The Mesopotamians

Pre-requisites for Civilization Agriculture developed in the Fertile Crescent around 9000 BCE Mining- use of tools Growth of villages and towns Division of labor

THE FERTILE CRESCENT Aswan Dam Draining of the Marshes

Characteristics of Mesopotamian Civilizations City states Each city had its own king and patron god or goddess City states often warred with each other Theocracy -- king as god’s representative Highly legalistic Law Codes Contracts Judicial proceedings and appeals processes Extensive trading networks Architectural Marvels of Ancient Mesopotamia

Mesopotamian Empires

Writing Origin and the Development of Writing in Mesopotamia The increasing complexity of transactions, provoked by the volume of exchanges, was at the origin of the invention of means of recording. At the end of the IVth millenium BC. Appeared the first document written on clay tablets. These are accounting documents on which the figures are shown by notches, and the goods by pictograms. This tablet also mentions the names of Uruk and Dilmun, the present island of Bahrain. Tablet of pre-cuneiform script South Mesopotamia Uruk III, end of 4th millenium BC. Clay (?sun-baked clay) Louvre

Writing: Pictograms Cylinder Seals Cylinder seals were in constant use in Mesopotamia from ca. 3500 B.C., just before the invention of writing, until the fifth century B.C., the time of the Persian Empire. Their rolled impressions in clay sealed cuneiform tablets, doors, jars, boxes, or baskets and served to mark ownership, protect goods against theft, guarantee authenticity, and indicate participation in legal transactions. In addition to their functional purpose, cylinder seals were also worn as pendants or bracelets and were believed to possess magical powers. Thousands of cylinder seals survive from antiquity because they were made of durable materials - usually stone, but also shell, bone, ivory, glass, or metal. Engraved seals constitute the only type of work for which there are enough examples in the ancient Near East to build up an artistic sequence for over three millennia. Seals are a valuable record of Mesopotamian artistic iconography and practices of the time; they also reveal something about the daily life, religion, costumes, tools, and furnishings of the period as well. In addition, many of the images on cylinder seals symbolize human attributes and intellectual concepts that have passed into the literature and art of later periods and up through modern times. Cylinder Seal with Watergod, Birdman, and Deities Mesopotamia, Akkadian Period, 2300 - 2200 B.C. Emory University

Writing: Cuneiform Cuneiform ("wedge-shaped") writing is Mesopotamia's most important contribution to the rest of the ancient Near East. Its invention revolutionized the way business and trade were conducted and offered the first opportunity for mankind to record written history. Cuneiform and its principal writing medium, the clay tablet, remained in use for over 3,000 years. Scribes adapted cuneiform script for writing many Near Eastern languages and used it to record business transactions, legal codes, and literary, commemorative, and dedicatory texts. This barrel-shaped cylinder of clay is inscribed with a commemorative text that records the repair of the city wall of Babylon by Nabopolassar. In the text, Nabopolassar invokes his own name as king of Babylon, describes the weakening and settling of the Great Wall of Babylon on its original base, and his repair and rebuilding of the foundation wall which "like a mountain its summit I verily raised... Oh, Wall! Remind Marduk, my lord [patron god of Babylon] of the favor." Kings and officials commonly deposited inscribed tablets of this shape into recesses built below or within new or repaired constructions in Mesopotamia. Their deposit sanctified and protected the construction as well as allowing the king or official to record his name and deeds for the gods and posterity Cuneiform Cylinder of Nabopolassar Recording Repair of the City Wall of Babylon, Mesopotamia, Babylon Neo-Babylonian Period, Reign of Nabopolassar, 625 - 605 B.C Emory University

Sumerian Schools Literacy was a highly valued skill Sumerians set up first institutions of formal education: edubba- boys only Education included writing and mathematics Tuition paid for education Educated were privileged elite: government officials, scribes, etc.

Sumerian Inventions Cuneiform writing The wheel Potter’s wheel Sailing ship Pick-axe Brick mold Glass 60-based counting system: 60 minutes to an hour, 360 degrees to a circle Number positioning Beer Epic poetry Treasures from the Royal Tombs of Ur

Akkad Sargon the great and his people the Akkadians conquered the region of Mesopotamia. They tore everything down. They were also very good artisans.

Hanging Gardens of Babylon Nebuchadnezzar II whom ruled Babylon from 605-562 BCE made the gardens for his wife who missed the lush gardens she was used to in Mede It had an elaborate irrigation system

THEOCRACY: Kings: Servants of the Gods The powerful gods communicate their desires to humanity through the medium of a powerful priestly class or autocratic king who serves as the intermediary. - Government of the gods/priest class - Ruler may be divine himself, or chosen by the god/gods - Each city had its own gods This system centralizes power in the hands of a small group of people and gives political decisions a religious authority 3. One of the most important cultural developments of this period is the concept of the powerful god communicating their desires to humanity through the medium of a powerful priest class or autocratic ruler who serves as the intermediary. - Theocracy govt. of the gods/priest class - ruler may be divine himself, or chosen by the god/gods - each city had it's own gods This system centralizes power in the hands of a small group of people and gives political decisions a religious authority King Ur-Nammu rebuilt and enlarged one of the most important temples in ancient Mesopotamia - the E-kur of Enlil, the chief god of the pantheon. This figurine, which was buried in a foundation box beneath one of the temple towers, represents the king at the start of the building project - carrying on his head a basket of clay from which would be made the critically important first brick. The foundation deposit also contained an inscribed stone tablet; beads of frit, stone and gold; chips of various stones; and four ancient date pits found perched atop the basket carried by the king. Sumerian King List

The City Center Temples served civic and religious purposes Daily sacrifices and rituals Storage of surplus grain and other foods Dwelling of priests and priestesses Locale where craftsmen and artisans could practice their trades Ziggurats: Temples to the Gods In Mesopotamia some gods were thought to be physically present in the materials and experiences of daily life, while others were ethereal and diffuse. Enlil, considered the most powerful Mesopotamian god during most of the third millennium B.C., was a "raging storm" or "wild bull," while the goddess Inanna reappeared in different guises as the morning and evening star. Deities literally inhabited their cult statues after they had been animated by the proper rituals, and fragments of worn statues were preserved within the walls of the temple. This standing figure, with clasped hands and a wide- eyed gaze, is a worshiper. It was placed in the "Square Temple" at Tell Asmar, perhaps dedicated to the god Abu, in order to pray perpetually on behalf of the person it represented, was physically present in the statue. Similar statues were often inscribed with the names of rulers and their families. Civilization of the Sumerian type dominated the whole of Semite Mesopotamia, particularly Mari, modern day Tell Hariri in Syria, explored from 1933 onwards by André Parrot, and in our own time by Jean Margueron. Here, statuary developed rapidly from the middle of the third millennium, and with a marked originality in comparison with the South. A cheerful optimism distinguishes it sharply from the severe expressions connected to the angular stylization of the preceding epoch, illustrated by the statuette of Ginak. The "superintendent" was in fact more the equivalent of a Minister of Finance. He had himself portrayed in the fur skirt which is rendered with remarkable realism revealing the "kaunakès" in the style shown for example on the Urnanshe relief.

Flood Myths Flood myths are present on every continent The flood myth…reminds us that life depends on death, that without death there can be no cycle, no birth. Floods connected with cleansing, washing away of blunders or evil Spared survivors are heroes of a new life

A stele is a monument that commemorates an historical event. Continual warfare among Sumerian city states and against invading tribes eventually led to the downfall of Sumerian civilization. But the influence of Sumerian civilization was felt in throughout the Near East, Egypt, India, the Mediterranean civilizations: Crete, Mycenae, Greece, Rome, and in Judeo-Christian traditions. Naram Sin was Sargon's grandson. This stele commerates his victory over a tribe of mountain people. A stele is a monolithic monument that commemorates an historical event. The Stele of Naram Sin has a formality and rigidity similar to Egyptian art. Compare its strong diagonal composition with the horizontal registers of the Standard of Ur. Naram Sin is depicted as a god with a headdress of power and authority. - he stands above all others heading to the mountain top - the subdued enemies lie before him and he steps on one His triumph is clearly described as his army follows A stele is a monument that commemorates an historical event. Victory Stele of Naram Sim c. 2300- 2200 B.C.E. 61/2' tall, sandstone