The Emergence of Civilization
Mesopotamian civilization benefited from natural conditions favourable to development. However, the focus here is on its social organization, which was reflected in a code of laws and the organization of work and trade, all of which developed in the context of the use of a system of writing.

Mesopotamia - Livius - Articles on ancient history

Ancient Mesopotamia - This History, Our History

The Emergence and Evolution of the Cuneiform Writing System in Ancient Mesopotamia

Hammurabi’s Code: What Does It Tell Us About Old Babylonia?

Ancient Mesopotamia - The Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago - Teacher Resource Center

Cuneiform Collection - Science Museum of Minnesota   Recommended section:  Cuneiform Collection: Sumer During the Ur III Period

Mesopotamian Civilization
• Code of Hammurabi

The Code of Hammurabi - The Avalon Project at Yale Law School
http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/medieval/hammenu.htm

• Cadastre of Dunghi
• Ziggurat E-Temenan-Ki

Ziggurat
http://www.livius.org/za-zn/ziggurat/ziggurat.html

Etemenanki (The Tower of Babel)
http://www.livius.org/es-ez/etemenanki/etemenanki.html

Etemenanki
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Etemenanki

• Stele of Mesha, king of Moab

Mesha Stele
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mesha_Stele

Mesha Stele - Musée du Louvre

• Plimpton 322 tablet

The Babylonian tablet Plimpton 322
http://www.math.ubc.ca/~cass/courses/m446-03/pl322/pl322.html

• The Epic of Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh - Academy for Ancient Texts
http://www.ancienttexts.org/library/mesopotamian/gilgamesh/

Elsewhere: It is important for students to become aware of the diversity of the social organization of civilizations in the period before the common era: the civilization of the Indus Valley or the civilization of the Nile Valley or Chinese civilization.

The Civilization of the Indus Valley
• Seals of Moenjodaro

• Archeological site of Harappa

The Civilization of the Nile Valley
• Qadesh peace treaty
• Obelisk, Place de la Concorde
• Rosetta stone
• Champollion