A well-written overview of the rise of Mesopotamia and its permutations as Babylon and Assyria.
Lots of interesting bits of information jump out:- how early we developed many of our current staples of diet: bread, cheese, beer, wine
- how early the basic structures of commerce and finance emerged
- the transformation from religious, egalitarian society to kings/dictators when conflict first arises between the various cities in the Mesopotamian basin
- that the Assyrians were the first to develop segregation of women, veiling, and the notion of inferior status, cultural trends that were later adopted by Judaism, Islam and the Byzantines/Greeks
- Babylonians were the first to develop the notion of one godhead; the concept of transcendent god as opposed to immanent god, or god in forces of nature - also the idea of god being above nature and, by extension, man being above nature as he is made in the image of god (again, especially influential on the Old Testament)
For further reading in this area, a great source for Bibliography, links etc.
In particular:
Early Mesopotamia: Society and Economy at the Dawn of History - J. N. Postgate
A History of the Ancient Near East - Marc van de Mieroop
The Might that was Assyria - Henry W. F. Sagg
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