What was the food of Mesopotamia?

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Food of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia was one of the earliest centers of urban civilization in the area of modern Iraq and eastern Syria between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. Mesopotamia is Greek for "Between the rivers." Their region developed the first writing, the first calendar, and the first wheel. One cause of this amazing progress was its abundance of food.

Mesopotamia's richness in food always attracted its poorer neighbors. Mesopotamia has a very rough history, one that is in a pattern of penetration and invasion. Mesopotamia, even though one of the most advanced areas of the time, was very susceptible to the power of its enemies. The river valleys and plains of Mesopotamia were open to attack from the rivers, the northern and eastern hills, and the Arabian Desert and Syrian steppe to the west. Despite all of the troubles and challenges that Mesopotamia faced, it was strong and prevailed through the many hard times that it faced for many centuries.

A common crop that was grown annually in Mesopotamia was flax. Flax was used by the Mesopotamians in the production of nets, cloth, linseed oil, meal, and even many pharmaceuticals. Flax played a very important role in Mesopotamian agriculture and commerce as a result of its many uses. Another very popular food source for the Mesopotamians were the two rivers that surrounded the ancient land. From the Tigris and Euphrates the Mesopotamians were able to pull many different types of fish and other aquatic animals, and wildfowl of all sorts could be found in the wet marshes that bordered both of the rivers.

Date palms were also a very important food source to the Mesopotamians. These palms grew in southern Mesopotamia by the river marshes and supplied fibers, fodder, wood, and rich food. Products from these palms were very important to Mesopotamian trade and help make Mesopotamia a very rich and powerful leader in international trade.

Even though Mesopotamia was for the most part very dry and hot, the Tigris and the Euphrates irrigated the soil on its banks and produced a lot of very fertile soil that was used to grow many other types of crops. Some of these other crops included leeks, onions, lentils, wheat, and barley. Each of these crops were readily available to the Mesopotamians and were consumed at a very common rate. As well as leeks, lentils, and other types of crops, many spices, herbs, and fruits such as the fig were available. Grapes were also very important to the Mesopotamians and were used in the production of wine. The olive tree, which was native to the Mesopotamian area, was very useful as well. It was valued throughout Mesopotamia and its surrounding areas for its oil which was used to make medicines, perfume bases, lamp fuel, and most of all for cooking.

The Mesopotamians made good use of the resources that were available to them and were very productive. The growth and trade of the food in the area contributed a lot to this productiveness and help Mesopotamia to become a very powerful leader.