Mesopotamia

American  

[mes-uh-puh-tey-mee-uh] / ˌmɛs ə pəˈteɪ mi ə /

noun

1. an ancient region in W Asia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers: now part of Iraq.

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Mesopotamia British  

/ ˌmɛsəpəˈteɪmɪə /

noun

1. a region of SW Asia between the lower and middle reaches of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers: site of several ancient civilizations

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Mesopotamia Cultural  

1. A region of western Asia, in what is now Iraq, known as the “cradle of civilization.” Western writing first developed there, done with sticks on clay tablets. Agricultural organization on a large scale also began in Mesopotamia, along with work in bronze and iron (see Bronze Age and Iron Age). Governmental systems in the region were especially advanced (see Babylon (see also Babylon) and Hammurabi). A number of peoples lived in Mesopotamia, including the Sumerians, Akkadians, Hittites, and Assyrians.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• Mesopotamian
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of Mesopotamia

Latin from Greek mesopotamia ( khora ) (the land) between rivers

Example Sentences

Previously, the first known dice dated back to the Bronze Age about 5,500 years ago, in such places as Mesopotamia and the Indus Valley of Asia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026

Similar anxieties entered the literary record in Mesopotamia and were picked up in the ancient literary traditions of India and China.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 21, 2025

An analysis of his skeleton shows that a fifth of his DNA came from ancestors living 1,500km away in the other great civilisation of the time, in Mesopotamia or modern day Iraq.

From BBC • Jul. 2, 2025

Meanwhile, love is experienced quite similarly by modern and Neo-Assyrian man, although in Mesopotamia it is particularly associated with the liver, heart and knees.

From Science Daily • Dec. 4, 2024

The first of these representations emerged in the Ionian city of Miletus—a place on the far end of the Persian Royal Road from Mesopotamia, and therefore well positioned to receive astronomical inspiration from the east.

From "Circumference" by Nicholas Nicastro