various positions that the Emperor created. Bureaucracy was a major achievement because it elevated the strength of the King since several junior officers worked under him.
Hammurabi’s Empire was also considered successful because the king recaptured the southern Mesopotamia after being dominated by the Elamites for a long time. After that, the whole of southern Mesopotamia was taken over by King Hammurabi (Van de Mieroop 103). This political action extended the influence of the Babylonian Empire, and therefore, it was considered as one of the greatest achievements.
Besides, the conquest of the southern states was a landmark achievement by the king bearing in mind that stability was regained after all the captured states were unified and put under one rule. If King Hammurabi would not have unified the states, it is highly likely that the southern Mesopotamian region may have remained politically polarized.
Finally, the king came up with codes of conduct that every Babylonian was supposed to adhere to. Under his governance, trade and agriculture thrived quite well. The strength of his empire was mainly attributed to viable economic activities.
King Ilushuma was capable of creating colonies during the old era of the Assyrian empire. Although this was a short term achievement among the Assyrians, it left a landmark in southern Mesopotamia because it was a difficult task for Hammurabi to recapture this kingdom. The 25th empire of Egypt was also overthrown by the Assyrians. The powerful kings were revered by the subjects.
For example, some of the ancient aqueducts were constructed by the Assyrians to honor their kings. Moreover, sculptures and residential palaces were made for the kings. This was the same case with the Neo-Babylonian Empire (Van de Mieroop 76). The hanging gardens of Babylon brought back the grandeur of Hammurabi’s era.
As can be seen from the above arguments, the Mesopotamian Empires boasted of several achievements throughout the history of their existence. It can indeed be asserted that the achievements of these empires were a watermark in the entire history of Mesopotamia. Also, the contemporary forms of governance in the region have also embraced the ideals of the past empires.
Works Cited
Van de Mieroop, Marc. A history of the ancient Near East. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2004. Print.