OLD ASSYRIAN OR OLD BABYLONIAN? THE CULTURAL SETTING OF NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 2nd MILLENIUM B.C.
OLD ASSYRIAN OR OLD BABYLONIAN? THE CULTURAL SETTING OF NORTHERN MESOPOTAMIA AT THE BEGINNING OF THE 2nd MILLENIUM B.C.

Summary/Abstract: Cultural differences between the north and the south of Mesopotamia are a characteristic of the region. Those differences start with different environmental conditions. Northern Mesopotamia is a slightly undulating plain, very arid in the south, but in the north, where there is more rain, it is fertile and friendly to men. Southern Mesopotamia is a very dry, flat, alluvial plain traversed by rivers, the number of which in antiquity was increased by canals providing irrigation and communication. The considerable distances between the fringes of Mesopotamia, exceeding 1000 km, are also important for the creation of cultural differences. As the result, it is possible to notice cultural distinctions between the south and the north already in the prehistoric period (e.g. the so-called Northern Ubaid culture, the local variety of Uruk culture). The written sources which appeared in the north sometime in the 24th century B.C. also strengthen that impression. In the south, texts were written in Sumerian, whereas in the north they were written in early dialects of Semitic languages related to Akkadian, which implies population differences.

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