Mesopotamia SSWH1:a.

Time and Geography See notes for video

The Ancient Near East Earliest development of city life known “Land Between the Rivers” Tigris and Euphrates rivers (southeastern Iraq) The fertile crescent

NEOLITHIC SOUTHWEST ASIA Global Warming – 15,000 BCE Melted Ice Age grasslands Natufians hunted and harvested Dryas Event led to first farming settlements Population grew due to abundance People began to congregate in towns and cities Earliest recorded civilizations The end of the ice age heralded the beginning of a new era

NEOLITHIC SOUTHWEST ASIA Levantine Corridor, Near East present day Israel, Syria, and southeastern Iraq (Tigris and Euphrates rivers called Mesopotamia) The fertile crescent

POLITICAL

SUMERIAN CIVILIZATION Sumerians in lower Mesopotamia 5000 BCE Agrarian civilization Small competing kingdoms or city-states Ideas and techniques created distinct influential civilization First at: –large cities –sophisticated system of writing –monumental buildings –probably invented the wheel –irrigation system using gravity –use of plow –among first to make bronze utensils, weapons Tell Asmar votive sculpture BC.

Mesopotamia under Sumerians strife, disunion, wars and water disputes Sargon the Great unified region 2300 BCE (capital in Akkad, near modern-day Baghdad) Akkadian Empire spread Sumerian culture from Mesopotamia to Egypt (Fertile Crescent) Sargon the Great

ECONOMIC

Earning a Living Livelihood came from land, directly or indirectly Trade in foodstuffs, grain, imported commodities Some occupations required education, formal training, apprenticeships: scribes, priesthood, metalworking Victory Stele of Naram-Sin celebrating victory against the Lullubi from Zagros 2260 BC. He is wearing a horned helmet, a symbol of divinity, and is also portrayed in a larger scale in comparison to others to emphasize his superiority.

RELIGIOUS

Religion and the Afterlife Polytheism – religion of many gods Nature gods: Innana (love and fertility) and Enki (water-god) Ziggurats – pyramids where gods reside and priests made offerings –most famous - Babylon (Tower of Babel) Mesopotamian religion - not optimistic –No personal loving relationship between humans and gods –Men and women slaves of their god-creators –No evidence of ethics - not about good/evil –Punishments were in natural catastrophes: droughts or floods –Gods appeased with rituals and ceremonies by priests/rulers Epic of Gilgamesh – creation myth –First epic poem in world literature –A king’s desire for the secret of immortal life –Gods jealous of king’s power defeat him Great Ziggurat of Ur

Ziggurat

INTELLECTUAL

Chronology, Mathematics, Writing Chronology Time - cyclic nature of seasonal change Calendar - lunar months between full moons Mathematics - influential in western science Based on units of 60 (60 seconds and 60 minutes) Basic geometry and trigonometry (360ºcircle) Sun and Moon, Schedel's Nuremberg Chronicle, 1493

Chronology, Mathematics, Writing Evolution of Writing Records: taxation, marital/inheritance, calendar, seasonal changes cuneiform - script in wedge- shaped characters after 3500 BCE Sumerian cuneiform remained basic script of most Near and Middle Eastern languages until about 1000 BCE Early writing tablet recording the allocation of beer, probably from southern Iraq, Late Prehistoric

Law Emperor Hammurabi’s reign,1700 BCE Early complete code of laws: Principles –Punishment depends on social rank (commoners, slaves treated harsher than nobles) –“An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth” –Victim’s right to personal compensation –Government is impartial referee –Not equal before the law: husbands over wives, fathers over children, rich over poor, free citizens over slaves

POLITICAL

Hammurabi’s Empire

Government and Social Structure Two types –Theocracy of early city-states –Kingdom-empires beginning with Sargon the Great Three classes –Priests, noble landlords –Freemen (majority) –Slaves Sargon the Great

Status of Women Change in status over time At early stage: more or less equal With militarized society - patriarchy trend Household Artisan occupations - open to women, with limitations Adultery - worst crime in marriage Divorce - lawsuits initiated by husbands –Reasons: childless wives, other lovers, unable or unwilling to support first wife Sexual and Marital Life –Different attitude toward sex –Arranged marriages –Dowry and bride money –Bride expected to be a virgin

ECONOMIC

TRADE AND AN EXPANSION OF SCALE Sumerians extended domain into Semite- regions Akkadians, Babylonians, Assyrians united Mesopotamia and expanded it Mesopotamian trade stretched from the Indus Valley (modern day Pakistan) to Nile Valley and eastern Mediterranean Sumerian culture followed with trade Artwork depicting trading

POLITICAL

SUCCESSORS TO SUMERIA Successors –Amorites, or Old Babylonians –Hittites –Assyrians –Chaldees or New Babylonians Decline of Mesopotamia in World History –Ceased to be important after Persian conquest –Largely caused by long-term environmental damage, decline in food supply

SUMMARY Sumerians - earliest agriculturalists and skilled traders founded towns and cities in Mesopotamia (4000 BCE) Led by theocratic priesthood and later by warrior-kings City-states left new techniques and viewpoints: load- bearing wheel, first sophisticated writing system, chronology and mathematics, and architectural skills Religion was harsh and pessimistic –reflected fears of natural and manmade disasters –gods cared little for their human slaves

Discussion Questions 1. Sumerians built the first cities, and today a large percentage of the world’s population is urban. How would a Sumerian have found city life different from their rural existence? What would have been the benefits of city life? What would the disadvantages have been? 2. Hammurabi’s Code is one of the very first written law codes. Why is it so important to have law in written form? What difference, if any, would it have made to the average Babylonian to have written law?