A Greek transcription of the Hebrew molech, meaning king, Moloch was one of the prominent pagan deities of ancient Mesopotamia. As many Israelites burned their children alive in tribute to this idol, modern thinking holds that the name in fact derives from the Punic root MLK, meaning offering or sacrifice, and suggests that Moloch refers not to the name of a god but to a particular form of ritual sacrifice.
Several Biblical accounts record the followers’ belief that by appeasing Moloch with the lives of burnt children and animals, he would renew the vitality of their king, who in turn could then reap a plentiful harvest. That, however, is not to say that it was a tidy affair – on days of sacrifice, drums and cymbals had to be played at maximum ferocity to drown out screams of burning children. 
In the 11th century, famed Talmudic commentator and rabbi Rashi stated that sacrifices to Moloch had taken place in a large brass cauldron that would have been heated to cook its victims alive. Later historians embellished this detail have the oven become a bull-shaped effigy of Moloch himself — recalling the form of the golden calf fashioned by Aaron to appease the Hebrews during Moses’ tribulation on Mount Sinai.
More than 7,000 years ago, the Sumerians built several independent city states and the first civilization known to man in an area within the Fertile Crescent known as Mesopotamia. As commerce expanded in Mesopotamia, important Sumerian cities emerged across the network of trade routes along the fertile Tigris and Euphrates River valleys. These growing cities attracted a diverse group of traders who traveled from Egypt to India and brought with them a variety of exotic wares and skills from their journey. The Sumerians adapted to the challenges introduced with the increased trade activity by establishing well organized cities, some of which would last for 3,000 years.
The Sumerians organized their cities meticulously. Each city state included fine public buildings, vibrant market places, diverse workshops and water systems to service the city inhabitants. Each city also had a royal palace and a ziggurat from the top of which the Sumerians would dedicate a shrine to the god of the city. The impressive ziggurats, made from sun baked clay bricks, towered over the flat river plains and were a testament to the early architectural and engineering expertise of the Sumerians. The Sumerians surrounded their public buildings with houses and cultivated their farmlands beyond the dwelling area, a practice that later civilizations would follow closely in the centuries to come.
In approximately 3200 B.C., the Sumerians devised one of the earliest known writing systems called cuneiform, examples of which have survived in the form of thousands of clay tablets. Many of these clay cuneiform tablets contain records, accounts, sacred scripts and letters. The abundance of these tablets and the varied subject matter suggest that scribes and accountants held important roles in the mundane activities of Sumerian life including trade, law and religion.
The growing populations within each city and the increase in commercial activity between the city states caused the power to shift away from the priests and by 2900 B.C., commerce became more important than religion. The internal strife that ensued pushed the rival commercial factions to fight each other for control of the Mesopotamian region. During this time, outside invaders including tribes from Persia, Arabia and Turkey also sought to lay claim to the wealth and power of the dwindling Sumerian civilization.
In 2360 B.C., Sargon of Akkad invaded Mesopotamia and established the rival city state of Akkad. Soon, the instability that plagued Sumer led to the rise of Akkad as the more dominant city state in the region, and by 2334 B.C., Sargon had created the world’s first empire. Although Sargon of Akkad ruled effectively and brought order to his people, he nevertheless did so with a cruelty and violence that ultimately lead to the downfall of his empire. With the decline of Akkad, around 2100 B.C., the city of Ur replaced it as the most prominent power in the region for nearly one hundred years until Assyria and Babylon supplanted its role in the region as the more dominant powers.
Tags: Akkad, ancient commerce, Ancient History, ancient religion, Assyria, Babylon, cuneiform, cuneiform writing, Egypt, India, ishtar, Mesopotamia, Sargon, Sargon of Akkad, Sumer, Sumerians, Ur, World History, ziggurats
