How did the peoples of Mesopotamia form states and develop new technologies and institutions?
Sargon of AkkadThis bronze head, with elaborately worked hair and beard, might portray the great conqueror Sargon of Akkad (though his name does not appear on it). The eyes were originally inlaid with precious jewels, which have since been gouged out. Produced about 2300 B.C.E., this head was found in the Assyrian capital of Nineveh, where it had been taken as loot. (© Interfoto/Alamy)
SStates first developed in Mesopotamia, where sustained agriculture reliant on irrigation from the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers resulted in larger populations, a division of labor, and the growth of cities. Priests and rulers developed ways to control and organize these complex societies. Conquerors from the north unified Mesopotamian city-