1. Economy in Mesopotamia
Rowan and Vanessa

2. Agriculture
Able to take advantage of flooding to produce high grain yields
3 major crops: barley, dates, and sesame seeds
First to harness animals to ploughs
Added seed drills to ploughs
Made use of a system of dams and canals to irrigate crops
Farming land limited to narrow band along rivers
To prevent grazing, animals raised in pens
Land around city-states belonged to a god, owned by temples, leased by priests
Farmers expected to give 1/3 of proceeds to King, 1/3 to god of city-state

3. Industry Workrooms in and around ziggurats
Tanners prepared animal skins, carpenters made tools, weavers produced fabrics and textiles, metalworkers made bowls, statues, tools
Overseers supervised all crafts to ensure the highest quality
Scribes recorded accounts of the industries/inventory

4. Trade
Trade along Tigris and Euphrates rivers and coast of Arabia/India
Boats made of reeds and inflated goatskin
Overcame swift currents and sandbanks
Acquired stone from Africa, copper from Cyprus, gold from Egypt, cedar from Lebanon
Traded wool, jewelry, cloth, grains, oil

5. King Urukagina King of Lagash
Between BCE, priests charged high taxes on crops, confiscated land from those who couldn’t pay
Took notice of unfair system
Took over taxing power of priests
Returned land to farmers
Later, during time of Babylonian empire, individuals allowed to own lots of land around cities