History of energy in Ancient Sumer and Babylon

Summary: Ancient Sumer and Babylon largely relied on traditional energy sources, such as human and animal power, in addition to primary energy sources of hydropower, solar power, biomass, and wind power.

Situated in present-day Iraq, these cultures inhabited Mesopotamia, often dubbed “the cradle of civilization.” Encompassing the Tigris and Euphrates river valley, ancient Mesopotamia is important as the site of the first city-states, the earliest political entities, as well as development of agriculture, animal husbandry, and a variety of associated technological innovations that harnessed different sources of energy. The regional toponym Mesopotamia comes from the combination of ancient Greek root words meso (middle) and potamia (river). Mesopotamia, blessed with fertile soils and a temperate climate, gave rise to such early advanced civilizations as the Sumerians Assyrians, and Babylonians.

Geographically, ancient Sumer was situated in the area of modern-day Iraq. The civilization includes the prehistoric Ubaid (5300–4100 b.c.e.) and Uruk (4100–2900 b.c.e.) periods and ends with the demise of the Third Dynasty of Ur in approximately 2004 b.c.e.. After a transition era dominated by the Amorite states, ancient Babylonian culture rose in the area of southern Iraq, roughly from Baghdad to the Persian Gulf. Because the city of Babylon was the capital for so many centuries, the name Babylonia was associated with this culture. The first autonomous Babylonian city-state was founded in 1894 b.c.e. by an Amorite ruler. The exact date of Babylon’s fall varies by as much as 150 years. Kassites eventually took control of the area around 1595 b.c.e. They in turn contended with Hittites for rule; this strife helped unify the city-states of southern Mesopotamia. However, the entire region entered a “Dark Age” for nearly a millennium, of which there is little record except for accounts of war between the Assyrians, Egyptians, Hittites, Elamites, Medes, Chaldeans, and others.

The subsequent Neo-Babylonian period dates from 626 to 539 b.c.e., beginning with the rule of Nabopolassar until the reign of Nabonidus. The empire extended from the Mediterranean Sea in the west to the Persian Gulf in the east and to modern Turkey in the north. The Neo-Babylonian period ended with the Persian attacks on Babylonia in 6th century b.c.e.

Environment and Energy

Ancient Mesopotamia witnessed the cultural development of impressive civilizations based on stationary populations’ abilities to increase energy use per capita per year. Energy use during the ancient Sumerian, Old Babylonian, and Neo-Babylonian periods involved primary energy sources such as biomass, hydropower, solar energy, and wind. The main source of energy was, however, muscular power provided by humans and domesticated animals.

Geographically, ancient Sumerian and Old Babylonian civilizations inhabited the alluvial lowlands of southern Mesopotamia, where siltation from the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers had led to the formation of some of the most fertile soils for ancient human use. Southern Mesopotamia was physically a part of what is today known as the Fertile Crescent. The people of these ancient nations engaged largely in agricultural and other subsistence-related activities. Early surpluses engendered storage and administration functions, which in turn led to the growth of cities, an increase in urban populations, and engendered specialized work modes.

The diverse ecology of the region was also significant for the establishment of sedentary populations. Some of the resources that this diverse ecology offered were alluvial plains, extensive pasturelands, abundant fish and wild game, and various types of aquatic plant species. Paleoenvironmental data show that increased rainfall, especially in winters starting with the 5th and parts of the 4th millennia b.c.e. during the Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum (also known as the Mid-Holocene Warm Period), characterized the ancient Mesopotamian south, compared to the lower rates of precipitation available today. It is believed that the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers transmitted higher volumes of water during late winter and spring, leading to increased alluvium in areas designated as marginal and unproductive today. Consequently, larger areas of agricultural land were available to human populations; cultivation of these lands required the use of significant energy resources.

Climatological models show that areas that receive no summer rainfall today would have been impacted by summer monsoon rains from the Indian Ocean during the early Sumerian settlement period. Scholars maintain that the availability of summer precipitation influenced the dissemination of high-temperature and salinity-resistant grasses and created pasturelands for animal forage. This was important, as muscle energy of domesticated animals played a significant role in the Sumerian and Babylonian civilizations. Eventually, the favorable climate of Mid-Holocene Climatic Optimum was reversed to a less humid, more unpredictable climatic regime by the beginning of the 3rd millennium in ancient Mesopotamia.

Paleoenvironmental studies show that the southern Mesopotamia delta region hosted extensive sweet-water marshes and brackish lagoons due to higher sea levels after the end of the last ice age (in the Pleistocene), and to increased precipitation levels. Extensive marshlands created an ecosystem rich in biomass and biodiversity, proving valuable energy sources. Besides the use of aquatic plants, protein-rich fish species from these environments likely proved nutritionally important for the ancient Mesopotamian society. Archaic texts and art reveal that dried fish was a significant source of protein for ancient laborers. Young reed shoots from marshes were likely used as fodder for large herds of domestic livestock.

Human Populations, Agriculture, and Animal Domestication

Humans as a species consume a variety of food products. One reason hunters and gatherers settled down and started cultivating edible plant species and domesticated animals in ancient Mesopotamia was to achieve continuous food supplies as reliable sources of energy. Initially, the favorable environmental conditions in southern ancient Mesopotamia led to successful agricultural yields and animal domestication. To make the process worthwhile, however, the ancient Mesopotamians harvested higher-energy-producing crops, as the cultivated plants had to supply more energy than the amount of human and animal energy input.

Gradually, agriculture in ancient Mesopotamia allowed higher population densities and the development of urban environments. Large-scale intensive cultivation of land also led to increases in fertilization and adoption of impressive engineering projects, requiring a large amount of labor on behalf of ancient Sumerians, Old Babylonians, and the Neo-Babylonians. The presence of irrigation canals, roads, and food storage facilities became part of daily life, as did the use of various tools and simple machines powered by humans and animals. In particular, intensive cultivation activities necessitated the energy obtained from animal labor for plowing, grain threshing, and milling. These cultivation and crop-processing activities required a considerable amount of human work as well. Ancient Mesopotamians plowed, harrowed, and leveled land for seeding and used tools like sickles for harvesting. Finally, milling the grain, which consisted of extremely arduous work, was done either through manual labor or animal power.

The necessity of maintaining a large number of domesticated animals led to the growth of land-cultivation activities to produce animal feed, increasing both energy availability and energy expenditures. As food sources, herds of sheep, goats, and cattle associated with human farming activities had a great value in terms of their contribution to human caloric intake. An abundance of protein-rich dairy products from bovids provided human populations with sustainable sources of energy. On average, a lactating animal could produce a higher amount of caloric yield through its dairy products than if killed as an adult for its meat. Early Sumerian evidence from archaic texts shows that the city inhabitants kept meticulous records of the production of dairy products because of their high value. Today, the exact number of bovids domesticated and utilized by the ancient Sumerians, Old Babylonians, and Neo-Babylonians remains uncertain, but archaic texts indicate that there were thousands.

Muscle Power

One of the primary energy sources of the ancient Sumerian, Old Babylonian, and Neo-Babylonian civilizations was mammalian muscular power. Both human and animal muscular power was of utmost importance for the development of these ancient societies. First, for an energy source to be of value, exploitable quantities had to be present. The outcome of sedentary living in ancient Mesopotamia led to increases in human populations, as well as increases in the number of domestic livestock. These increases allowed higher energy sources for development.

Science informs us that humans can convert 20 to 25 percent of ingested food into kinetic energy. After the Neolithic Revolution, with the advent of agriculture, human work capacity increased due to increased availability and variety of food. The rich diet of ancient Sumerians, Old Babylonians, and Neo-Babylonians included cereals, legumes, many different vegetables, fruits, meat (primarily from cattle, sheep, and goats), fish, dairy products (ghee, cheese, and milk), and malted drinks that acted as significant sources of protein, carbohydrates, and lipids. For instance, a ration food for workers, the fruit date, provided high energy content when dried. Significantly, increased production from date cultivation is attributed to the availability of summer precipitation during the early history of the ancient Sumerian period in the southern Mesopotamian region.

Archaeologically, some of the best evidence for the diet of ordinary ancient Mesopotamian citizens has been gathered from ration lists. These lists exist for a variety of occupations, from shepherds to agricultural workers to weavers. The lists date back to ancient Sumerian and Old Babylonian times and show rations issued in “dates and barley.” Mixed rations were also available. Sample barley rations in the periods 3000–2400, 2400–2200, 2100–2000, and 2000–1600 B.C.E. specify 1.0 to 3.0 liters of barley per worker per day. It has been shown that a male receiving more than 1.33 liters of barley per day and a female receiving more than 1 liter (3,000 calories for men and 2,200 calories for women) would have had a caloric intake as good or better than that suggested by today’s United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization.

Animals, on the other hand, were probably domesticated originally for their meat. Certain strains of cattle gained prominence as draft animals among ancient Mesopotamian societies. These heavy animals were almost three times as powerful as humans and were easy to harness for muscle energy for agricultural purposes. Animals also proved important means of transportation, though manpower was also used for moving goods. Oxen, donkeys, and mules were utilized as main transportation animals during the ancient Sumerian and Old Babylonian eras. Oxen pulled carts and plows, and donkeys were put to work as pack animals. Records from the early 2nd millennium b.c.e. show that each donkey could carry at least 130 pounds traveling 15 miles a day. A mule would travel longer distances, about 20–25 miles, when loaded. Donkeys pulling four-wheeled war chariots are also depicted in drawings from ancient Sumerian artifacts.

Camels, as pack animals, were not common in ancient Mesopotamia before 1000 b.c.e., and the isolated indications of their occurrence is explained by the trade with Arabia. During the rule of Tiglath-Pileser III (who ruled c. 745–727 b.c.e. and is regarded as the founder of the Neo-Assyrian Empire), camels started to appear in large numbers in Neo-Assyrian texts, preceding the Neo-Babylonian period. One-humped camels were probably more in use than two-humped camels starting with the Neo-Assyrian period and had clear advantages over donkeys and mules as pack animals. A camel could travel longer distances while abstaining from food and water. According to the season, camels could sometimes go more than 10 days without water and carry a double load, thus costing less than donkeys and mules to maintain. Moreover, camels could travel in terrains not conducive to wagons. In comparison to ox-drawn carts, camels could also carry twice as much cargo, traveling up to 25 miles in a given day and undertaking more journeys in a given year. Finally, camels could live and work longer than donkeys, mules, and oxen. Hence, the camel was a valuable source of animal power between the 8th to 6th centuries b.c.e.

Biomass, Solar, Hydro, and Wind Energy

Photosynthetic conversion of solar energy into plant biomass is the origin of biomass energy sources, which was certainly in use by ancient Sumerians, Old Babylonians, and Neo-Babylonians. Photosynthesis is estimated to produce a small amount of energy per unit of land, approximately 170 kilocalories per square meter per year. The chemical energy from both wild and cultivated plants was converted into energy by humans and animals for a variety of purposes. Thermal energy from burning biomass was particularly useful in fashioning an assortment of tools and other products used in ancient Mesopotamian industries, as discussed in the next section.

Biomass resources available to southern Mesopotamia consisted of pastureland and marshland species. Large forests that could yield timber products (such as oak, pine, and cedar) were not available in southern Mesopotamia and had to be imported from the north and the east or from places like Lebanon in the west. However, trees such as tamarisk (the salt cedar), almond, poplar, willow, and date palm appear in the paleobotanical record. These species were used for fuel and construction. By 3rd millennium b.c.e., there is evidence that oil lamps were used, employing plant oils such as sesame oil. When heat was needed, palm wood or poplar embers would prove useful.

In ancient Mesopotamia, bulk transport was achieved through water transportation, and wind power was certainly harnessed when it was available. Key imports included grains, metals, stones, and timber, transported via river trade. The vessels that carried the goods were reed rafts, boat rafts, and canoes, common to southern Mesopotamia. The vessels were paddled or punted by human muscular power, sailed by wind power, and propelled by water (hydrokinetic) energy. Waterborne river transport proved significant for ancient Mesopotamian civilizations as a cheap and fast mode of transportation. Sea travel was part of daily life, especially in the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea regions, by 3000 b.c.e.

Both the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers were navigable, but the Euphrates was more navigation-friendly based on its physical characteristics. Both rivers were comparatively shallow and flowed from north to south, with prevailing winds blowing in the same direction. As a result, north-to-south navigation was easier to undertake, excluding shorter trips between certain locations in close proximity. It is believed that south-to-north transportation was conducted mainly overland, although some irrigation channels were big enough to allow boats with passengers and cargo in certain parts of the region to enter.

Interestingly, textual evidence of ancient Sumerian cargo and labor shows that heavier loads of cargo could be transported via rivers in comparison to those that could be transported via pack animals. For example, archaic texts indicate that upstream travel between the cities of Umma and Nippur with a full load of cargo would take five to eight days for a distance of more than 50 miles (81 kilometers), with an average travel rate of 6 to 10 miles per day. Downstream travel yielded similar rates with crews of five to six. Furthermore, recorded evidence indicates that mixing upstream and downstream travel was common, with average speeds of 5 miles per day. This type of travel would surely entail entering smaller canals, which added time to the trips. Overall, scholars have calculated transport rates at an average of 6 miles (10 kilometers) per day for 32 tons of cargo in a river vessel with an efficiency rate of 640,000 kilograms per kilometer per day. When this rate is compared to that of pack animals such as donkeys, it has been found that a much lower 3,750 kilograms per kilometer per day could be achieved over land. It appears, therefore, that ancient Mesopotamians harnessed the power of water and wind whenever possible, based on the greater amount of work they could accomplish using waterborne as opposed to overland transport.

Solar power was also valuable in production of certain products, such as the drying or baking of cereals, clay tablets, and mud bricks. Clay tablets were the media for recording administrative, business, and historical information. Manufacture of mud bricks usually took place during May and June, and the subsequent summer months would be used for drying these building products. The summer months were also important for construction projects, as the dryness of the ground due to higher temperatures would be conducive to laying building foundations. Per capita energy use from solar power may have been as high as 800 watts.

Industries and Energy Use

Ancient Mesopotamian industries involved the production of a variety of tools to provide a range of mechanical advantages to human populations. Tool production was important to harness energy. Besides tool production, manufacturing of products through activities such as metallurgy, construction, and crafts involving artworks, ceramics, and glass required considerable amounts of energy to sustain. However, it is important to note that the processed or semiprocessed copper that appears to have been one of the most popular metals used in southern Mesopotamia was imported from other regions.

Manufacturing and use of agricultural tools were particularly important for cultivation, making it possible to spend less human energy on agricultural activities. Of the known agricultural tools used by these civilizations, the plow is the most significant. Evidence of plow use comes from late fourth millennium B.C.E. seals in ancient Mesopotamia, including pictorial evidence of the use of threshing sledges. The wooden beam, or ard, plow drawn by draft animals was essential for the advancement of agriculture in all of Mesopotamia. Threshing sledges or boards were devices used to split cereals from their straw. Evidence from the 2nd millennium b.c.e. shows plow designs with vertical funnels and furrows, so that farmers could pour seeds into funnels to be cut by blades in the furrows. Other agricultural tools that saved human energy expenditure in agricultural fields included hoes, scoops, paddles, sickles fitted with flint blades, spades, and sharp knives. Wheeled vehicles, so important in the overall history of human energy use, were also being used at this time, both for agricultural and for transport purposes.

Irrigation activities undertaken by the early Mesopotamians also led to many technological innovations in terms of harnessing power. Ancient Sumerians created gravity-fed irrigation systems that allowed cultivation in river valleys in southern Mesopotamia. Channel-irrigation activities took advantage of the braided streams and the natural incline of the land, creating large areas of tillable land. Ancient Mesopotamians used tools such as the lever, the wedge, the windlass, and the pulley to assist them in their irrigation activities. These devices allowed the redirection of human muscular power by mechanization, requiring much less human work for irrigation processes. In the particular, the shadoof (or shaduf) facilitated the building of irrigation systems. This device consisted of a long wooden pole supported at each end by timber poles or mud-brick columns and a lever for easy extraction and lifting of water. It is estimated that a shadoof could raise 2,500 liters of water per day. Illustrations of shadoofs have been found dating between the third quarter of the 3rd millennium b.c.e. to the 7th century b.c.e.

Well technology in ancient Mesopotamia used windlasses, possibly after the use of spoked wheels in the early 2nd millennium b.c.e. The windlass is a device moving heavy weights. The exact date of its first use in ancient Mesopotamian chronology is uncertain, but windlasses were most likely preceded by basic spindles that allowed the conversion of a downward pull into an upward lift. Additionally, the material record on pulleys with small bronze fittings dates back to early 2nd millennium b.c.e. Windlass use during the ancient Mesopotamian period possibly involved the integration of a wooden cylinder fixed horizontally over a well. The oldest wellheads date to the Neo-Assyrian period and were likely used into the Neo-Babylonian period.

Last, production of building materials involved significant use of energy resources. Mud bricks were among the most common building materials used by the ancient Sumerians, Babylonians, and Neo-Babylonians. These bricks were fired at temperatures of 550 to 600 degrees Celsius in kilns. According to studies, such low temperatures may be the result of the poor quality of the fuels available to ancient southern Mesopotamians. Bitumen (asphalt) was also used for building roads and making certain artifacts. Processing bitumen required only low amounts of fuel, since the material could be prepared at much lower temperatures than those required for firing bricks: less than 180–200 degrees Celsius.

Conclusion

Studies of ancient societies attribute the demise of civilizations to reduced access to resources and energy flow. By the Third Dynasty of Ur (around 2100–2000 b.c.e.), inhabitants of southern Mesopotamia faced salinization of their soils as a result of over-irrigation of agricultural lands. Salinization gradually devastated the once fertile soils and agricultural production in the region. Moreover, the deforested upper reaches of the Euphrates led to flooding during episodes of high rainfall, worsening the ecological problems faced by the inhabitants. By 2000 b.c.e., the once prosperous Sumerian lands had experienced an environmental and economic downfall. Yields that averaged 2,030 liters per hectare in the period between 2900 and 2300 b.c.e. declined to 1,134 liters by the Third Dynasty of Ur. By 1700 b.c.e., the yields were down to 718 liters per hectare. A millennium after the Third Dynasty of Ur, the number of settlements in the region had decreased by 40 percent. The settlement densities of southern Mesopotamia did not recover until the first few centuries of the common era.

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