Land Between Rivers Mythology of Mesopotamia WHAT WERE THE BELIEFS OF THE PEOPLE OF PALATIAL MESOPOTAMIA? ARE THERE COMMONALITIES BETWEEN THESE BELIEFS AND THE BELIEFS OF OTHER PEOPLE? 1

“Truth comes down to us from the past, as gold is washed down from the mountains of the Sierra Nevada, in minute but precious particles – the debris of the centuries.” From A Brief History of Ancient, Medieval, and Modern Peoples – Joel Dorman Steele, Ester Baker Steele Fragmentary relief dedicated to the goddess Ninsun, mother of Gilgamesh. Steatite, Neo- Sumerian Period. Located at The LourveGilgamesh ef_Ninsun_Louvre_AO2761.jpg#filehistory 2

Geography of Ancient Mesopotamia "Mesopotamia" is a Greek word meaning, "Land between the Rivers". The region is a vast, dry plain through which two great rivers, the Euphrates and Tigris, flow. These rivers rise in mountain ranges to the north before flowing through Mesopotamia to the sea. Today, the rivers unite before they empty into the Persian Gulf, but in ancient times the sea came much further inland, and they flowed into it as two separate streams. Map of Mesopotamia in about 3500 BC om/civilization-ancient- mesopotamia#location 3

Label the following places on your map: Eridu, Ur, Larsa, Nippur, Babylon, Kish, Assur, Nimrud, Phoenicia, Assyria, Akkad, Sumer, Babylonia, Tigris River, Euphrates River 4

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WORKING WITH MATERIAL OBJECTS Daniel Waugh What is a material object? How would historians begin to analyze an object? Inanna/ Ishtar Denver Art Museum Goddess of Many Names 6

What are some questions to ask when analyzing objects? 1. What is it? 2. Where is it now and how did it get there? 3. What is its date? 4. What was the object’s function? 5. Who made it, owned, or used the object? Daniel Waugh – World History Sources 7

BASIC overview of the gods, goddesses, demons and monsters of Mesopotamia Inanna is the ancient Sumerian goddess of love, procreation, and of war who later, became identified with the Akkadian goddess Ishtar, and further with the Phoenician Astarte and the Greek Aphrodite, among others Detailed analysis Story - Inanna’s Descent to the Underworld 8

Full text link The Epic of Gilgamesh The Epic of Gilgamesh Read in Akkadian The Epic of Gilgamesh Teaser 9

ection/the-collection- online/search/329230?=&imgno= 0&tabname=related-objects Human–headed winged lion (lamassu), 883–859 B.C.; Neo–Assyrian period, reign of Ashurnasirpal II Excavated at Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), northern Mesopotamia Alabaster (gypsum); H. 10 ft. 3 1/2 in. (313.7 cm) The lamassi protected and supported important doorways in Assyrian palaces 10

ancient-mesopotamia#location Marduk high god of the Babylonians (the Louvre) The king was held to be the earthly representative of the patron god of the city. He was a sacred being, and to disobey him was to disobey the god. His primary duty was to ensure that the people served their god properly. 11

ENUMA ELISH THE EPIC OF CREATION L.W. King Translator (from The Seven Tablets of Creation, London) A Babylonian Cylinder seal showing a battle with Tiamat 12

Assyrian demon Pazuzu, first millennium BCE PAZUZU 13 gs/2014/assyria-to-iberia/blog/posts/pazuzu

Additional Resources The Mesopotamian Pantheon Metropolitan Museum of Art Lesson Plans: Gods, God- desses, and the Supernatural Our Shared Past in the Mediterranean – Module 2: The Mediterranean and beyond In Antiquity Ali Vural Ak Center for Islamic Studies plans-and-pre-visit-guides/gods-goddesses-and-the- supernatural ess.com/2015/04/ospm-module-2- assembled-for-printing.pdf 14