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HandWiki. Agriculture in Ancient Mesopotamia. Encyclopedia. Available online: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/37849 (accessed on 25 September 2026).
HandWiki. Agriculture in Ancient Mesopotamia. Encyclopedia. Available at: https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/37849. Accessed September 25, 2026.
HandWiki. "Agriculture in Ancient Mesopotamia" Encyclopedia, https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/37849 (accessed September 25, 2026).
HandWiki. (2022, December 02). Agriculture in Ancient Mesopotamia. In Encyclopedia. https://encyclopedia.pub/entry/37849
HandWiki. "Agriculture in Ancient Mesopotamia." Encyclopedia. Web. 02 December, 2022.
Agriculture in Ancient Mesopotamia
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The content is sourced from: https://handwiki.org/wiki/Place:Agriculture_in_ancient_Mesopotamia

Agriculture was the main economic activity in ancient Mesopotamia. Operating under harsh constraints, notably the arid climate, the Mesopotamian farmers developed effective strategies that enabled them to support the development of the first states, the first cities, and then the first known empires, under the supervision of the institutions which dominated the economy: the royal and provincial palaces, the temples, and the domains of the elites. They focused above all on the cultivation of cereals (particularly barley) and sheep farming, but also farmed legumes, as well as date palms in the south and grapes in the north. In reality, there were two types of Mesopotamian agriculture, corresponding to the two main ecological domains, which largely overlapped with cultural distinctions. The agriculture of southern or Lower Mesopotamia, the land of Sumer and Akkad, which later became Babylonia received almost no rain and required large scale irrigation works which were supervised by temple estates, but could produce high returns. The agriculture of Northern or Upper Mesopotamia, the land that would eventually become Assyria, had enough rainfall to allow dry agriculture most of the time so that irrigation and large institutional estates were less important, but the returns were also usually lower.

agriculture babylonia mesopotamia

References

  1. Cowan, C. Wesley; Watson, Patty Jo, eds (2006). The Origins of Agriculture: An International Perspective. The University of Alabama Press. ISBN 9780817353490. 
  2. Sanlaville 2000, pp. 65–69.
  3. F. Joannès, "Tigre" & "Euphrate" in Joannès 2001, pp. 851–2, 323–325
  4. P. Sanlaville, "Considérations sur l'évolution de la Basse Mésopotamie au cours des Derniers millénaires," Paléorient 15/2, 1989, p.5-27.
  5. P. Sanlaville & R. Dalongeville, "L'évolution des espaces littoral du Golfe Persique et du Golfe domain Depuis la phase finale de la transgression post-glaciaire," Paléorient 31/1, 2005, pp. 19-20
  6. Sanlaville 2000, pp. 99–104.
  7. Potts 1997, pp. 14–15.
  8. Sanlaville 2000, pp. 110–111.
  9. Huot 1989, pp. 82–83.
  10. M. Sauvage, 'Canal,' in Joannès 2001, pp. 155–159
  11. Postgate 1992, pp. 173–183
  12. F. Joannès, "Irrigation," in Joannès 2001, pp. 415–418
  13. See the dossier in J.-M. Durand, Les Documents épistolaires du palais de Mari, Volume II, Paris, 1998, p. 572-653.
  14. B. Lafont, "Irrigation Agriculture in Mari," in Jas 2000, pp. 135–138.
  15. B. Lafont, "Cadastre et arpentage," in Joannès 2001, pp. 149–151
  16. M. Liverani, "Reconstructing the Rural Landscape of the Ancient Near East," Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient 39 (1996) p. 1-49
  17. null
  18. B. Hruška, "Agricultural Techniques," in Leick 2007, p. 58
  19. B. Lafont, "Irrigation Agriculture in Mari," in Jas 2000, pp. 130–134
  20. T. J. Wilkinson, "The Structure and Dynamics of Dry-Farming States in Upper Mesopotamia," Current Anthropology 35/5, 1994, p. 483-520
  21. T. J. Wilkinson, "Settlement and Land Use in the Zone of Uncertainty in Upper Mesopotamia" in Jas 2000, pp. 3–35
  22. C. Zaccagnini, The Rural Landscape of the Land of Arraphe, Rome, 1979.
  23. T. J. Wilkinson, J. Ur, E. Barbanes Wilkinson & M. Altaweel, "Landscape and Settlement in the Neo-Assyrian Empire," Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 340 (2005) p. 23-56.
  24. F. M. Fales, "The Rural Landscape of the Neo-Assyrian Empire: A Survey," State Archives of Assyria Bulletin IV/2, 1990, pp. 81-142.
  25. G. van Driel, "On Villages," in W. H. van Soldt (ed.), Veenhof Anniversary Volume: Studies Presented to Klaas R. Veenhof on the Occasion of His Sixty-fifth Birthday, Leyde, 2001, p. 103-118
  26. P. Steinkeller, "City and Countryside in Third Millennia Southern Babylonia," in E. C. Stone (ed.), Settlement and Society: Essays dedicated to Robert McCormick Adams, Chicago, 2007, p. 185-211
  27. S. Richardson, "The World of the Babylonian Countryside," in Leick 2007, pp. 13–38 focusses on the relationship between town and country but also provides some information on rural settlement.
  28. H. Wright, The Administration of Rural Production in an Early Mesopotamian Town, Ann Arbor, 1969.
  29. A. Invernizzi, "Excavations in the Yelkhi Area (Hamrin Project, Iraq)," Mesopotamia 15, 1980, p. 19-49
  30. R. M. Boehmer & H.-W. Dämmer, Tell Imlihiye, Tell Zubeidi, Tell Abbas, Mainz am Rhein, 1985 (note conclusions p. 32-35).
  31. B. Hruška, "Agricultural Techniques," in Leick 2007, p. 59
  32. Huot 1989, pp. 92–98.
  33. B. Lion & C. Michel, "Insectes," in Joannès 2001, p. 412
  34. Potts 1997, p. 75.
  35. A. Sherratt, « Plough and pastoralism: aspects of the secondary products revolution », in I. Hodder, G. Isaac et N. Hammond (ed.), Pattern of the Past: Studies in honour of David Clarke, Cambridge, 1981, p. 261–305
  36. W. Van Zeist, "Plant Cultivation in Ancient Mesopotamia: the Palynological and Archeological Approach," in Klengel & Renger (ed) 1999, pp. 25–42
  37. C. Becker, "Der Beitrag archäozoologischer Forschung zur Rekonstruktion landwirtschaftlicher Aktivitäten: ein kritischer Überblick" in Klengel & Renger (ed) 1999, pp. 43–58
  38. M. A. Powell, "The Sumerian Agriculture Group: A Brief History," in Klengel & Renger (ed) 1999, pp. 291–299
  39. Potts 1997, pp. 57–62.
  40. B. Lion & C. Michel, "Céréales," in Joannès 2001, pp. 172–173
  41. Translation: etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk ; commentary in S. N. Kramer, L'histoire commence à Sumer, Paris, 1993, p. 92-95 http://etcsl.orinst.ox.ac.uk/cgi-bin/etcsl.cgi?text=t.5.6.3#
  42. For attempts at holistic reconstruction of the Sumerian agricultural year: P. J. LaPlaca & M. Powell, "The Agricultural Cycle and the Calendar at Pre-Sargonic Girsu," in BSA 5/2 1990, pp. 75–104 and B. Hruška, "Das landwirtschaftliche Jahr im alten Sumer: Versuch einer Rekonstruktion," in BSA 5/2 1990, pp. 105–114.
  43. Postgate 1992, pp. 167–170.
  44. Potts 1997, pp. 70–86.
  45. B. Lion & C. Michel, "Céréales," in Joannès 2001, p. 173
  46. B. Hruška, "Agricultural Techniques," in Leick 2007, pp. 59–61
  47. F. Joannès, "Palmier-dattier," in Joannès 2001, pp. 624–626
  48. M. Stol, "Beans, Peas, Lentils and Vetches in Akkadian Texts," BSA 2 1985, pp. 127–139
  49. F. Joannès, "Lin," in Joannès 2001, pp. 472–473
  50. Potts 1997, pp. 67–68.
  51. B. Lion, "Sésame," in Joannès 2001, p. 778
  52. Postgate 1992, p. 170-172.
  53. J. M. Renfrew, "Vegetables in the Ancient Near Eastern Diet," in Sasson 1995, p. 191-195
  54. null
  55. C. Michel, "Cultures potagères," in Joannès 2001, p. 213-215
  56. C. Michel & B. Lion, "Arbres fruitiers," in Joannès 2001, p. 70-71
  57. J.-P. Brun, Archéologie du vin et de l'huile, De la Préhistoire à l'époque hellénistique, Paris, 2004, pp. 46-47 & 131-132
  58. M. A. Powell, "Wine and the Vine in Ancient Mesopotamia: The Cuneiform Evidence," in P. E. McGovern et al. (ed.), The Origins and Ancient History of Wine, Amsterdam, 1997, pp. 97–122.
  59. Postgate 1992, p. 159-163.
  60. B. Lion & C. Michel, "Ovins," in Joannès 2001, p. 610-612
  61. Postgate 1992, p. 163-164.
  62. B. Lion, "Bovins," in Joannès 2001, p. 142-143
  63. B. Lion & C. Michel, "Chèvre," in Joannès 2001, p. 180-181
  64. B. Lion & C. Michel, "Porc," in Joannès 2001, p. 670-671
  65. B. Lafont, "Équidés," in Joannès 2001, p. 299-302
  66. B. Hesse, "Animal Husbandry and Human Diet in the Ancient Near East," in Sasson 1995, p. 217
  67. B. Lion & C. Michel, "Animaux domestiques," in Joannès 2001, p. 49-50
  68. B. Lion & C. Michel, "Oiseau," in Joannès 2001, p. 603-606
  69. C. Michel, "Miel," in Joannès 2001, p. 532
  70. B. Lion, "Chasse," in Joannès 2001, p. 179-180
  71. B. Lion & C. Michel, "Pêche," in Joannès 2001, p. 638-640
  72. M. Sauvage, "Roseau," in (Joannès 2001)
  73. W. Heimpel, "Twenty-Eight Trees Growing in Sumer," in D. I. Owen (ed.), Garšana Studies, Bethesda, 2011, p. 75-152.
  74. C. Castel & C. Michel, "Bois," in Joannès 2001, p. 135-138
  75. S. Lafont, "Fief et féodalité dans le Proche-Orient ancien," in J.-P. Poly et E. Bournazel (ed.), Les féodalités, Paris, 1998, p. 515-630
  76. Van de Mieroop 1999, p. 111-114.
  77. Graslin-Thomé 2009, p. 106-109.
  78. C. Zaccagnini, "Modo di produzione asiatico e Vicino Oriente antico. Appunti per una discussione," Dialoghi di archeologia NS 3/3, 1981, pp. 3-65.
  79. Van de Mieroop 1999, p. 115.
  80. Graslin-Thomé 2009, p. 102-106.
  81. Van de Mieroop 1999, pp. 120-123.
  82. Graslin-Thomé 2009, pp. 119-131.
  83. On Polanyi's contributions to assyriology, see the articles of P. Clancier, F. Joannès, P. Rouillard and A. Tenu (ed.), Autour de Polanyi, Vocabulaires, théories et modalités des échanges. Nanterre, 12-14 juin 2004, Paris, 2005
  84. Van de Mieroop 1999, pp. 116-118
  85. Graslin-Thomé 2009, pp. 110-118.
  86. J. Renger, "Trade and Market in the Ancient Near East: Theoretical and Factual Implications," in C. Zaccagnini (ed.), Mercanti e politica nel mondo antico, Rome, 2003, pp. 15-40; J. Renger, "Economy of Ancient Mesopotamia: A General Outline," in Leick 2007, pp. 187-197
  87. Van de Mieroop 1999, pp. 120-121.
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