What were soil used for in ancient mesopotamia?

Question

What were soil used for in ancient mesopotamia?

Answer 1

To make pots and pans of clay so they could cook and eat.

They also used it to build houses of clay bricks.

A lot of households must have run away during Noah's flood!

Answer 2

Soil was a necessity in the development of an  agrarian society which was the basis for the beginning of civilisation in ancient Mesopotamia.

The area between the Tigris and the Euphrates known as "the fertile cresent" was rich in alluvial deposits of nutrients in the soil or loam which was brought from upstream mountains that had an annual rainfall of some 800inches during the time of winter and early summer.The name Mesopotamia means "between two rivers". Like the ancient Egyptians the Mesopotamians only counted three seasons in their annual calender.

Irrigation canels dug in the soil were used to bring and disperse water for domestic purposes and prehaps more importantly to irrigate crops and give water to livestock

Clay deposits, although useless for agriculture were utilised for the making of domestic and ritual pottery and many early examples of Mesopotamian kiln dried pottery exist.

Clay was also used in the making of "mud" bricks mixed with soil and straw.Wood being a fairly scarce comodity in the lowlands was used sparingly.

Clay also played an integral part in the development of the written language in its ablity to be inscribed with a sharp ended object while still damp and somewhat malable.

Soil deposits on the slopes of the Zagro and Anti-Taurus mountains enabled trees and other natural flora of the area to establish and flourish.

With cedar in particular being a popular choice for the stucture of buildings. Local cedar was also used as a form of barter to neighbouring countries and semi nomadic societies.

Answer 3

Well, one of the chief use of the rich, alluvial soil would be to grow plants in that they might feed themselves.

Soils composed of clay would be used to make bricks & pottery.

(BA Archaeology, HIstory 2003; MA Classical Archaeology, 2005 since the other person it listing their education)

Answer 4

In addition to what was already mentioned, the Sumerians of Mesopotamia were the first to introduce field irrigation, using the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, to supply water to this flat land, exponentially expanded the farming of storable food crops in this region, which allowed many people to live at one location, and thus, the first cities were born by transforming the soils here...