The ancient, historical, and geographical region known as Mesopotamia was originally and is currently located in the areas which make up today's Middle-East, encompassing the territories of modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, as well as parts of Turkey, Syria, and even Iran. Ancient Mesopotamia is also considered to be the “cradle of civilization” due to the emergence of some of the world's earliest known human settlements being traced to this earthly locale. The Sumerian civilization, which was once established in the southern parts of Mesopotamia, is the oldest known settlement in that region and is arguably the oldest human settlement in the world. I would also like to personally argue that according to the Bible the first post-Flood human settlement was located in Mesopotamia: and more specifically in ancient Sumer. For as we shall see the Biblical land of Shinar could in fact be connected with this ancient Sumerian settlement. Also, the Hebrew patriarch Abraham originated from Mesopotamia and further on in the Biblical narrative do we witness various Mesopotamian empires coming into direct contact with the children of Israel, along with the various historical Mesopotamian rulers who's names are also recorded in the very pages of the Bible itself. So, from what has been thus far presented I believe that strong arguments may truly be made which would tie certain historical Mesopotamian elements together along with the stories that we find written in the Bible. For as we shall see, there are indeed many parallels between ancient Mesopotamia and the Old Testament.
Now the name “Mesopotamia” is a Greek term which translates to “the land between the rivers” and these two rivers referred to in this Greek phrase are none other than the Tigris and the Euphrates Rivers. Biblically speaking, the Euphrates River is named as one of the four rivers which flowed forth from the Garden of Eden (Genesis 2:10-14). Additionally, Genesis also identifies the third river which flows from Eden as the Hiddekel, a river that flows towards the east of Assyria. Traditionally the Hiddekel River is another name for the Tigris River and since Assyria is within the borders of Mesopotamia, then this points us to Mesopotamia (the land between the rivers) as the possible geographical origin of where the Garden of Eden could have initially been planted. So even from the very opening chapters of the Bible are we presented with a connection which links the Old Testament to ancient Mesopotamia.
Returning our focus back towards the historical findings concerning the Sumerian civilization, and by additionally scanning over certain Biblical passages, do we come to a possible parallel which could very well unite these two accounts together. For according to the teachings of the Orthodox Church, God created the world around the year 5,500 BC, and about 1,500 years or so later the cataclysmic event of the Great Flood took place, roughly bringing us to the year 4,000 BC as the start date for the history of our post-Flood existence. Additionally, the Bible tells us in Genesis 11:2 that the first human settlement established after the Flood was located in the land of Shinar, which may in fact have been the Biblical name for Sumer. Amazingly, secular historians have placed the emergence of the Sumerian civilization to have occurred around the year 4,000 BC, which matches both the Biblical date and location of the worlds first post-Flood civilization. Thus by examining these findings are we granted the confirmation that the Bible is indeed a credible historical document, and through the continuity shared between these various sources do we also hold in our possession another link in the chain which seamlessly binds the Biblical narrative side-by-side with what has come down to us in the annals of recorded history.
Continuing in our survey of ancient Sumer do we arrive at many “firsts” regarding the various inventions that have developed throughout the ages in the technological history of mankind. For example, the ancient Sumerians were the first people to invent writing by using a reed stylus pressed into soft clay tablets making wedge-shaped inscriptions. The tablets were then left out to dry and fired making the clay as hard as stone. And this early writing system made up of wedge-shaped literary characters is known as cuneiform. Cuneiform tablets were initially used to record purchases, which functioned like receipts, but later developed into the means of recording literature and legal codes. Though writing originated in Sumer in the southern part of ancient Mesopotamia in the mid 4th millennium BC, the Akkadians (who would spring up about a millennia later in 2334 BC in the northern areas of Mesopotamia) also adopted cuneiform writing even though they spoke a different language than the Sumerians: kind of like today how we use the Latin alphabet in order to write down differing languages such as English and Spanish. The differences between these two particular Mesopotamian peoples was that the Akkadians were a Semitic people, while the Sumerians were a non-Semitic people. Now it is a point of argument among scholars pertaining to the racial origins of the Sumerians. Some researchers have classified the Sumerians as Hamitic, while it has also been pointed out that the Sumerian language has no known links to any other language family, including Hamitic tongues. And this unique variable has made the linguistic and ethnic origins of the ancient Sumerians a mystery of history. However, by examining the Biblical record a possible link tying the Sumerians with a particular people group may in fact be found.
According to what is known as the "Table of Nations" as referenced in Genesis chapter 10, the Bible informs us of the various people groups who emerged in the years following the Flood. For Noah had three sons: Ham, Shem, and Japheth, and from these three men and from each of their wives would the entire world be repopulated. Ham would go on to father the peoples of Africa, Shem would father the tribes of the Middle East, and Japheth would father the various European nations roughly speaking. However, though Shem is regarded as the father of the Arabs, one of his brother Ham's descendants would also populate parts of Mesopotamia. For one of Ham's descendants was named Cush, and as the Bible says, "...Cush begat Nimrod: he began to be a mighty one in the earth. He was a mighty hunter before the LORD: wherefore it is said, Even as Nimrod the mighty hunter before the LORD. And the beginning of his kingdom was Babel, and Erech, and Accad, and Calneh, in the land of Shinar" (Genesis 10:8-10). What is important to understand in these verses is that the names of Nimrod's kingdoms listed in the Bible are also the names of ancient Mesopotamian cities. For example, Biblical Erech corresponds to Sumerian Uruk, as does Biblical Accad with Mesopotamian Akkad. Additionally, ancient Sumer could quite possibly correspond to the Biblical land of Shinar. For in Genesis chapter 11 it states that after the Flood all the people where of one speech, and during their travels they found a plain in the land of Shinar and dwelt there. So if ancient Sumer does indeed correspond to the Biblical land of Shinar, where the Hamitic Nimrod ruled over, then the particular people group who populated Sumer may be successfully identified. Also, since the post-Flood people where all of one speech, then the origin of the mysterious Sumerian language may also be accounted for.
Now when delving into the traditional mythos of Sumer another parallel between ancient Mesopotamia and the Old Testament is encountered. For example, the Bible relates how the righteous antediluvian patriarchs lived to be nearly 1,000 years old, and similarly the Sumerian or Babylonian King List documents it's first group of leaders to have lived to be tens of thousands of years old. Though there is a large gap in time between the lifespan of the Biblical patriarchs and the Babylonian kings, it is still a relevant comparison, especially when the emphasis is on people living to extremely old ages, a condition totally preposterous to us modern humans who's average life expectancy is around 75 years of age. What is interesting to note here is that along with the Biblical narrative, the Sumerians also had a Flood story in their history and tradition. Continuing with the similarities in both of these ancient accounts it is revealed that after the Flood not only did the Biblical characters live much shorter lives, but the Babylonian king's life span also dropped significantly. According to Biblical history the people living after the Flood began to die around the age of 500, with the average human lifespan continuing to decline in the generations to follow. By the time we get to Abraham we see that he died at 175, and several centuries later Moses died at 120, and a few centuries after that king David died around the age of 70. Interestingly, the lifespan of the Babylonian kings also decreased in the years after the Flood. For during the age before the deluge the kings lived to be thousands of years old, and then after the Flood the kings are recorded as living only up to hundreds of years old. Although its understandable how skeptics may discredit both the Biblical and Babylonian accounts of such long and even exaggerated human lifespans, a keen similarity between the ages of the ancient people in the Bible and Mesopotamia, before and after the Flood, is indeed quite striking.
Shifting our attention away from Sumer, let us now focus on another ancient Mesopotamian civilization that is directly mentioned in the Old Testament. And this Mesopotamian people who we find recorded in the Hebrew scriptures are none other than the Assyrians. The Assyrians first emerged in northern Mesopotamia around 2600 BC and established themselves by building the city of Ashur, immediately located on the banks of the Tigris River. After the passage of time the Assyrians expanded their territory and in turn Ashur became the capital city of the Assyrian empire. Militarily speaking, the Assyrians were known for their fierce warriors who possessed brutal fighting skills. Unfortunately, the northern kingdom of Israel would eventually get a taste of this tenacity by falling victim to an Assyrian assault. For in 722 BC the Assyrians, under the leadership of their king Shalmaneser V, conquered the ten northern tribes of the kingdom of ancient Israel. In addition to the destruction of the Israelite capital Samaria, the Assyrians also captured the ten tribes and led them away captive back to Assyria, never to return. Thus these Israelite exiles are known to history as the “Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.” Now what is important to understand concerning all of these events, is that a historical people group or nation are written in the pages of the Bible, as well as in extra-Biblical sources. Going further the very name of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser is recorded in the book of II Kings. Thus not only do we have on our hands a Biblical parallel to ancient Mesopotamia, but we also possess proof of the historical record matching up with what we find in the Biblical narrative, which in turn gives more credibility to the holy scriptures as an historically accurate set of documents.
In addition to the ancient Israelites coming into contact with the various nations of ancient Mesopotamia, it must also be recognized that the Hebrews themselves can trace back their own ancestry to the territories and peoples of Mesopotamia. For example, in Genesis chapter 11 we see how the Israelite patriarch and prophet Abraham originally hailed from the the Mesopotamian settlement of Ur of the Chaldees. Going further, when Abraham wished for his son Isaac to marry, Abraham made sure that Isaac took a wife from among his kindred who dwelt in Mesopotamia (Genesis 24:10). Thus from what we find in these scriptures, it could be argued that the Jewish people living today do indeed possess racial roots which stem from the land, and peoples, of ancient Mesopotamia.
Another link connecting the Jewish people with Mesopotamia, has to do with the Babylonians who destroyed the temple of Solomon and all of Jerusalem in 586 BC, and then took the Jews captive back to Babylon, a nation located within the territories of Mesopotamia. And this period of Jewish history is known as the Babylonian Captivity. However, though this was a dark day for the Jews, it was also in their exile in Babylon where the Jews compiled their various religious documents and texts into a single book or scroll, which would later form the Hebrew scriptures or what Christians call the Old Testament. It was also at this place and time where the Jews began to assemble in houses of prayer, and would offer up worship unto God, and intensely study the holy scriptures, such as the Torah. For not only left without a temple, the Jews now found themselves in a strange land and had no other choice than to come together in order to maintain their faith and identity. And these Jewish congregations in Babylon are believed to be the foundation of the synagogue.
In conclusion, from the preceding exegesis concerning ancient Mesopotamia and the Old Testament it is firmly understood that the children of Israel have racial roots stemming from Mesopotamia, and history also reveals the interaction between the Israelites and the various kingdoms of Mesopotamia in ancient times. In modern times we see that the state of Israel continues to be in conflict with her Middle-Eastern, or Mesopotamian neighbors. It would also seem that ever since the first post-Flood civilization sprung up in the world, the authors of the Bible made sure to record this history, and thus it has been passed down over the ages how ancient Mesopotamia is indeed where human civilization as we know it began. The parallels between what we find in the Bible and what is written down in the histories of ancient Mesopotamian civilizations not only gives credit to the Bible as a legitimate historical document, but these findings also reveal the interrelated nature of the Israelites and their contemporaries in the ancient world. From what has been thus far explained in this concise presentation, I believe a strong link connecting the historical record with the Biblical record has indeed been revealed. For both the history we read within and outside of the Biblical narrative have in fact proven to complement one another rather than contradicting each other. This should give the student of history confidence when scrutinizing what the Bible teaches along with what has come down to us concerning the history that lies outside of the Biblical narrative. So, I think it is safe to say that studying the Bible does indeed equip all students of history with a guidepost to better understand the history of the ancient world, especially ancient Mesopotamia.
References:
Brenton. The Septuagint with Apocrypha: Greek and English. (London: Samuel Bagster & Sons, Ltd., 1851).
Kramer, S.N. History Begins at Sumer. (Garden City, NY: Doubleday & Company, Inc., 1959).
Quigley, C. The Evolution of Civilizations. (Indianapolis, Indiana: Liberty Fund, 1979).
Rose, Fr. Seraphim. Genesis, Creation, and Early Man. (Platina, CA: St. Herman of Alska Brotherhood, 2011).
Roux, G. Ancient Iraq. (New York, NY: Penguin Books, Inc., 1992).
Tarazi, P.N. The Old Testament: Introduction Vol. 1: Historical Traditions. (Crestwood, NY: St. Vladimir's Seminary Press, 1991).
Zondervan. The Holy Bible, King James Version. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 2009).
