Power and Social Order in the Fertile Crescent

The Fertile Crescent Mesopotamia—the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers Irrigation transformed the original hunter-gatherers into small farming communities ca BCE the peoples of Mesopotamia began to replace stone and bone tools and weapons with metal, thus marking the end of the Stone Age and the beginning of the Bronze Age

Eastern Mediterranean Basin and Major Mesopotamian Capitals, ca BCE

Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia Polytheistic—multiple gods and goddesses connected to the forces of nature (sun and sky, water and storm, earth and its fertility Mesopotamian ruler often represented as a “priest- king” and believed to possess divine attributes Ziggurats, pyramidal temples consisting of successive platforms with outside staircases and shrines at the top, functioned as sacred places

Remains of the City of Ur (modern Muqaiyir, Iraq), ca BCE

The Ziggurat at Ur ca BCE

Reconstructed Drawing of the Ziggurat at Ur The best preserved and most fully restored of the ancient Sumerian temples Platforms might have been covered with soil and planted with trees Weeper holes, venting ducts loosely filled with broken pottery, in the side of the ziggurat would have drained rainwater Bridge between heaven and earth

Tell Asmar Statues Discovered in shrine room of the Abu Temple ziggurat in Tell Asmar, near modern Baghdad Ten men and two women, the tallest being approx. 30” Huge eyes and clasped hands, suggestive of worshippers gazing in perpetual awe at the deity

Tell Asmar Statues Marble, Alabaster, and Gypsum ca BCE

Mesopotamian Music Two lyres discovered at Ur in the royal tombs of either King Meskalamdug or Queen Puabi Bodies of two women (the singers or musicians?) found under the lyres Decorations related to the Epic of Gilgamesh Indicate that music was important in Mesopotamian society

Lyre from Tomb at Ur Gold leaf and lapis lazuli over wood core, ca BCE Soundbox front panel of the lyre Wood with inlaid gold, lapis lazuli, and shell ca BCE

Royal Standard of Ur Rectangular box of unknown function Main panels called “War” and “Peace” because they illustrate on one side a military victory and on the other a banquet with musicians Social perspective, or hierarchy of scale—most important figures (king) represented as larger than the others

Royal Standard of Ur Shell, lapis lazuli, and red limestone, 8’ x 19’ ca BCE

Cuneiform Writing Writing first appeared in the middle of the 4 th millennium BCE as pictograms—pictures that represent a thing or concept—etched into clay tablets Beginning about 2900 BCE, scribes adopted a straight-line script made with a triangular-tipped stylus, or writing tool, cut from reeds The resulting impressions looked like wedges. Cuneiform writing is named from the Latin cuneus, wedge Pictograms

Sumerian Tablet from Lagash, modern Tello, Iraq Clay, ca BCE

Fragment of Tablet 11 of the Epic of Gilgamesh Second millennium BCE

The Akkadians A people from the north who settled in the area around modern Baghdad Under Sargon I (r. ca BCE ) conquered virtually all other cities in Mesopotamia Akkadian language, Semitic in origin, became common language throughout the second millennium and well into the first

Akkadian Sculpture Few artifacts survive What ones do show more realism and finer detail than the works of the earlier Mesopotamian artists

Head of an Akkadian Man All that survives of a life-size statue Once thought to be Sargon I, many modern scholars believe it depicts his grandson, Naramsin The first existing monumental work made by the lost- wax casting technique

Head of an Akkadian Man Copper Alloy, 14 1/8” ca BCE

Stele of Naramsin Stele—upright stone slab carved with a commemorative design or inscription Celebrates victory of Naramsin, Sargon’s grandson, over the Lullubi sometime between 2252 and 2181 BCE For centuries one of the most influential of all artworks, it was copied by many rulers to celebrate their own military feats

Stele of Naramsin Pink Sandstone, approx. 6’6” ca BCE

Babylon After the fall of the Akkadians ca BCE, Mesopotamia consisted of various city-states Hammurabi of Babylon (r BCE ) united these city-states and imposed order on the region The Law Code of Hammurabi contains 282 “articles” to govern the Mesopotamian peoples in conflicts great and small

The Law Code of Hammurabi Basalt, approx. 7’ ca BCE Not the first but the most complete set of laws found to date Atop the stele, Hammurabi receives the blessing of Shamash, the sun god Phallic design of the stele asserts the masculine prowess of the king

195. If a son has struck his father, his hands shall be cut off If a man has destroyed the eye of a free man, his own eye shall be destroyed If he has broken the bone of a free man, his bone shall be broken. --from the Law Code of Hammurabi (ca BCE )

The Assyrian Empire After the fall of Babylon in 1595 BCE, only the Assyrians in the north maintained a continuing cultural identity Beginning with the reign of Ashurnasirpal II (r BCE ), they dominated the entire region The Assyrian kings represented their might and power through the immense size of their palaces and the interior decorations and exterior gateways

Ashurnasirpal II Killing Lions Alabaster, 39” ca. 850 BCE This scene is a synoptic view, that is, it depicts consecutive actions at once—the soldiers drive the lion towards the king, the king shoots the lion, and the lion lies dying beneath the horses’ hooves

Human-Headed Winged Bull Limestone, 13’10” ca. 720 BCE One of a pair from the entrance palace of Sargon II Composites—part man, part bull, part eagle, the bull signifying the king’s strength and the eagle his vigilance Seen from this view, the beast has five legs—from the front view he stands firmly, and from the side view seems to stride by

Neo-Babylonia Nebuchadnezzar (r BCE) defeated Assyrians in the late 7 th century BCE Remade Babylon to be the most remarkable and beautiful city in the world The Processional Way ran from the Euphrates bridge past the Marduk ziggurat and ended at the Ishtar Gate Hanging Gardens once considered among the Seven Wonders of the World

Ishtar Gate (restored) Glazed brick, ca. 575 BCE

The Hebrews The Hebrews (from Habiru, “outcast” or “nomad”) were forced out of their homeland in the Mesopotamian basin in about 2000 BCE Differed from other Fertile Crescent cultures in that their religion was monotheistic—they worshipped a single god: YHWH (Yahweh) According to the Hebrew bible, their law—the Ten Commandments—was delivered to Moses on stone tablets and carried in a sacred chest, called the Ark of the Covenant

The Ark of the Covenant and Sanctuary Implements Mosaic floor decorations 4 th c. CE

King David and Solomon David—reigned the Israelites (the Hebrews had renamed themselves this) until 961 BCE and made Jerusalem the capital of Israel His son, Solomon, succeeded him and reigned until 933 BCE Solomon undertook the building campaign begun by his father, transforming Jerusalem into one of the most beautiful cities in the Middle East

The United Monarchy of Israel under David and Solomon ca BCE

Reconstruction Drawing of the Temple of Solomon Jerusalem, ca BCE